Memory problems

I have a dell dimension 8200 p4 with rdram. I recently purchased 2 sticks of compatiable ram which are 256 each. The system came with the original amount of 128x2. When installing i have had some problems but go it running but the memory wasnt true to its power it was around either 704 or 736. Just now i took the new ram out and went back to my old setup because i was going to try to get a warrenty information for it becuase i think it is faultey. But when i tried to turn on my computer after installing it the computer wont even turn on. It just beeps i know the codes but it changes many times but it all is the memory. I have tried all the combination i can think of using the old memory with the blanks the new with the blanks and i alternated slots of each one but its the same thing everytime it just beeps. I really have no idea what to do. My friend say that if teh computer was on while i was switching ram it would fry it. Im about 99.9% positive it was off even though the power plug was connected so i would have a ground if i did have any static. I have tried everything i have no idea what i can do. Is there anyway to check that everything is working and its not ram or if it is.
im all out of ideas

pleassse help
nick

hey nick

id put in the old RAM and take out things like video card and put them back in, same wiht your PCI cards, computers can be kinda funny and sometimes taking stuff out and putting it back in really securly can kick it into gear. Is there a possibility you staticed the RAM when taking it out of the package?

Steve

Yeah, I fried a motherboard with dust by simply replacing a CD drive for a DVD drive. My computer also was none too happy. If it's giving you a long beep (like mine did) that's probably not good. If you smell burning rubber (like I did) that's really not good. Hey I have a slightly used P4S800 motherboard I'll give you real cheap ... heh. Always the risk of your own computer upgrade is screwing something up that you aren't even directly dealing with, unfortunately. And I know better ... I was merely careless with that 1/8" of accumulated dust on the drive I pulled out.

thanks for teh help ill try plugging things in and unpluging them. But if my motherboard is fried what can i do to make absolutley sure?

Good question, without professional knowledge and electronics testing gear (all harder to come by and considerably more expensive than the motherboard) you really can't. I knew for sure when I replaced the motherboard and everything else (including RAM, PCI cards, Video card, hard drives, CPU) worked again! :-\ Although I was 98% certain of what was wrong ... it's kinda like the same process your mechanic does to fix your car. It might be the solenoid, and that's the cheapest part so we'll replace that. No. ... still not working, well let's replace the Alternator ... no, well, let's replace the whole engine! (G).

By the way you mention power.



Juice still goes through the motherboard even if it's not powered up if it is plugged in unless you switch off the power supply. You definitely should not have taken the case apart with it plugged into the wall!!!! Not only is it dangerous for the computer, but for your own self! Never do that again. Most new motherboards have a greenish LED light on the motherboard which lights up when there is power coming from the power supply. If you see that, the green light means: RED LIGHT. STOP. Unplug, do not insert fingers.

Yep, gotta unplug! When I first started to mess around "under the hood" I was extremely careful about static on memory sticks. Then I went to a computer show and bought a couple sticks of memory. There are many a booth at the shows that sell lifetime memory guaranteed sticks. They sell in bulk and don't take much in the way of special precautions to avoid static. You tell them what you want, they dig one out of a box, stick it in a plastic bag or little memory container and there you go. I was like, wow, what an geek I was using a grounding strap to add a memory stick. You have to be careful, touching the case before you get started to ground yourself out is needed but unless you're shuffling around on carpet while you install memory, you should be ok.

It sounds like your mobo is dead. You throw parts at it until it works again. If you have my luck, you'll make enough wrong guesses as to which part needs to be replaced that before long, you'll have enough extra parts to build another computer.

I had the same problem with my Dell 8200 (beeps a lot, no info). Look at the back of the machine. There are 4 lights labelled A,B,C,D. When it is busy beeping, some will be orange, and some will be green. Look em up on the Dell website...
The specific page describing the lights was...
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8200/codes.htm#1101572

The root page for 8200 supports is ...
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8200/

I will further describe my prolem and solution, but it ended up being really simple, so it may not be exactly what you are experiencing.

I realize now that the problem was that I didn't have "blanks" in the empty slots and that was all that was wrong. Dell calls them "continuity modules"

Lights A and B were yellow and C and D were green.

Dell told me to order the following:
PC800 RDRAM, 400 Mhz.
You might check the sales slip for the memory you ordered. Make sure it is the kind I mentioned above (especially the speed)

I have got my 8200 working with 4 new sticks of 128. After that I switched out the first two sticks of 128 with the original sticks of 256 to get more total ram.

Read all of the notices on the Dell page about adding memory. If I had done this I would have saved a half day.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8200/replace.htm#1101964