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Resolved Weird hardware issue(s)--looking for opinion(s)

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by elcajongunsfan, 2015/11/29.

  1. 2015/11/29
    elcajongunsfan Lifetime Subscriber

    elcajongunsfan Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Machine is a win 7 pro with 2 gigs of RAM. Motherboard is an ASUS P5QL/EPU
    The vid card is your basic geforce 8400GS with onboard ½ gig of vid RAM.. Machine is four years old and very rock solid.. Yes I understand the four years old.

    What happened was, the past couple of weeks I've noticed that on cold start, RAM usage was burning at 90-95% with minimal CPU, and it would stay that way for a good solid 10-15 minutes, before it started "settling" down. I thought is was a possible malware issue so I posted in Broni's forum that fact. While I was looking at sys properties, I discovered the machine showed only 1 gig of RAM!! I know there is 2 installed. That possibly explains the high ram usage, so I asked Broni to delete my malware post. Fired up the Belarc program, and it also verified I have only 1 gig installed. The Mobo has four slots on it. It is the dual channel config where you have slots A1 A2 B1 and B2. A1 and B1 are populated. Belarc reports only B1 is showing the installed RAM.. Took the case off, and swapped the DIMMs, and blew a little dust out. . Now, when I start the machine I have no video. Actually, this is usually normal, because when I do a dust blow out every eight months, the machine requires two cold starts before the vid finally works. This time it aint working. I am sure the Mobo is fine because the hard drive light does its usual happy flashing and the keyboard lights come on, and the big test is I can do the keyboard shortcut of shutting down the machine--(winkey+right arrow).. But I aint got no video. Yes I did check the monitor and brought in a second monitor, and used different interfaces (dvi and vga) I also attached the original monitor to a laptop and it worked. It just aint gonna work on my ASUS. Mobo does not have onboard video, so that's an issue. I unplugged and plugged in the vid card-no joy there.

    I'm a network guy, not a Hardware dude, so I'm speculating on what could be the problem and possible remedies

    A) I was gonna change the dimms to slots a2 and b2. Would that be OK?

    B) Can a vid card go bad without blue screening the system? That seems weird to me.

    C) How about clearing the CMOS?

    D) I was thinking that since the system might have only 1 gig onboard, the vid card wont work--but that's a guess

    E) I inspected the mobo and vid card and there are no blown or bulging capacitors

    Like I said, there's always somebody smarter than me and I will taking this machine to the place that I purchased it from.. i'm hoping it's only a vid card. I really dont want to introduce more problems by swapping dimms and clearing CMOSes, thus my questions to everybody here on this United States holiday weekend.

    Thanks all.
     
    Last edited: 2015/11/29
  2. 2015/11/29
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Hi elcajongunsfan, From your description I would suggest you borrow another graphics card to test first. But as you are having trouble getting recognition of your RAM, you may have a developing fault in the m/b.
    It isn't normal for video to require a 2nd boot up before it works after blowing out and cleaning. I've never had any problems after doing a blow out and clean.
    Your local comp shop may have a card they can loan you as this would be my first course of action - then you should be able to see if the RAM is shown correctly.
    Yes, you can swap the slots to test your RAM. Neil.
     

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  4. 2015/11/29
    elcajongunsfan Lifetime Subscriber

    elcajongunsfan Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Thanks.. I tried slots A2 B2 but the computer wouldnt boot.. Had to do the force shut down. I put the DIMMs back in A1 B1 and it booted again and i was able to shut down with winkey+right arrow. Obviously, no video

    Thanks for reply!! To the shop it goes!!

    Regards
     
  5. 2015/11/29
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Had a look in the Manual and the layout for your RAM should work. A1 & B1 or A2 & B2. Providing both sticks of RAM are the same CAS Latency and Mhz 1066/800/667 they will work as Dual Channel using the above paired DIMM slots.
    https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5QLEPU/HelpDesk_Knowledge/
    If they only work in A1 & B1 slots, the other slots may be dirty having not been used.
    Also in the FAQ's in the Asus site there was available a BIOS Video update. https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5QLEPU/HelpDesk_Knowledge/
    Neil.
     
  6. 2015/11/30
    elcajongunsfan Lifetime Subscriber

    elcajongunsfan Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    I have the hard copy of the manual, and frankly, it doesn't suggest that one can use slots A2 and B2. If slots A1 or B1 are used than one can populate the 2s.. That's my interpretation. I think that's a stretch to say the slots are dirty..

    Regards
     
  7. 2015/11/30
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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  8. 2015/11/30
    elcajongunsfan Lifetime Subscriber

    elcajongunsfan Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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  9. 2015/11/30
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Thanks Doc for those "I need a clean views ". elcajongunsfan, you have taken my dirty term too literally.
    When the DIMM slot is exposed to the atmospheric conditions (open) the surface will get covered with a film. This film will not allow a clean connection to be made. This film will appear to the naked eye as a discolouration. (Similar to the way copper discolours in the open).
    Please look at my System Details and accept that I have used the DIMM slots referred to in my comp during testing and setup - they did work!
    I have found over the years I have been building comps that if the DIMM slots are not used, the film that builds up will be the cause of RAM not being recognized. Removing and re-inserting and wiggling the RAM carefully can make the contact work.
    We can clean the RAM stick contacts carefully with a pencil eraser or electrical contact cleaner - the m/b slot can only be blown out or sprayed carefully with contact cleaner and blown dry.
    Because the power used is very low (around 1.5 volt) it needs very clean contact surfaces to work effectively.
    Hope this explains why I used the "dirty" word. This is why we often suggest to BBS members that ALL connections need to be "clean and tight" when troubleshooting problems.
    I noted that you said you cleaned out your comp every 8 months - I do mine 3 monthly. The more cooling fans - the more dust gets drawn in with the cooling air and carpets seem to be a major cause with fine lint and hair/fiber. Neil.
     
    Last edited: 2015/11/30
  10. 2015/12/01
    elcajongunsfan Lifetime Subscriber

    elcajongunsfan Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Quick update on this. I took the machine in yesterday, and at lunch time, the repair shop called me and said the CPU was bad!! I was stunned.. How could the O/S be running with a bad CPU? Anyway, they upgraded the CPU, and said it was faster and I could pick up the machine. I go over there after work, and had them fire up the box, and bummer the same symptoms appeared. The tech said it was dead when he got it. He replaced the CPU, and ran it all day, and declared it cured. Now it's looking grim. I told him I'l be back tomorrow. Hope he figures it out. :(:(:(
     
  11. 2015/12/01
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Hi elcajongunsfan, my first Post
    may be what you don't want to hear. Bummer for the Festive Season.
    Put it on your list for Christmas present. ;) Neil.
     
  12. 2015/12/02
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

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    Hi elcajongunsfan,

    What happens if you put your RAM chips in A1 and A2 or B1 and B2, rather than A1 and B1?

    FWIW, I've never heard of shutting down with the winkey + the right arrow key (there are a lot of things I've never heard of :)), and the combination doesn't do anything on my computer.
     
  13. 2015/12/02
    elcajongunsfan Lifetime Subscriber

    elcajongunsfan Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Well, one thinks that you need a minimum of 2 gig for win 7 to run properly, but I dont know. I think as a last resort, put a 2 gig dimm in slot B1. Theory tells us that video ram is used for the display and it also snags system ram. If slot A1 is bad maybe that's why the video won't show. The O/S still loads. Now as for the keyboard shortcut for shuttingv down--James Martin asked that question last year or so and one the gurus answered it.This is for Win 7 only. Think about it. Hit the winkey, and that menu flys up. Hit the right arrow, and it navigates over to the shut down menu.. Hit enter and you shut down. Anyway, it might not work on proprietary machines. but clones it does

    Regards
     
  14. 2015/12/02
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Hi elcajongunsfan and JSS3rd, the shut down shortcut doesn't work in W10.
    In the Asus owners Manual for your comp - the explanation for using the 2 yellow and 2 Blue DIMM slots is for Dual channel with matched and paired RAM.
    You can populate the slots with RAM of different size (512MB or 1Gb or 2GB) but memory amount will not be the sum total.
    The advice given in your Manual states that the Blue slots are better used for overclocking.
    Install a Maximum of 3GB's RAM if your OS is 32bit. Use of a 64bit OS - you can install 4GB's and upwards to the max quoted in the manual.
    You may install varying memory sizes in Channel A and Channel B. The system maps the total size of the lower-sized channel for the dual channel configuration. Any excess memory from the higher-sized channel is then mapped for single-channel operation.
    What will happen if you have a 32bit OS and you load 4 x 1GB RAM in slots A1, A2, B1, and B2 is that a max of 3GB's is all that is used.
    The colour coding of A1 and B1 is for the dual channel configuration.
    Hope this explains what you were asking about. As I stated earlier, if the RAM is not recognized in a DIMM slot, either the slot is dirty or faulty or the RAM is faulty or not installed correctly. Neil.
     
    elcajongunsfan likes this.
  15. 2015/12/03
    elcajongunsfan Lifetime Subscriber

    elcajongunsfan Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    This machine has been fixed.. With great fanfare and a major drumroll, AND a tip of the hat to Retiredlearner, cleaning the gold contacts with contact cleaner brought the Asus back to life and running normally.(Also, the 1 gig in slot A1 showed up also. I think it was mapped to vid ram, thus not showing up when the vid card was not working) fascinating thing was, when I went to pick it up the first time, the tech tried plugging in a different vid card and it did'nt work either. So it was looking kinda grim- but the next day, the tech called and said cleaning the gold contacts fixed it and he ran it all day and shut it down several times and benchmarked it and stressed it and it all looks good

    I'm marking this thread solved

    Thanks Neil
     
  16. 2015/12/03
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    You're Welcome. Pity we can't give the contacts a good scrub with a wire brush :eek: I used to stress the importance of clean connections to the Auto-Techs during their training-you could always find the ones who didn't.;)
    That would have been a nice Xmas present for you.
    Did the Comp Tech take out the CPU he replaced? Neil.
     
  17. 2015/12/03
    elcajongunsfan Lifetime Subscriber

    elcajongunsfan Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Yeah, he put my original back in. I think I would have liked to see how much faster the machine would be. I have a 2.5 gig so it's good by me

    Regards
     

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