# Alienware M17 RAM problem!



## davosonic60 (Jan 22, 2009)

Hello to all!

I have an alienware M17 system which I purchased with 2gb of RAM. 
I recently bought two 4gb RAM modules and installed them into my laptop following the FAQ instructions, however, whenever I turned my laptop on, it displayed a 'file corrupt headsum does not match...', among other errors. I removed a RAM chip to check one by one if it had any errors. What happened is that when I had only one chip installed, the computer started normally and Windows did detect 4GB RAM. 
I checked the other RAM chip and it also worked properly, however, when I put both chips (both are from the same manufacturer and I made sure that they were compatible with my system) it did not work.

I read somewhere that this issue was corrected by updating the BIOS on the M17 systems.

From http://www.notebookforums.com
"I spoke with Adrian at Alienware customer support and he said that the primary reason for this Bios update was to provide support for 8Gigs of memory in a 64 bit environment on the M17. Additionally, Adrian said this Bios should also improve overall system stability and correct any stuttering issues that some M17 owners with the Quad core may have experienced."

However, I just noticed that in my laptop's System Information, it says BIOS version/date: INTEL W841.B14, 04/03/2009, which is the latest BIOS update available, so I think I should be able to install both 4GB modules without any problems.

What do you think?

I do that hope you can help me resolve my issue here. I need to do it before 15 days or the store wont accept my RAM chipsets back in case I need to change them; which honestly, I think I dont. Just in case Im adding here the details of the RAM I purchased.

"Crucial DDR3 4GB PC8
DDR3 4GB PC8500 SO-DIMM
Single module 1066MHz
Notebook Memory
CM3X4GSDD1066"

Thanks for taking the time to read about my issue and I hope we can find a solution for this.

Regards,
David


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

are all the ram sticks the same make and model? if not thats your problem.


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## davosonic60 (Jan 22, 2009)

Hello again

Yeah both chips are from the same manufacturer and have the exact same specifications that I posted previously. Any other ideas?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

are you sure you are running the correct BIOS that 'Adrian' told you about?

if you are you may have a faulty system but I would first return the ram and get some new ram to be totally sure.


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## davosonic60 (Jan 22, 2009)

Yeah I called yesterday to tech support and they made me check my BIOS and its the latest one. However, he said that my system is completely capable of supporting 8gb of RAM (B14 Bios, 64-bit operating system), and that it should be the RAM.

However if the RAM is the problem, shouldnt my system reject even one chip?. Because right now Im working with only one of those installed.

Btw, I didnt spoke with Adrian, thats a quote from Notebookforums.com


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

if the ram works individual and not together there is either a problem with the BIOS or one of the slots.

have you tried both ram sticks in one slot and then both in the other slot?


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## davosonic60 (Jan 22, 2009)

Hello 

About an hour ago I read your message and even though I had experimented with the slots and positions a while ago I decided to give it another try.

So anyway, here's what happened:

I've got chip A and chip B.
When I wrote the last post I was using chip A in slot 1.
->SLOT 1 : A
->SLOT 2 : None

So then I changed chip A with chip B on the same slot

->SLOT 1 : B
->SLOT 2 : None

Which worked perfectly. Then I removed chip B from slot 1 and put chip A in slot 2, which also worked fine.

->SLOT 1 : None
->SLOT 2 : A

Now, I removed chip A from slot 2 and put chip B.

->SLOT 1 : None
->SLOT 2 : B

Then a lot of errors started appearing. Firstly, my laptop wouldnt boot, but after turning it off and on a few times I managed to get it to boot, however, now I didnt get the headsum error. I got a 'ntskernel not found" message, along with the put in the Windows Vista disc and select 'repair computer'. 

Then I rebooted and got the same screen but with an error saying that winstart something like that was corrupted.

Rebooted and this time got several blue screen STOP messages that just popped on screen for 2 seconds and then it rebooted. 

Then I rebooted the lap and It didnt start, It kept booting for 3 seconds and starting all over again.

I dont know what this means. Cant be that the slots are faulty because chip A works in both slots. And it cant be that the RAM chips are faulty because chip A and B work in slot 1.

I though that if chip B didnt work in slot 2, but it DID work in slot 1; then putting chip B in slot 1 and putting chip A slot 2 would solve the problem.

->SLOT 1 : B
->SLOT 2 : A

Now it didnt boot, the laptop would turn on but there was no display. It kept like that forever. It just did not start. Then I switched the chip's places.

->SLOT 1 : A
->SLOT 2 : B

Now what happened I dont remember. lol. I just know that it did not work also. Then after a lot of tries I finally gave up and ended with chip B in slot 1.

=/, any ideas of why chip A works in both slots but chip B doesnt work in slot 2?.
Its frustrating!


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

this is strange. Are you sure both ram sticks are the same make and speed?

What cpu do have in it? if this is the version with the AMD cpu in it go into the bios and change the memory mode from ganged to unganged or the other way around then see what happens.

I have been researching the M17 and unfortunately I have read a lot of bad things about such as overheating, motherboard problems, ram problems and lots of other things.

You may have to get on to Alienware tech support about this but apparently their tech support is useless so it might be worth sticking on here and we will try to reslove the issue for you.


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## davosonic60 (Jan 22, 2009)

Hello, well both chip packages have the same specs printed on the side.

Unfortunately I have an INTEL Mobile Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU and thus, according to System Information, an INTEL Bios, and I dont see any ganged/unganged option there. Is there any other way to change that?

Btw, thanks for the help!


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## davosonic60 (Jan 22, 2009)

Quoting Techsupportforum.com's FAQ 

"The small chips on the ram sticks are most often not produced by the ram stick manufacturer, but rather produced by another corporation, the ram stick maker then buys the chips in contract bulk sales.
This is where much of the problem comes in, just buying sticks that are selected by manufacturer & specification only (example = PC3200 x 512mb) will not ensure you get sticks that have individual chips made by the same supplier! The presence of mismatch chips often results in a pair of memory modules that will not boot or best case; wont perform in dual channel mode."

When I bought my RAM, I asked for a 8gb kit but they only had 4gb single chips. Could this be part of the issue or could it be that there is some config that we can tweak in order to get it to work?.


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## speedster123 (Oct 18, 2006)

They should be a matched pair. Are there any options in the bios for voltage adjustments?


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## speedster123 (Oct 18, 2006)

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=873


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## davosonic60 (Jan 22, 2009)

Hello again,

I decided to give back the chips and Im getting some new ones with specs that I was told were 100% compatible with the M17 system. I'll post here again if there is any problem, which I hope there's not. 

Thanks for taking the time of helping me!


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