Black screen after installing ram

[gonnadoit]

I bought a 1gb kingston pc3200 400mhz stick and tried installing it on my computer along with the two 512mb sticks it had already. I turned on my computer and i get no signal from the monitor. The computer sounds like it's on. I removed the new stick that i bought and turned it on again and it's working again. I'm pretty sure i have the right kind for my computer.

here's the specs for my computer:
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/3726/3726sp27.shtml

[ricksy50]

Check all ram sticks to make sure all are same speed,you could also reset your bios to startup defaults and see if that helps then adjust speed of ram until it fails, kingston also have a compatibility checker somewhere on their site, check your mboard manual to see how the ram should be installed - on one of my boards i had to have a max of 1gb stick in slot 1 and 2 and it would only run at 333mtz not 400mtz if i had anything in slot 3 it would fail.

[alextheg]

If you have 4 dimm slots for your ram and you only ocuppy 3 of them this will cause your machine not to boot i am afraid.
You must occupy 2 or 4 slots.

[gonnadoit]

Originally Posted by ricksy50

Check all ram sticks to make sure all are same speed,you could also reset your bios to startup defaults and see if that helps then adjust speed of ram until it fails, kingston also have a compatibility checker somewhere on their site, check your mboard manual to see how the ram should be installed - on one of my boards i had to have a max of 1gb stick in slot 1 and 2 and it would only run at 333mtz not 400mtz if i had anything in slot 3 it would fail.

i'll check that

Originally Posted by alextheg

If you have 4 dimm slots for your ram and you only ocuppy 3 of them this will cause your machine not to boot i am afraid.
You must occupy 2 or 4 slots.

didn't know that. i added the 1gb stick along with the other two already in there. i took out the 1gb stick and it's working now. Guess i'll go have to buy another of the same.

[groovesection]

Originally Posted by alextheg

If you have 4 dimm slots for your ram and you only ocuppy 3 of them this will cause your machine not to boot i am afraid.
You must occupy 2 or 4 slots.

Not true,
you can have 3 modules but some MB`s rely on the modules being S/S or D/S and in slots 0, 1 & 2 or 3, 2, & 1
I run 3 in mine 2 X 1GB Corsair & an old OCZ 1GB module

[alextheg]

My last 2 mobos both had to have ram installed evenly in 2 or 4 dimms. Funnily enough my current mobo has the ss ds issue. If I want to use all 4 dimms I must use all ss modules.

[alextheg]

Originally Posted by alextheg

If you have 4 dimm slots for your ram and you only ocuppy 3 of them this will cause your machine not to boot i am afraid.
You must occupy 2 or 4 slots.

Im going to have to stick by this post im afraid. Ive checked out your specs and i see that you can install up to 2gb ram. Therefore i think it is very unlikely for you to sucsessfully install 2gb in 3 dimms. You will need to configure as follows:
Dimm 1: 512mb
Dimm 2: 512mb
Dimm 3: 512mb
Dimm 4: 512mb
Or
Dimm 1: 1gb
Dimm 3: 1gb.
As your max is 2gb this is the only way to achieve it IMHO.

[AleksanderII]

I am running a mishmash of scrap ram-cards in trying to max the memory in this junker tower, and want to find out if its all working... It seems to be running a little faster, but..?

How do you find memory-specs with Mint?..

[cantthinkof1]

Originally Posted by gonnadoit

I bought a 1gb kingston pc3200 400mhz stick and tried installing it on my computer along with the two 512mb sticks it had already. I turned on my computer and i get no signal from the monitor. The computer sounds like it's on. I removed the new stick that i bought and turned it on again and it's working again. I'm pretty sure i have the right kind for my computer.

here's the specs for my computer:
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/3726/3726sp27.shtml

I had the exact same issue on a Dell Latitude X200. Bought the ram on Ebay and installed it to get a blank screen. Eventualy it was figured out that the mobo would only use a ram dimm with chips of a praticular density. Ended up having to pay €90 for a 512mb chip

Hope you get sorted.

[louise071]

Try checking if you RAM is properly placed