Triple/Dual Channel RAM issue - Can only run 1 stick of ram at a time

nboy22 · 03-24-2010, 05:46 PM

Hello everyone,

I'm building a computer for my internship, it's one that I can do 3D work on. I got the parts today however, I'm running into a roadblock.

I have:
Core i7 920
ASROCK X58 Extreme Mobo
6 GB (2GBx3 sticks) Corsair XMS3 DDR3
ATI 5770
Seagate 500 gb hdd

My problem is most likely with either the motherboard or RAM modules/timings. What happens is that I can only install 1 stick of RAM at a time.

The computer boots perfectly fine with just 1 2GB stick in it, but as soon as I put another in it gives me the LED code "38" which means "Initializes different devices through DIM." According to the mobo manual. Whatever that means, I don't know, but it sounds like it's just trying to link some things up in the RAM and it's getting stuck during the process

Now what's even more strange is when I have all three sticks of DDR3 in the machine, it gives me the LED Code 6A. My problem with the LED Code 6A is that there is no documentation for it, the mobo manual does not say what that means.

I have tried installing all 3 sticks of ram by themselves into the first RAM slot, and the computer boots with all 3 RAM sticks so I'm going to assume the RAM is not bad for now and leave a memtest86 test till I have tried everything else.

Something noteworthy is that my bios settings (when booting up with 1 stick of ram) shows the RAM timings to be incorrect compared to what is written on them. I don't have them in front of me right now but the ones on the RAM stick said something like 9-9-9-14 and the RAM timings in the bios said something that began with an 8.

So my next steps are going to be trying to manually program the RAM timings into the bios and see if that works.. I also have a 4 GB (2x2GB sticks) Kingston RAM laying around that I will try tomorrow. Do these sound like adequate troubleshooting steps? Maybe someone can make more sense of this for me, would timings alone cause the mobo to not even show video on the screen?

nboy22 · 03-25-2010, 12:44 PM

just an update.

Tried changing ram timings in Bios settings - not working

Tried different ram of a different brand (Kingston) - not working (same issues)

Tried putting one ram stick in second slot - computer boots up fine, indicating that the issue is NOT a bad DIMM slot.

Tried putting a ram stick in the 2nd and 3rd slots, and it throws the same LED Code "38"

I'm convinced this is purely a problem with the bios settings at this point. Not sure if I'm adjusting the RAM settings properly because the at auto setting, the RAM reads as 1066, but when I adjusted the timings manually the RAM reads as 800.

Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention I also upgraded the bios to the newest revision, still no luck.

nboy22 · 03-25-2010, 01:35 PM

2nd update.

Got a little farther, downgraded the Bios from 2.1 to 1.4.

The 1.4 update was for certain corsair memory modules which were 2000, but mine are 1333.

It's now throwing an error code "20" on the LED with 2 sticks of ram in, and it is still throwing the "6A" LED code with 3 sticks of ram in.

nboy22 · 03-25-2010, 01:48 PM

LAST UPDATE

It's resolved.. after about 4 hours of troubleshooting I was able to downgrade the bios to the 1.3 version, which was originally for a different model of ram, but it has worked for my model of RAM.

For future reference, if you're running an Asrock X58 Extreme mobo with certain models of corsair, either use the bios update 1.3 or 1.4 from Asrock's website.

Reincus · 03-25-2010, 01:53 PM

Ouch. That's an annoying problem. Good job on figuring it out though.

Having to downgrade your BIOS to get new components to work = fail

nboy22 · 03-25-2010, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reincus

Ouch. That's an annoying problem. Good job on figuring it out though.

Having to downgrade your BIOS to get new components to work = fail

Yeah.. that's what I was thinking. Doesn't make much sense but at least I'm happy now that it's all sorted out, thankfully my years of PC troubleshooting have paid off or I probably would've never figured it out.

KGB · 03-25-2010, 03:08 PM

If, for some unseen reason you need to upgrade your BIOS in the future, try upping the VDIMM setting and see if you can run all your modules.

capmgn · 04-09-2010, 10:00 PM

nboy22:

I literally created an account to thank you. I had been struggling for hours to get the mobo to detect my RAM...searching on forums, etc. I have to say that your suggestion completely solved my problem! I love you so much.

nboy22 · 04-10-2010, 02:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capmgn

nboy22:

I literally created an account to thank you. I had been struggling for hours to get the mobo to detect my RAM...searching on forums, etc. I have to say that your suggestion completely solved my problem! I love you so much.

Dude I tottaaalllyyy feel your pain on this one. I struggled pretty bad with this one and am happy I could be of help to you with this post!