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Dual Channel problem

I

InflatableMouse

Junior Member
Hi all,

This morning out of the blue (pun intended) my pc crashed with a stop error 0x1a and wouldn't boot up normally after that (bluescreened during boot). Nothing changed, not even a USB device.

A couple of weeks ago I did replace some hardware. Harddisk was replaced with an Intel SSD 80GB and I expanded the memory from 2x2GB to 4x2GB and I got an OEM copy of Win7pro 64bit with that as well.

Hardware was replaced 1 piece at a time and a clean install of Windows 7 was done after everything checked out.

The memory was fully tested overnight with memtest86. No faults found.

I've read 0x1a is generally considered faulty RAM so I booted up my memtest86 3.50 CD, default mode (single CPU). Within seconds, pc reboots.

I load up BIOS defaults, and make sure RAM and CPU settings are set to proper settings (SPD, not OC'd, default voltages). Reran the test and it reboots again.

I take out all my RAM modules, and put 1 in socket 1. During POST I see it's running Single Channel configuration (obviously).

Memtest finishes without any errors. I repeat this for the other modules same story, no errors.

I continue by putting 2 in (from the same kit) and memtest fails within seconds.

I switch them around in different banks, basically all possible configurations. The test always fails within a few seconds (reboot).

Replace the modules with the other 2 and repeat memtest, reboots within seconds.

I continue testing and any combination of DIMMS in any slot fails. Any single DIMM in any slot works flawlessly.

I have reseated everything and made sure all contacts are clean.

MB is a Gigabyte Ep35ds4, c2d 3ghz and 4x2GB Kingston value Kvr800.

I wish I could force the MB in single channel with 2 or 4 DIMMS, but I can't find out how. Even with 1 DIMM in a yellow and another in a black slot puts the MB in dual channel mode.

I am ready to blame the MB having gone haywire, but since I have had a similar issue years ago with an AMD 3200+ I wanted to post this up first. That issue was caused by the CPU not matching the memory speed (166 vs 200Mhz). Clocking down the memory bus to match the CPU clock of 166Mhz fixed the issue.

I don't think this is the same issue again, but maybe it is some setting related issue that I am missing.

I have tried clocking down both the CPU and memory buses and I have also upped the memory voltage by 0.15 to see if it would stabilize.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

TIA!
 
Hm ... this is silly ...

I put the memory back in and everything works again. Ran both the old and new memtest(+) and both run fine.

I did make some changes in the BIOS using fixed values for the RAM timings but nothing I hadn't tried before I think. But as it often goes I didn't keep a written record so now I'm questioning myself.

Ah well ... only wasted some forum space I guess 🙂
 
you probably turned off legacy USB support when playing around in the bios. Did the trick for me when I had the same problem.
 
hehe ... no I didn't 😛

That doesn't make a pc reboot during memtest nor does it make Windows bluescreen.

What it does do is make you think your pc is hanging if it is waiting for your input after the POST. If that makes you swap memory banks for half a day I think its time to consider another hobby 😉
 
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

"Memtest freezes or my system reboots when running memtest.

Check that you have USB legacy support disabled in your BIOS setup. Some BIOS’s had a bug in them which causes memtest to write over the memory area used by the USB legacy support resulting in freezes or reboots."

http://shsc.info/Memtest86
 
oke, I see your point. In your initial post I asumed you were referring to a seemingly hanging system because a USB keyboard isn't working in DOS without legacy support enabled.

After a BIOS reset I always go through all the options to set it up properly. At this point I have no clue what was wrong so I won't deny that after I reset the BIOS I may have forgotten to set that one. It would explain the persistent reboots, but it doesn't explain why it only did it in dual channel with 2 or more DIMMs installed. It never rebooted during the tests with 1 DIMM installed.

Also, I tend to press numlock every once in a while to see if its not stuck.

Anyway, it is enabled now and its been working fine since sunday night 😀

Thanks for pointing out that bug though. I appreciate the help. 😉
 
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