gtg93 Posted March 29, 2016 Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) Hi All, My personal laptop is running 64bit Windows 10 Ent, but only sees 4GB of my 6GB installed RAM (I have a 4GB and a 2GB stick in there). Windows only sees 4GB whether it be in system properties, task manager etc, it's the same. However, when I run CPUZ, it shows as 6GB. I know the 2GB stick works, as I've had it in another laptop working fine. Anyone got any ideas what's going on? I can't find the max RAM the laptop takes, but it's an i3 CPU, so assume it's more than 4GB, and from what I can see there was an 8GB model when it was originally for sale. The laptop is a pain to take apart, as it doesn't have a separate access door for the RAM... I can see I'm probably going to have to take it apart and swap them around etc to see what's what, but was hoping someone might have another idea first? It's an Acer (I know - there's my first problem) Travelmate P256. Thanks Edited March 29, 2016 by gtg93
gtg93 Posted March 29, 2016 Author Posted March 29, 2016 My BIOS is only seeing 4GB, so I'm leaning towards a H/W fault or a BIOS upgrade is needed?
Dos_Box Posted March 29, 2016 Posted March 29, 2016 I had a first gen i7 + motherboard which had the same problem. It turned out that there were isseus with that socket type motherboards and RAM detection. I had 6Gb triple channel and one day the motherboard and Windows decided it could only see 4Gb (no BIOS update or changes made, it just happended) even though software could see the full amount. Eventually the memory controller failed 1
gtg93 Posted March 29, 2016 Author Posted March 29, 2016 (edited) Bizarre... I'm just about to try a BIOS upgrade but can't see that helping. I'm hoping I've just been unlucky and somehow fried the 2GB stick when swapping it over - but then I doubt any software would see it... Edited March 29, 2016 by gtg93
mjs_mjs Posted March 29, 2016 Posted March 29, 2016 if you can - live boot into ubuntu on a usb or live CD and see if that picks up 4/6, that'll narrow down the hardware/software issue. but if the bios is seeing 4 then it's likely hardware related. Are both ram modules the same spec? 1
gtg93 Posted March 29, 2016 Author Posted March 29, 2016 Never thought of that - good idea... Will try that next. They're not the same spec, but only difference is one of the sticks has a slower speed than the other... Generally speaking, it'll still work just at the slowest speed. The BIOS update has done nothing as expected. Will try Ubuntu next
Joanne Posted March 29, 2016 Posted March 29, 2016 Always best off putting two sticks in the same. Some Mobos are fussy about different sticks. Try 2 4GB sticks and see what happens. 1
gtg93 Posted March 29, 2016 Author Posted March 29, 2016 Always best off putting two sticks in the same. Some Mobos are fussy about different sticks. Try 2 4GB sticks and see what happens. Never come across that problem but will definitely give it a go... Pretty sure I've got another 4GB stick in my old machine at home that's same as this 4GB one.
gtg93 Posted March 29, 2016 Author Posted March 29, 2016 if you can - live boot into ubuntu on a usb or live CD and see if that picks up 4/6, that'll narrow down the hardware/software issue. but if the bios is seeing 4 then it's likely hardware related. Are both ram modules the same spec? Not got a bootable Linux with me - must be at home so will try when I get back soon. However Windows Memory Test (an old CD version I have) sees it as "exceeding 4GB" - but can only handle 4GB so won't tell me how much. Seems all my testing tools I've got with me today are 32bit so are limited... Will look into it a bit more when I get home.
gtg93 Posted March 29, 2016 Author Posted March 29, 2016 What type of GPU is in it? On board with shared memory, but only uses 1GB apparently... Plus when I had just the 4GB in there it showed as 4GB. Stupid question but is it a Windows 10 64 ? It is - that was my first though - thought I'd installed the wrong version by mistake Not had a chance to check tonight, just got in so will have to look tomorrow. I'm suspecting H/W failure of some sort though
Arthur Posted March 29, 2016 Posted March 29, 2016 It's a bit of a long shot, but could the RAM be limited to 4GB in msconfig (Boot tab > Advanced options)? 1
Duke5A Posted March 30, 2016 Posted March 30, 2016 Go here and make a USB bootable stick out of it: Ultimate Boot CD - Overview Run Memtest86+ and see how much memory it reports. If it comes back as the full 6GB then maybe the onboard GPU is being allocated more memory now that there is more available to the system. It's a shot in the dark. I'm honestly not up to snuff on the latest features in newer chipsets. 1
gtg93 Posted March 31, 2016 Author Posted March 31, 2016 It's a bit of a long shot, but could the RAM be limited to 4GB in msconfig (Boot tab > Advanced options)? Nope - checked that.... Go here and make a USB bootable stick out of it: Ultimate Boot CD - Overview Run Memtest86+ and see how much memory it reports. If it comes back as the full 6GB then maybe the onboard GPU is being allocated more memory now that there is more available to the system. It's a shot in the dark. I'm honestly not up to snuff on the latest features in newer chipsets. Does Memtest support more than 4GB? I tried running that from Hirens but it gave an error about only supporting the first 4GB even though it had detected more than 4GB. Just gonna try another stick of RAM in a minute as the one I had at home wasn't the correct RAM, and I've got a Linux distro downloading.
Arthur Posted March 31, 2016 Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) Does Memtest support more than 4GB? It should do, although the memory testing tools on Hiren's boot disc are really out of date. I would download the latest version of Memtest86+ (v5.01) or Memtest86 (v6.3.0 Free Edition) from their respective websites and test your RAM again. As @Duke5A mentioned above, Memtest86+ v5.01 is also included on the UBCD. Edited March 31, 2016 by Arthur 1
Roberto Posted March 31, 2016 Posted March 31, 2016 My BIOS is only seeing 4GB, so I'm leaning towards a H/W fault or a BIOS upgrade is needed? If your BIOS can only see 4Gb then there's either a system limitation or hardware issue. Messing around with Windows or alternate operating systems is a waste of time until that's resolved. 1
gtg93 Posted March 31, 2016 Author Posted March 31, 2016 OK, so I swapped the 2GB and the 4GB module around and the device still only saw 4GB. Which as people have said would then suggest either a faulty RAM module or system limitation. I have swapped the 2GB module for another (same spec, different brand) and my laptop now sees 6GB bizarrely though, I have put the 2GB module that my laptop wouldn't detect into another laptop and it's working fine...
Joanne Posted March 31, 2016 Posted March 31, 2016 Might just be having a hissy fit at different speeds or something. They can be tempremental like that sometimes.
Arthur Posted March 31, 2016 Posted March 31, 2016 (edited) I can't find the max RAM the laptop takes, but it's an i3 CPU, so assume it's more than 4GB, and from what I can see there was an 8GB model when it was originally for sale. Crucial's and Intel's websites both state that your laptop supports upto 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 RAM by the way. crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Acer/travelmate-p256-m ark.intel.com/products/75105/Intel-Core-i3-4005U-Processor-3M-Cache-1_70-GHz Edited March 31, 2016 by Arthur 1
Duke5A Posted March 31, 2016 Posted March 31, 2016 Nope - checked that.... Does Memtest support more than 4GB? I tried running that from Hirens but it gave an error about only supporting the first 4GB even though it had detected more than 4GB. Just gonna try another stick of RAM in a minute as the one I had at home wasn't the correct RAM, and I've got a Linux distro downloading. The original MemTest86 does not, but Memtest86+ does. Both are available on the UBCD. 1
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