NF4 Ultra-D - RAM - Booting and Lockups"

[ryant]

After building my new system (sig specs - RAM: 2 x 512 DDR400 Generic - VDATA) I found that I couldnt install any of my operating systems because, despite the installtion method Win2K would blue screen with a stop error after the licence agreement, WinXP 64bit would restart the computer after loading initial drivers and WinME refused to install.

 

After messing around with the BIOS for 20 hours I looked at the generic ram i had in the system, and after removing one of the sticks was able to get Win2K to install. That night I ram memtest on both sticks, each giving me 52000 errors after 2 passes (about 25min).

 

This morning I replaced the RAM with 2 x Kingmax 512 DDR400 RAM and after installing it in slots 2 and 4 (orange) found that windows 2K refused to start due to an error with a file "ntoskrnl". So i rebooted and tried to reinstall windows from the CD except after checking the hardware gives the error: "Line 7099 of the INF is invalid. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit."

 

Removing the RAM from dual channel, and placing 1 x 512MB into slot 2, I ran memtest again with the new ram - It gave me 42 errors and then "Unexpected error" - After looking into memtest "More options" memtest told me "Chipset not supported" - (Am i correct in assuming its the RAM's chipset?).

 

I put the other 512MB into slot 2 and ran memtest - this time the image on screen was scrambled and i was forced to reset.

 

Then i ran both 512MB in dual channel slots 2 and 4 and ran memtest again: This time the screen greyed out, cept for a few squares with alpha-numeric and other symbols in red.

 

When i boot the system with 1 x 512 in slot 2 was able to get to the Windows loading screen, before another blue screen stop error occured.

 

So i looked around and found CMos settings for clearing the DMI pool and ran and changed those - now the system boots up until the point where it used to update the DMI pool and backup the BIOS and then resets.

 

Other problems:

Reset buton does not work - the screen turns off, but does not turn on again and the mobo remains on giving diagnostic video error - but wihtout the beeps. One time the screen did not turn off and I found the video card trying to estimate its onboard memory endlessly.

 

What steps should i take now?

Is the problem more likely to be with the RAM or the mobo?

 

Thanks for any help.

[Guest Beast]

Could be the ram needs more voltage. Try increasing your vdimm a little bit, 0.1 to 0.3. Also, if you haven't already, try flashing to the 02/09 bios (the latest beta bios). It fixes a few problems and helped me out.

 

For info I have to run my ram at least 0.2v higher than I normally do in other boards.

[ryant]

Ok, im very noobish in terms of hardware, what setting exactly? Vdimm? what values -> 2.6 - 2.9? I think this might actually be the problem.

[NEOAethyr]

Reset does'nt work as it really should in dos btw, it does'nt on my old nf2 board.

I think it puts into the standby mode you have it set at.

 

Vdimm, he's talking about the voltage to the ram .

Try upping that slightly.

[ryant]

Yeah i figured.

When i try change it to a different value in the BIOS, the value doesnt change... As soon as I can get it to boot, I plan to update the BIOS.

[Guest Beast]

This is a problem with the 1/25 bios (shipping bios) that drove me nuts until I figured it out.

 

You can change the vdimm, but you have to do it by highlighting it, and using Page Up and Page Down keys to change to the value you want. Do not press enter and select it from the list, just use PGUP and PGDN. Then, without moving off the vdimm selection (as doing so will reset it) press F10 which is the shortcut for "Save settings and exit". Now it the new vdimm selection should stick. You can go back into bios and check it has stuck, just don't try and select it as it will revert again (unless you use PGUP/PGDN then F10).

 

Clear?

[ryant]

hahah, yeah, i figured it out myself... i didnt use pg up or down - i just went in changed, pressed enter and used the up key... the down key makes the setting revert.

 

Yep, i upped the voltage by 0.1 each time, and each time it got further into windows - I also had that interleaving thing disabled, but once i got to 3V and turned interleaving back on it ran like gold =).

 

Thanks for the help.

 

I think the RAM might run on 2.9V but will running the RAM on 3V have any negative impact on my system?

 

[Edit : RAM needs to run at 3V - Will this be a problem?]