Adding RAM

I have an HP Omnibook 500 running Xubuntu 7.04. Before it had 256+128 megs RAM and I just replaced the 128MB with another identical 256MB. But it is showing only 256MB total. Any ideas? I don' know how to figure out what the problem is.

 

basically the fact its a something 500 would suggest to me its a pentium 3 500
and a lot of pentium 3's can only take 384meg ram
only a handfull of pentium 3's were ever designed to take more - certainly nearly every p3/500 will have a 384 limit even most p3 800's - it was only when they rolled out the 1 gig p3's that you started getting the ability to add more, really.

I am surprised though that it fails to register the extra ram it should have registered something I believe.

after putting the new memory in did you go to the bios and set it to refresh the bios on the next boot - otherwise it just reads the bios from the bios cache

Ok if you did then take out the first 256 bar that was with the 128 bar originally, and now
put the new one in its place and test that - if it works it means you have a 384 meg limit on that machine

 

I think its a pIII 700mhz with 512MB RAM limit.

I'll try to get a look at the bios.

thanks

 

Could be a hardware issue. I'd suggest trying a different stick of ram, if that works, you know what the problem was. Also, if it had a 384 limit, it would read up to that, and ignore the leftover ram. Did you install it securely, with the pc turned off?

 

i tried adding 512 to my old 600mhz P3. it wouldnt boot up at all. it just said memory error. so you should do what sentient said. if your limit is 512 then you inserted the memory wrong or maybe it is a bad chip.

 

It could be a hardware problem either way you maybe should do some tests to check if it is not damaged.

 

If you can, open up your case and look for any identifying numbers or names on the motherboard. Should help us diagnose the problem. If your hitting a memory ceiling it'll be the mobo. Also, tell us the exact speed/model of the memory you got.

 

Theres a new memory fixer out called hammer version 3
you could try using it on your laptop - beware though if you use hammer on a non hammer aware pc it can break it beyond repair