Memory or system issue?

[sungar]

I've had an HP Pavillion ze4420us laptop for about 3 years. It came with 256 MB of memory, so I added a 512MB module to bring the total system up to 768MB. This worked fine until about a month ago.

I started having various errors, depending on which slot I had the 512MB module in it. Remove that module and leaving the 256MB module in and the system works fine (except slow, of course.) I sent the 512 MB memory back to Centron and had it replaced under their lifetime warranty policy.

I got the new memory today and I can't get it to work. When I have both modules in, it doesn't even recognize the 512MB module, but the system works fine. Going to BIOS won't let me change what the laptop thinks I have.

If I just have the new 512MB module in, the laptop keeps rebooting as soon as I power on (doesn't even show the initial press F2 for for setup screen.) This was one of the things that was happening originally before I sent the memory in for replacement.

Is it possible (likely?) that the new module is also bad? Or is it more likely that I've got some other kind of problem with my laptop?

Any help in trying to diagnose this would be greatly appreciated. While his laptop is far from current technology, I'd prefer to avoid having to drop $1,000 to replace it.

Thanks.
-Steve

 

[Tedster]

That particular brand may be incompatible with your computer. Also match brands, speeds, type, and sizes. I suggest two 512mb. Also Centron is a cheap brand.

 

[sungar]

Tedster,

It worked fine for about 3 years, up until about a month ago. If there were compatibility issues, would they have appeared sooner?

 

[kangaruffian]

mmellish has same problem i dunno solution for that but he might knows something..
https://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?p=287899#post287899

 

[N3051M]

If there were compatibility issues, would they have appeared sooner?

not realy.. it just depends on how well the electronics is made and structured out..

take PSU's for example.. cheap generic brands tend to do more harm than good, and good quality brands survive years with grunt to spare...

 

[Tedster]

you said Centron was a recent purchase. Is your original brand centron also? If so, disregard compatibility issues. You may need to match size and memory timings.

 

[sungar]

Sorry if I was unclear in the original post. System came with 256 MB of memory, but didn't have a brand name on it and I don't recognize the logo. I bought the Centron memory soon after I got the system (about 3 years ago), and it worked fine until about a month ago. Started having issues, and had the memory replaced under lifetime warranty. Got the replacement memory, and system won't recognize it.

It sounds like what's being said is that I should buy new memory, something like Kingston? Any other ideas, and/or recommendation on where to get the best price?

Thanks again for you help.
-Steve

 

[CrossFire851]

Well can you tell us the the speed or maybe type of freq like pc2700 (example)?? and the cas seetings like 2-3-3-6 (example).


That should at least be the same.

 

[kangaruffian]

DDR SODIMM 200pin will fit.. 256 or 512 module max 2x512 get 2 Corsair and toss that orginal out.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145482

 

[sungar]

OEM
PC2100 256MB DDR 266MHz CL2.5

Centron
512MB T2700
There's not a lot of other info on the chip and I don't remember if this was the same as what I sent them back for replacement. I thought I bought a PCxxxx style module before. Are these the same?

You asked for the cas seetings, but I dont' know what they are. What do they represent, and what would they look like on the label (didn't see anything like 2-3-3-6)

Thanks again for your help. As you might be able to tell, I'm trying to learn as I go.

 

[Tedster]

possibly the original stick has started to fail. With only the original stick in, run memtest 86+ booted from a cd rom for at least 7 passes. If you get any errors - toss the memory and replace it.

Sometimes these errors don't crop up until you add more memory.