Adding RAM to KT7A causes crash

[DigitalHavoc]

The system:
KT7A (not RAID) version 1.1 running 64 bios
1GHZ/266 MHZ FDB AMD Athlon
2 sticks of PC133 128 MB Crucial RAM
Windows 98 SE

In the beginning there was 1 stick of PC133 in the mobo. The CPU settings were:
CPU= 1000 (133)
Mult= X7.5
FEB/PCI= 133/133
all else default

and it was good. Then I decided to add another identical stick of RAM. Then it crashed. REALLY crashed. Wouldn't boot. Then it would. Then there was registry damage. And it was bad. Make a long story short, I loaded the optimized BIOS settings, and all was well again! The settings were then:

CPU= 1000 (100)
mult= X10
FSB/PCI= 100/133

But now the processor is only running at 750 MHz. with some tweaking of the FSB only, I managed to get it up to 830 MHz, but still not at the required 1 GHz.

1. Why is the KT7A not supporting a full 133 MHz FSB with both ram sticks?

2. What tweaks can I perform to get it back to full speed?

BTW, the POST counts up all the memory and all is working at the slower speed, so I know the RAM stick is good.

Thanks!

DH

 

[minendo]

Are you positive that the new stick is PC133?

 

[DigitalHavoc]

Positive! As John Parker would say, believe IT!

 

[DigitalHavoc]

bump!

 

[RustyNale]

Try just the new stick, if it boots try and set it back to original settings. If it boots and is stable, shut down and add older stick. Same process again. If it doesn't boot correctly, try the second stick of ram in the other open slot, again attempt reboot. continue till all slots have been tried or comp boots correctly. Could be the new stick is bad, mis-marked, or you have a bad ram slot. Quick question, are you running the latest bios or has this started since you ran a bios update?

 

[DigitalHavoc]

Thanks RN.
I've tried the sticks in all combinations and every time the second stick is added, it destabilizes. I'm running the 64 Bios. I flashed it successfuly in November.

 

[WarCon]

Have you tried memtest-86 to see if its just a bad stick of memory?

 

[DaiShan]

I would definitely try running memtest 86 as warcon suggested, it can turn up little errors, Also is this name brand memory? is it all the same brand, some times mobos have problems with mix and match configurations, and those registry errors sound like bad RAM to me tho.