Probs upgrading to DDR Memory on ASUS A7A266..need advice

[Foxx1966]

I am trying to upgrade from 384 megs of cl2 Crucial SDRAM to 2 256 mb sticks of Crucial 2100 DDR memory. However, when I get the DDR memory in (there is two slots specifically for DDR memory, and 3 other slots for regular SDRAM), my computer will not post. The lights on the drives come on, and that is about it. I doubt that Crucial sent me two sticks of bad DDR memory?

Is there any jumper or dip switches that have to be changed in order for the a7a266 to recognize DDR memory? Any bios settings that should be changed before I put the DDR memory in to make it recognize it? I guess I'm totally lost here, but I thought this board was suppose to automatically recognize the difference between DDR and SDR. I thought this was going to be as simple an upgrade as possible, but I have spent all afternoon pulling memory out and putting it back in, and have finally given up. I am 100 percent positive that the DDR memory was seated correctly and firmly. DDR memory in, computer won't post, put old SDRAM back, computer comes on fine. If anyone is familiar with this board, and can offer any advice or step by step instructions (I'm still learning!), it would be VERY appreciated. Hate to pay a tech $65 bucks an hour if this is something simple. But I sure am dying to test out the DDR memory with this Athlon 1.33 processor!

 

[digme]

i don't think ive ever heard of a board which automatically detects ddr vs. sdram so, i.e, being said please look into ur manual..... ive bought mainly boards manufactured from ecs and pcchips.... with the exception of the ecs k75sa board(as far as my memory goes), the rest of the boards have a memory jumper selectors or have softmenu's in bios....

it also wouldn't hurt to check ram voltage settings in the bios.... make sure it's the right voltage and bus/fsb speed config...
good luck...

 

[Foxx1966]

But would the pc's bios come up if there was a problem with the memory settings or voltage? Or would the bios not come up at all if the DDR memory or my DRAM memory slots were bad? With the DRAM in, NOTHING appears, my monitor is completely blank, only the drive lights come on. Take out the DDR and put the Sdram back in, everything perfect again.

If anyone actually has this motherboard, and has successfully upgraded from SDRAM to DDR, I would greatly appreciate it if you could share how you did it, settings you had to change, etc... I'm concerned that something might be wrong with my motherboard. I have gone through the manual, and I've got to admit that all the jumper settings and bios settings might be a little over my head, but I did not find ANYWHERE in the manual that specifically stated what settings had to be changed (if any) to use DDR ram. And the thought of not being able to use DDR Ram (which is why I got this motherboard in the first place), is gonna keep me from sleeping tonight

 

[AndyHui]

The A7A266 will automatically detect whether or not you have SDRAM.

The problem is that you are trying to use 2 DDR DIMMs. On older revisions of this board (which the majority of the market are right now....ASUS only recently made a new revision of the board), you must shift the position of the unmarked jumper located at the end of the AGP Pro slot from 1-2 to 2-3. This jumper controls the voltage to the DDR DIMMs. In the 1-2 position, the board cannot supply enough power to both DIMMs and operate at the 133/266MHz FSB.

 

[JayBone]

Yep, I dealt with the same thing.
My question is this: Does anyone know *why* they made the board that way? Or at least why they neglected to mention anything about that jumper in the manual?

 

[Foxx1966]

Well, would this affect it with only ONE 256 meg DDR module installed? I tried it with only one, and the same thing happens. It just does not boot up or post. nothing at all but the lights on the front come on, and no video output whatsoever. Thanks for all the help so far guys, I really appreciate it. This has been driving me crazy.

 

[Wetling23]

Have you tried flashing the BIOS? That was suggested to me when I was trying to go from 256DDR to 512DDR. I never tried it (I just bought an 8k7a ) but it can't hurt.

 

[Foxx1966]

Yes, I'm running under the newest bios. But even with an older bios, I should at least be able to use 1 stick of DDR.

I moved the jumper as suggested above (the one at the very end of the agp card), and tried to boot up with just 1 stick of DDR ram, and the same thing happened---computer hangs, no video at all, never gets to post. I fixed the jumper back to it's original position, and removed the ddr memory, and put my old sdram back in, it booted right up to the bios screen. But this time I noticed a message on the right hand side of the bios that said something like "your computer hung on the last attempt to boot up due to an improper cpu speed setting." Those weren't the exact words, but it was something very similar. Now I am very disappointed and upset...

Does anyone here have this same motherboard??? Has anyone else tried to do this? I really need some expert advice.

 

[Foxx1966]

Ok, I have got the problem solved. I just wanted to let you guys know, maybe this info will help somebody else.

When switching from SDRAM on the ASUS a7a266 to DDR Ram, you have to make sure that you are operating in JUMPER free mode, and all dip switches must be OFF. My problem was that dip switch 5 was "ON", and this dip switch can only be enabled if you are using SDRAM. Once I turned that switch off, everything worked like a charm. Thank God, I can now breathe easier , and I don't have to pay a tech for anything!