vmm32.vxd problem when upgrading RAM

[ScrewUpgrading]

Got the 133MHz chip in the mail today. Didn't work. Computer only takes HP Proprietary Ram in slot 1. Basically HP is full of sh!t when they say this computer is upgradeable to 512MB. And if they're wrong about that, then I'm not gonna bother trying anything else out.

Hehe. Oh well.

[technoid]

Got the 133MHz chip in the mail today. Didn't work. Computer only takes HP Proprietary Ram in slot 1. Basically HP is full of sh!t when they say this computer is upgradeable to 512MB. And if they're wrong about that, then I'm not gonna bother trying anything else out.

Hehe. Oh well.

Sorry to hear that. Could you show me the eBay page you purchased it from? I'm inclined to see if it is low density in the first place. which I would initially presume it is. Ya know, I think we should've started looking for 256MB PC133 instead of the just 128MB. Now of course if I were you, I'd keep going, but since I am not, I won't push you any further, unless you want to, heh. Just for the sake of it, I will keep researching and may give you more data/links for your own perusal. I am an upgrader and overclocker by nature, so that's why I'd want to keep going. For example, I am putting a 486SX PC back into commission (with an Evergreen 486-to-Pentium type of overdrive upgrade). It was in storage for a few years and decided to resurrect it. It had Windows 3.1 originally and I successfully got 98SE on it. Slow, but it works. Hmm, not sure if I already mentioned this. Anyway, I guess you can float back to Square 1 for awhile, or forever.

[submix8c]

Will this help (re: low-vs-hi density)? More info related to RAM as well (and I HOPE it has no errors... it looks fairly correct)...

[ScrewUpgrading]

Sorry to hear that. Could you show me the eBay page you purchased it from? I'm inclined to see if it is low density in the first place. which I would initially presume it is. Ya know, I think we should've started looking for 256MB PC133 instead of the just 128MB. Now of course if I were you, I'd keep going, but since I am not, I won't push you any further, unless you want to, heh. Just for the sake of it, I will keep researching and may give you more data/links for your own perusal. I am an upgrader and overclocker by nature, so that's why I'd want to keep going. For example, I am putting a 486SX PC back into commission (with an Evergreen 486-to-Pentium type of overdrive upgrade). It was in storage for a few years and decided to resurrect it. It had Windows 3.1 originally and I successfully got 98SE on it. Slow, but it works. Hmm, not sure if I already mentioned this. Anyway, I guess you can float back to Square 1 for awhile, or forever.

Sure, here it is:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120770582723?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Just in case you wanted to know, the chip I got in the mail, it says, "SDR 16x 4 133 P3 128M AUM 2007." And on the chips themselves it says, "16x8/133 2007".

I like upgrading too, but more along the lines of simply installing a newer version of a program. Well, I did add an extra 256 MB Ram on my computer, which was definitely faster than the 128MB originally.

Good luck on the 486. What kind of software you planning to put on it?

Hey, Technoid, I found my computer for sale on Ebay today. Which is pretty rare, because I check often... you know, for spare parts and sentimental reasons.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hewlett-Packard-Pavilion-7845-/190585275214?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item2c5fc4834e

Can I half-jokingly sugguest you buy it and see how far you could upgrade it....

I'd be interested in knowing what could be done with it in a capable person's hands.

Then after you're finished, could you post a quasi-instructional text (in laymans terms) for upgrading it. LOL.

Submix8c wrote:

Will this help (re: low-vs-hi density)? More info related to RAM as well (and I HOPE it has no errors... it looks fairly correct)...

Wow, that's a lot of stuff to take in. I'll bookmark it for future reference, thanks.

Edited October 7, 2011 by ScrewUpgrading

[technoid]

Sure, here it is:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120770582723?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Just in case you wanted to know, the chip I got in the mail, it says, "SDR 16x 4 133 P3 128M AUM 2007." And on the chips themselves it says, "16x8/133 2007".

I like upgrading too, but more along the lines of simply installing a newer version of a program. Well, I did add an extra 256 MB Ram on my computer, which was definitely faster than the 128MB originally.

Well without any further research, that does look alright and low density. Is that all it says on the chips, "16x8/133 2007"? There must me some sort of model number and manufacturer on them too.

As far as getting an HP branded memory, there's this one: http://h30094.www3.hp.com/product/sku/3118399/mfg_partno/AO16C3264-PC133

Then there's always Kingston and Crucial. But again, it's still risky, I don't want you to sink any more time and money into this. Not sure if you have to pay return shipping (and restock fee) if you don't want it. The only thing right now that might be a more feasible upgrade would be getting that 1.0 GHz Pentium III. But again, well. Of course there's always that motherboard bug that you found at the HP forums. It would be nice to know exactly what this bug entails.

Good luck on the 486. What kind of software you planning to put on it?

Not much. The primary application on it will be this multi-user (network) medical accounting program from the mid 1990's. We are going to use it as another client PC at the office. It was before, it will be again. This was a biatch to install 98SE. Lots of driver conflicts I had to get through, but I've gotten it 99% stable now. Specs are 80486DX at 50MHz (Overdrive add-on, originally 486SX 25MHz), 32MB SIMM's, two 428MB hard drives, external CD-ROM, slimline case (i.e. ISA cards are in horizontal slots). I could add a better ISA IDE controller (that fixes the old 528MB drive limit), but without going into details, it won't be convenient, so I won't. Presently I am looking around for cache IC's (256k external motherboard cache), to make it faster. It came without cache chips, the cache instruction and data chip slots on the board are empty. Bought in 1992. Of course it won't win any awards for speed these days and it will chug through video files (does "slide show" mean anything, heh?), but for that accounting program and Office 97, it works fine. I could max out memory to 48MB (or up to 64MB with an addon ISA memory card), but not at this time, I don't have any more SIMM's.

Hey, Technoid, I found my computer for sale on Ebay today. Which is pretty rare, because I check often... you know, for spare parts and sentimental reasons.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hewlett-Packard-Pavilion-7845-/190585275214?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item2c5fc4834e

Can I half-jokingly sugguest you buy it and see how far you could upgrade it....

I'd be interested in knowing what could be done with it in a capable person's hands.

Then after you're finished, could you post a quasi-instructional text (in laymans terms) for upgrading it. LOL.

Yeah sure if you could lend me the $120, heh. Seriously though, if I could, I would, but time would also be a constraint, I've got a few more systems I'm trying to upgrade, lmao.

Submix8c wrote:

Will this help (re: low-vs-hi density)? More info related to RAM as well (and I HOPE it has no errors... it looks fairly correct)...

Wow, that's a lot of stuff to take in. I'll bookmark it for future reference, thanks.

I've seen that before too.

[ScrewUpgrading]

I'd buy that HP 7845 myself if it wasn't so overpriced. $120 bucks? Does that include the shipping too? What a joke.

I couldn't sell my Dell Optiplex Gx-260 (2.8 GHz with 1 GB Ram) for any more than $50 bucks to the vultures on craigslist.

[Steven W]

I'd buy that HP 7845 myself if it wasn't so overpriced. $120 bucks? Does that include the shipping too? What a joke.

I couldn't sell my Dell Optiplex Gx-260 (2.8 GHz with 1 GB Ram) for any more than $50 bucks to the vultures on craigslist.

I don't mean to sound offensive, but sounds like the guys on Craigslist may be smarter than the folks on eBay. Desktops have become a cheap commodity.

[technoid]

But notice though that the eBay seller (Joe) is selling it bundled with other items, i.e. "Keyboard, Modem, Monitor, Mouse", as indicated in the Item Specifics section. You would have to ask him if the bundle is true. A used monitor in good working condition could easily be half or a third of that $120. Obviously it's the seller's discretion to come up with the price(s). I assume it's a CRT. At Goodwill, I have bought good working condition CRT monitors for around $15, around 14-17 inch diagonals. LCD's can cost a few bucks more, around $20-$50 and sometimes higher. On eBay, used fulling working LCD's can easily sell at a minimum of $50 (without S&H), maybe averaging around $75. Sometimes even $100. As you can see, Goodwill is a better bargain, imho and experience. And just like eBay, you have to go to Goodwill frequently (maybe twice a week?) just to see if an item you're looking for has popped up (all from donations, of course). And again, just like eBay, you have to be careful what you're getting. The only difference between eBay and Goodwill is that at Goodwill it's only a short drive and I can inspect (and even test) the item as much as I'd like. You can even return the item, without return shipping, heh.

Anyway, also notice that his 7845 only has the original memory capacity of 128MB. Now either he's tried to upgrade the memory and hit the obstacle that you've hit or he really is just trying to sell this thing because he's already acquired a more modern PC. Even if you bought this one, it is likely it probably has the same motherboard bug that yours has. There's no indication he's gotten it fixed, or even if he has, it's information he hasn't divulged. Contact him about that too only if curious.

[ScrewUpgrading]

I don't mean to sound offensive, but sounds like the guys on Craigslist may be smarter than the folks on eBay. Desktops have become a cheap commodity.

Not offended. I suppose one reason is that anything can sit on Ebay for months until someone buys it, whereas on craigslist it'll get buried in just a few days. So in order to sell something there you either have to repost everyday, or else lower your price just to get rid of whatever you're selling.

But notice though that the eBay seller (Joe) is selling it bundled with other items, i.e. "Keyboard, Modem, Monitor, Mouse", as indicated in the Item Specifics section. You would have to ask him if the bundle is true. A used monitor in good working condition could easily be half or a third of that $120. Obviously it's the seller's discretion to come up with the price(s). I assume it's a CRT. At Goodwill, I have bought good working condition CRT monitors for around $15, around 14-17 inch diagonals. LCD's can cost a few bucks more, around $20-$50 and sometimes higher. On eBay, used fulling working LCD's can easily sell at a minimum of $50 (without S&H), maybe averaging around $75. Sometimes even $100. As you can see, Goodwill is a better bargain, imho and experience. And just like eBay, you have to go to Goodwill frequently (maybe twice a week?) just to see if an item you're looking for has popped up (all from donations, of course). And again, just like eBay, you have to be careful what you're getting. The only difference between eBay and Goodwill is that at Goodwill it's only a short drive and I can inspect (and even test) the item as much as I'd like. You can even return the item, without return shipping, heh.

Anyway, also notice that his 7845 only has the original memory capacity of 128MB. Now either he's tried to upgrade the memory and hit the obstacle that you've hit or he really is just trying to sell this thing because he's already acquired a more modern PC. Even if you bought this one, it is likely it probably has the same motherboard bug that yours has. There's no indication he's gotten it fixed, or even if he has, it's information he hasn't divulged. Contact him about that too only if curious.

And it has Windows XP installed. So you're looking at either replacing the hard drive with a FAT32 if you plan to use Win9x, or else purchasing a Windows XP install disc if you don't already have one. (I don't.)

Lisk Bishop says in Alien 3, "I could be reworked, but I'll never be top of the line. I'd rather be nothing." I'm sure that computer would be okay if it had the 1 GHz pentium, 384 MB Ram, and the best graphic card it could handle.

I'm still tempted to buy it though, because it's the first one I've seen in years anywhere! Maybe he'll reduce the price in a week.

[technoid]

I'm still tempted to buy it though, because it's the first one I've seen in years anywhere! Maybe he'll reduce the price in a week.

Well, it's your money, heh. Of course I'd spend that money on a newer board, like some multi-core (although that means more money buying everything else for it... cpu, memory, heatsinks, psu, etc). I just looked at the auction and there's like 3 hours left at the time of this writing. If he's going to reduce price, it might only be like -$5-$10 every time.

Not sure if you've seen any of the following::

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Home-PCs-Pavilion-Presario/BIOS-for-Pavilion-7845-with-Cognac-Motherboard/td-p/721757

No resolution, just people asking for the bios file at the end:

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-7591_102-125938.html

Archived "7845" HP forum threads:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message/page/2?allow_punctuation=true&filter=location&location=Community:hpeb&q=7845&search_type=thread

I think this is the one you told us about:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Home-PCs-Pavilion-Presario/vmm32-dll-error-Memory-errors/m-p/46512/highlight/true#M4033

There is also the possibility of trying 512mb, but using 2 x 256mb pc100, not pc133, but I have no idea exactly what the motherboard bug is. Anyway, just another thing to think about, even if we're done here (as far as the RAM is concerned). If you want, you can try asking HP how much it would cost to repair the motherboard bug.

[ScrewUpgrading]

Thanks for all your input Technoid, and everyone else too, but I'm probably just going to let it be.

I'm unemployed and I dont' have any extra money right now. I need to find a job before I start more projects. Otherwise, I definitely would have bought tha t HP 7845 that was on ebay.

As far as my original problem concerning upgrading the RAM to 512, I'm pretty sure it's a flaw in the motherboard. 384 is probably the actual maximum amount without fixing the motherboard. And it's probably ten years beyond the warranty to do that. Besides, for Windows ME purposes I find my computer is adequate.

I read through those links you provided, and it seems that not only does this computer have problems getting Windows Me to recognize the Ram, it also presents different problems for Windows XP. Which is another ball of wax entirely.

I already tried installing Windows 2000 Professional on this thing, using FAT32 of course. I noticed that Windows 2000 performed faster, but the only (major )problems were that it didn't recognize my modem, nor could I find that drivers for it. Also, it didn't recognize my integrated grahpics chip. I did find the driver for the graphics, but after tons of seraching at the school computer I never found a working driver for the modem. Whereas, with Windows ME, everything works out of the box. Just reformat, install, and it's done and everything works. It's just a lot easier. Like HP says on it's webpage, this computer is designed soley to be used with Windows ME and they DON'T recommend Windows XP or 2000 operating systems. And I can see why after attempting it.

Again, thanks. I appreciate your guys' help.

Edited October 15, 2011 by ScrewUpgrading

[jaclaz]

Maybe if you post some EXACT data about that modem something can be found.

jaclaz

[ScrewUpgrading]

Well, I would have to unscrew it to find out. Can I get back to you on that when I find my screwdriver, somewhere around here? Because I don't know off the top of my head what model the modem is. All I know is that the last time I checked for the drivers, I found a "generic" WinLucent driver for Win2000. But after downloading the file and running it, it would always come up with an error. That's what I meant by not being able to find one that works.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a lazy butt (can't find my screwdriver and all), it's just that, I don't even have the Windows 2000 Pro cd anymore. So it's not like I can try and fix it now anyway.

Edited October 15, 2011 by ScrewUpgrading

[jaclaz]

Well, I would have to unscrew it to find out. Can I get back to you on that when I find my screwdriver, somewhere around here? Because I don't know off the top of my head what model the modem is. All I know is that the last time I checked for the drivers, I found a "generic" WinLucent driver for Win2000. But after downloading the file and running it, it would always come up with an error. That's what I meant by not being able to find one that works.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a lazy butt (can't find my screwdriver and all), it's just that, I don't even have the Windows 2000 Pro cd anymore. So it's not like I can try and fix it now anyway.

I can't see anyone running after you , you have all the time in the world and more.

jaclaz

[ScrewUpgrading]

Thanks