how screwed am i?

[bonestonne]

Ok, so i haven't really touched my old server in a while [its my backup workstation for school] and i've come across this issue where it went from recognizing 640MB of RAM [1x 128, 2x 256] to recognizing 128mb of RAM.

now, that other 512mb of RAM is crucial to me, its the backbone of running that computer with XP [much less 2000 Professional].

i haven't tried memtest, but am i just completely done at this point? i had taken all the RAM out so i could move a hard drive up one slot [the RAM was in the way] and when i put it all back in [same order] my computer only recognized 128mb. now, its weird, because its performing strangely fast [dual 783mhz P-III Xeons]. this is becoming very frustrating, due to the fact that i need this tower running again for school. i suppose i can settle with less RAM, this computer is just going to be used for minor web-browsing, IM, and text writing for my classes, but it is a major blow because i fully intended to run photoshop 7 as well as audition 1.5 [my most heavily used applications] to get other work done.

for the time being, i have the two 256mb sticks of RAM out of the motherboard lying on the floor of the case [for grounding purposes] but would like to know if there's any other way besides memtest that will tell me what my choices are.

i have my new computer and its running fine, so i'm not completely out, and i also have my laptop, but its stressful [and i'm sure i'm not the only person to have this kind of issue].

i'm hoping my Xeons aren't nearing the end, its a box i really don't want to get rid of...

any advice is greatly appreciated,

bonestonne

[Ponch]

Have you tried cleaning the contacts and putting them back in ? That's all I can think of, it sometimes happens that the

stick is not regognized because not properly inserted. You can also try testing them in an other comp (I guess Memtest will not run on them if they are not recognized at first).

[Kelsenellenelvian]

Yup you're screwed either the mobo slot went out or the ram blew...

[Stoic Joker]

I'm with Ponch on this one, bad RAM will usually hang the boot during POST. Blow the dust out of the slot, and then clean the RAM's contacts with a pencil eraser.

[bonestonne]

ok, so i haven't cleaned the contacts yet, but its on my to-do list...i hadn't touched the compt at all yesterday...i put the RAM back in 'bout an hour ago, and its all fine and dandy again.

i guess i'll clean the contacts and put them back in later..but i did notice that there were no error codes, so thats weird...the board is nearing 10 years old, and this has happened before but a restart didn't fix it this time.

next up i have to figure out why its having so much trouble booting off CD. [i suspect the IDE cable].

thanks for the cleaning advice though!

-bonestonne

[Stoic Joker]

next up i have to figure out why its having so much trouble booting off CD. [i suspect the IDE cable].

Servers tend to sit in corners where they're ignored until they stop working. So the CD issue could also be a dust problem. Air being pulled through the case also passes through the CD, and can deposit a ton of dust on the optics causing all sorts of read issues.

Just a Thought

Stoic Joker

[bonestonne]

while i would suspect dust, this server is my baby, so its very well kept [and in an ATX tower case rather than rackmount case].

i ended up changing the order of the RAM in the slots and its working now with the RAM. the second RAM slot doesn't like 256mb anymore?

it was having issues with CD/installing the OS because i accidentally set a jumper wrong [hard to read some labels upside-down].

all is well, and i'm going to dual boot XP with Fluxbuntu on this thing now with a pair of deskstars, and look for a new case as well [this one is beat up, and lacks one 5.25" bay cover].

i may buy a second Cooler Master Elite 330 or a Centurion 530. or i may just wait for my 4U rackmounts to be free.

thanks for the tips though everyone, i'll be dragging this to the air compressor soon...interesting how it rejects this IBM RAM though.

Supermicro S2DGU board, Dual PIII Xeons 700mhz OC'ed to 783mhz, with 640mb of SDRAM.the extra 256 would come in handy, but ah well. at least i know its still running again...its my workstation for school for the next few weeks.