System Reboots After Uprgrading To 512m Sdram

I HAVE A SYSTEMAX 1G ATHALON SLOT A,RUNNING 384MEGS OF RAM,SPACEWALKER AI61 MOTHERBOARD,WIN ME,30 GIG,16X10X40 CDRW,52X CD-ROM,ASUS GFORCE (AGP V7100) 2MX 32M VIDEO CARD,SOUNDBLASTER LIVE VALUE.

I HAVE THREE SDRAM CHIPS:1-128M PC100(CAME WITH THE COMPUTER),1-128M PC100 AND 1-256M PC100. THEY ARE NOT THE PC 100/133 INTERCHANGABLES.

I CAN PUT 2 CHIPS IN THE BOARD IN ANY COMBO AND IN ANY OF THE BANKS.UP TO 384MEG.IF I PUT ALL THREE IN AND GO UP TO 512M THE COMPUTER REBOOTS ITSELF ALL THE TIME.SOMETIMES WITHOUT MAKING IT TO WINDOWS.I HAVE SWAPPED CHIPS AROUND AND USED ONLY BANK 1 AND 3,AND BANKS 2 AND 3 BUT WITH ALL THREE IN IT REBOOTS?????

HELP PLEASE.TONY

 

these are the specs on your motherboard

Motherboard Specifications:
AI61
• Chipset: AMD 750
• Accepts PC133 SDRAM: Y
• Accepts SDRAM 100MHZ: Y
• Accepts SDRAM 66MHZ: N
• Accepts Registered SDRAM: N
• Accepts EDO: N
• Accepts Fast Page Mode: N
• Max EDO/FPM: N.A
• Accepts DDR: N.A
• Accepts ECC: Y
• Accepts RDRAM (Rambus): N.A
• Accepts Parity: N
• DIMM Socket Count: 3
• Sockets per DIMM Bank: 1
• 72-pin SIMM Socket Count: N.A
• Sockets per 72-pin SIMM Bank: N.A
• 30-pin SIMM Socket Count: N.A
• Sockets per 30-pin SIMM Bank: N.A
• Buffering: N.A
• Max Unbuffered SDRAM: 768MB
• Max Registered SDRAM: N.A

I do not see why you can not have 512megs ME supports 512 from what i know. and you say the first Ramset you got with your computer works with any of the other 2 but not all of them? If the old chipset wouldnt of worked id say it was cuz it mite be ECC(error correcting) but its not. you motherboard is capable of having up to 768 megs my only suggestion would be try it is this order 256,128New,128old. Whichever bank the oringal 128set was in is the first bank then so forth. if that does not work see if you can obtain another 256meg chip and then try 2 256meg chips to see if your computer can handle 512 if it still has problems there is a problem with the motherboard. Sorry i could not be of more help...maybe someone will expand on my idea..bacon

 

When you have all three dimms full, you start your computer, and the motherboard counts the ram, does it detect all of the 512MB of memory?? It should say 524288 minus any used for onboard video etc.

you can goto http://www.shuttleonline.com/ or http://www.spacewalker.com/english/support/faq/faq.htm

for info on your motherboard.

I agree with bacon, the memory configuration is supported by your board.

You may have to edit the sys.ini file. I think it is brianF that knows all about that one. EDIT !! This is the issue I was referring to, but now I don't think that is your problem, plus I don't remember if there is a sys.ini file in WinME. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q253912

you can download the manual here ftp://ftp.spacewalker.com/Manuals/en/ai61/Ai61en.zip

here is what crucial recommends for memory for your board http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?model=AI61&x=13&y=11

 

I DON'T WANT TO THROW AWAY A BRAND NEW 128MEG CHIP.I HAVE THE MANUAL FOR THE BOARD AND HAVE EVEN ADDED A VCACHE LINE TO MY SYS.INI FILE VCACHEMAX=524,??? WHATEVER IT WAS TO THE FILE.MAYBE I SHOULD ADD THE VCACHEMIN=50K OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.AND THE BIOS RECOGNIZES THE FULL AMOUNT ON BOOTUP.THE ONE THING THAT I DID NOTICE IS THE ORIGINAL CHIP THAT CAME WITH THE COMPUTER(AND THAT I DIDN'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH) ONLY HAS THE"WAFFERS" OR WHATEVER YOU CALL THEM ON ONE SIDE ONLY.THE NEW SDRAMS HAVE WAFFERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE CHIPS.I DON'T THINK THIS MATTERS THOUGH.TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH I HAVE A REALLY GOOD FEELING THAT IF I DO PUT 2 256M CHIPS IN ITS STILL GOING TO DO IT.THIS PROBLEM ONLY HAPPENS WHEN I GOTO 512M.RIGHT NOW I HAVE THE ORIGINAL IN BANK 1 AND THE 256M IN BANK 3 AND IM GOOD!

 

YES IT DOES.

 

With the full 512MB installed, can you enter safe mode OK?

Also try this.

Just have 2 dimms installed so you can actually start windows.

Then start>run>msconfig>advanced>check limit memory to> 256MB or 384MB.

OK out and then properly shutdown your computer and install the 3rd dimm. Turn the computer on and see if you can load all the way up into windows.

plus two other links to take a look at that relate to memory issues(further down the pages)http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/l0706/36l06/36l06.asp

http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/l0708/44l08/44l08.asp

When you set the MaxFileCache= for 512MB. Did you put 524288 instead of 512? It is specified in Kilobytes not MB.

I don't think it is a ram hardware configuration problem because usually the motherboard would let you know right away as soon as you turned on your computer. But then again, it could be.