please help me new rig wont work

[mowersman]

my new rig wont work
i have a stick of ram (1gb) and my mobo will support 1gb in each slot .also the minimum supported is 64mb but in the bios it says that i only have 32 mb with 2 mb of that for integrated video.
also when i try to install my video card it stops all display on my integrated video so i cant boot to install the software that came with my card but when i try to install my software before my card goes in it wont install it
also when windows me boots it only runs in 16 colors and 640 by 480 like it is safe mode
can someone please help me as this is my first build

 

[SB305]

Wow! You're gonna get a lot of replies to this!
First, remove the video card if it's still in and disconnect whatever hardware you can: optical drives, add-on cards, etc.
Is the full capacity of the RAM module recognised in any slot?
As regards the video card, you have to install the drivers with the monitor connected to the card's connector and internal graphics disabled.
Your new graphics card manual will give you very specific instructions on how to remove the internal graphics from Windows and replace it with a "Standard VGA Adapter" before installing your new card. Unfortunately, it will be futile until you've sorted out the RAM.
Good luck!

 

[Flags]

You built a new rig and are putting Windows ME on it?
You'll be sorry. ME is/was nothing but trouble.

 

[jazz3000]

I think you're reading something incorrectly or I am. You wouldn't be able to even boot your system up if what you're saying about your memory is correct? MY RIG WONT WORK?
Then you say you're booting up but????
Well first off your integrated video would be a part of your chipset - Motherboard standard. That would be on the motherboard setup itself with mouse and keyboard. That requires the CD that came with your motherboard. Not unusual for a motherboard to alot a smaller amount of memory for video use. You obviously have your chipset installed in order to be on the system if what I'm reading is correct. You can see a screen and you've installed your OS but it won't recognize your resolution from the CD because???
When your system boots and the black screen shows up rimming off the system hardware what does the Memory reading state. You have a list - HD primary, CDRom, Memory that runs by. What is that telling you.
Slow down and be as specific as you can so we can help the best we can. Your RIG is working but somethings wrong and we need to figure out step by step what it might be.
Let us know...Jazz
p.s. if you can read the black screen that rims Bios hit the pause so you can identify what's going on.


I need more info than what you're saying. Have you checked the specs in your manuel for jumper settings for what you're doing?

 

[mowersman]

1 it does work but not well enough to use
2 there are no jumpers but the ones for on board audio
3 im only using windows me until i can afford windows xp
4 when my monitor cable is connected to the video card it wont display any thing but when i use an old 32 mb card it works fine
5 even in the bios it will only recognize 32 mb of ram
6 my mother board is an Intel d845grg p4
7 this is only a cheap machine as i am 13 and this is my first machine

these are all my specs
p4 1.6 ghz
1gb pc 266
9.1 gb master disk
160 gb slave
intel d845grg
ati radeon 9200 128 mb graphics (agp)
is you need any more info please ask

thanks

 

[jazz3000]

Well good for you. 13 is a pretty young age to take that kind of interest in a New Build. We kid around in here alot, but never with the intention of hurting anyone's feelings. You don't need to apologize for your OS ME. We've all been there where our first new build is concerned, and it takes money to get a piece and a part, even for the Oldsters in the forum. You're off to a great start.
If I'm reading this correctly you're system is recognizing at least 1GB of the memory? Is this correct?
Your MB is an intel d845grg and you're running a pentium 4 1.6 CPU in it?
Can I ask why you're running a larger Slave than a Primary - only reason being is I don't believe ME sees more than 32 Gigs. (Personally I think I'd wait on the Slave until I was able to get the XP but am just asking)
Does your MB Bios require you enable your PCI and AGP cards? What does the manuel say regarding inserting an AGP card and it's voltage?
And before we discuss the issue of the possible need for Updated Bios I think I'll ask the above questions and we'll try going from there. Let us know...Jazz

 

[win2kpro]

To start with do this;

Access BIOS and post the BIOS string. When BIOS opens you will see some alpha characters and numbers that look something like this; RG84510A.86A.0028.P15
post exactly what you see on your BIOS screen.

Post everything that is written on the memory module.

 

[mowersman]

right i think ive found my problem
on Intel.com it says that my mobo (d845grg) can support 1 gb of ram in each slot
i can just about get it to work on the 32 mb it is recognizing and i ran siw and it says that my mobo can only handle 512 mb in each slot
so does this i need to get more ram or is it that i have another problem
also i updated my bios and that has not helped
thanks for your help so far
one other problem we haven't got any windows that it will fit out of

 

[jazz3000]

Hey there mowerman. You need to follow through with what's being asked or we'll all be confused. I am not clear as to what you're saying about any "windows that it will fit in?"
I think you're saying you are able to see you're OS with the integrated display video on the motherboard?
Does your MB manuel state it can handle a gb in each slot? or are you saying you have four memory slots on the MB and you're running 2 sticks of 1GB? The answer would be yes. If you have four slots and you're trying to run 2 sticks of 1GB then you need to find a stick of 512 MB, to start the system. That would be a conflict, and be causing most of your troubles right now. If I've misread what you're saying correct me. Let me know...Jazz

 

[mowersman]

right i have 2 slots on my mobo 1 with a 1 gb stick in on the Intel website it says that the mobo can handle 1 gb in each of the 2 slots
but when i use windows system info it says that it can only handle 512 mb in each slot
sorry if i confused you
thanks
the bit with the windows i want to throw it out of one (see win2kpros's advice)

 

[win2kpro]

I built a lot of machine with the D845 series boards. If you read the specs on the 845GRG you will see this notation.

NOTE: Desktop Boards D845GRG and D845GBV have been designed to support
DIMMs based on 512 Mbit technology up to 2 GB, but this technology has not been
validated on these Intel desktop boards.

When I was building with these boards we never put more than 512Mb. of RAM in each slot so I really don't know if the machine will run with a 1Gb. module because it was never validated.

When you are building a machine with integrated video, ALWAYS get the machine up and running with the integrated video before adding any PCI, AGP or now PCI-e cards.

I'm sorry you didn't provide the BIOS string I asked for. If you flashed the BIOS from the Intel site with the Intel BIOS, and the board has a proprietary BIOS it will never run correctly.

 

[Rich-M]

I am not positive I'm right because it was so long ago I used it, but didn't Me have a system limit of 512 ram?

 

[SB305]

The answer to that is maybe, maybe not.
There's a workaround using vcache if the problem does arise.
This old 98SE rig had the same "perhaps" limit but runs a 1GB stick of RAM without any modification to the system.

 

[win2kpro]

Rich, some manufacturers even recommended not running ME with more than 256Mb. or RAM. I ran some ME machines with 512 and sometimes it would run, and other times it would get squirrely as hell.

 

[jazz3000]

Can you get 512 stick Power? Even one if you borrow it at this point will give you an idea as to whether it's a part of the problem. Jazz
Got cha regarding Windows. You can't afford to toss it until it works kid. Keep in touch with what's happening.