Missing Ram ?

My parents had Geek Squad rolleyes set up their newly purchased Acer Aspire AST180-UA381B . AMD64 3800+/ 1GB DDR2 running Vista. Now that im back living in the same town as my folks are, I keep their machines running properly. Ive come across a problem i can't solve on this one, though . Whenever I do a RESTART, i get that blue screen saying some sort of memory error has occured, and it performs some sort of crash memory dump. Also, various utilities are showing only around 767 Mb physical memory is installed on the machine. I have run the microsoft memtest (Microsoft Windows Memory Diagnostic (BETA)) which shows no problems at all with the RAM . There are many memory test programs available for download, i need a free one, if i need a different one. I'm wondering if there truly is a hardware problem here, i have considered doing a total reformat and re-install of an OS, I MUCH prefer XP over Vista, but if there IS a hardware problem, this wont solve it .
Any suggestions ?

 

If you don't have a dedicated graphics card, the computer will use some of the RAM to render graphics. That goes for a lot of other cards as well, such as the sound card or ethernet cards.

MajorGeeks has a bunch of memory testers available for download, a good one is Memtest86+. It is completely free, and very thorough and accurate.

 

aaahhh ok.. no, this is a straight factory machine with onboard graphics. D'OH !
that explains the missing memory, and i will now run the test you recommend.
ill let you know what the result of that test is.
Thank you .

 

If it lets you get into set-up/BIOS, you should be able to see the total there. System memory, and the amount allocated for graphics, will both be reported in there.

 

okay, i live in houston and hurricane preparations have prevented me from doing these things today.
i will try to get to them tomorrow !

thnx !

 

Ok, i have no problem with the memory allocation now that i remember that is how it works when you dont have an aftermarket GPU . My concern now is solely this error message i get EVERY time i restart, conerning the memory failure/crash dump whatever . i cant get a screenshot of it, but if necessary i can take a pic with my phone cam and upload it .
I ran 3 full passes with the recommended memory test program, and no errors were detected.
Same thing with the previous Microsoft memory test i tried, no memory errors.
I just cant figure out why this is happening .

I expect to have no electricity for an unknown period of time starting late tonight, but i DO have today to work on this .
thanks for any and all help !

 

It may be a chipset error which is occurring. Please humor me by running Windows memtest for 200-300% for all RAM, do it when you goto bed!!!

You may need a tweak on the MCH in BIOS.

 

Ok bold, i will do that after the hurricane hits. We are directly in the path and expect landfall in about 11 hours . Once power is restored, i will continue to work on this . Maybe we will get lucky and not lose power, but i doubt it .
thanks for the help, id like to find the problem and fix it .

 

WOW. Ike was one hell of a ride, we were without electricity here for 5 days. NOT FUN.
I will run the suggested test tonight, Bold Eagle .
thnx !

 

Hi,

If you are running Win 98 which I doubt, that's the problem. 98 runs great up to 512, but has problems above that. Goggle it and you will find all sorts of patches to get around it, but I haven't found one that works yet.

Good Luck, Jim

 

Ran the suggested mem test, Bold Eagle, for about 7 or 8 hours. 0 errors .

 

RAM seems fine then. Upon reflection your problem has become apparent 512+256=768 (~767), are we talking about 2 RAM modules or more, just curious during the boot up how much RAM does it state?

DL and run CPU-Z 1.47 and look at SPD and look at both of the modules (slot#1, etc) and this will define the specs of each module. Damn that was very slow of me rolleyes, you may have been "mis-represented" as such at point of purchase.

At least you know the RAM is functioning very well.

If this is the case then I would be running CCleaner Slim (No Toolbar) 2.11.636 and goto Registry and Scan for issues (please create a folder in C: called registry backups and save the registry here before completing all changes). Next I would be running RegCleaner 4.3.0.780 and just ensuring that it isn't invalid or crud registry entries causing issues. Hopefuly this is going to start getting the system back on track. If not then next we will explore Vid Driver removal and re-install.

 

CPU-Z 1.47 SPD tab tells me i have 2 512 Mb modules, DDR2 (333 Mhz) . Do you want specs from the Timing table ? i will now run RegCleaner . I already have and regularly use CCleaner, but will go ahead and do another registry issue fix with that as well .

 

Ok, I have done quite a bit of cleanup. Got rid of quite a few unnecessary apps, used RegCleaner to clean up the registry (seems to do a more complete job than CCleaner) .
I am still getting the crash dump of physical memory on shutdown .
Hmmmmmmm . . . . . . . .

 

Since you have 1024MB memory installed and only about 768 is accounted for, I think the missing 256MB is used by the video. Could the memory error have anything to do with the memory used by the video?
Since the sticks test fine, tht's the only thing I can think of that might account for some sort of video error.

 

Yeah, we have the memory accounted for . What im trying to figure out now is why im getting this blue screen telling me about some sort of error causing a crash dump of physical memory when i shut down the system .
Bold Eagle mentioned maybe a video driver removal/reinstallation ?

 

Video driver uninstalled, CCleaner run and RegCleaner run, new driver downloaded from NVIDIA site, new driver installed .
I'm still getting the error message on shutdown, i have attached it - sorry for the crappy quality, i cant screen capture at the time the message shows , so i had to use my cell phone to take the pic .

 

Well that is what is commonly known as BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Is the system still covered under any form of warranty? As the system is Newly purchased I would be considering having someone else look at the problem and sort it out. I would think there is possibly some setting wrong in BIOS or the Video Card is faulty (hardware).

 

hmmm.
id much prefer to get this solved myself, rather than pay someone .
guess its time to hit GOOGLE some more .
thanks for your help, though !

 

Your phone blurred the image a little bit... is the stop code 0x000007F?

 

yes it is .

 

Well, stop code 0x7F means there's a hardware problem, first of all. If you did hit google with it, you probably noticed that the most common causes are faulty or mismatched memory modules, or a motherboard error (going on the assumption you're not over-clocking anything on your computer).

Your memory has been passing the tests you ran on it, so we can probably rule out that the two sticks are defective. Are they mismatched, or are they fully identical in every way? You should be able to tell just by looking at them and comparing the parts numbers and specs that are on the memory labels.

 

According to CPU-Z , the modules are identical in every aspect - part number, specs, manufacturer, the only thing that is different is the serial number, as im sure it should be .
i am not overclocking this computer .
The only time the BSOD appears is when i power down . The computer seems to run fine .
I am trying WinDbg right now to see if i can diagnose the problem, but microsoft claims that WinDbg only finds the problem 70% of the time . So far, WinDbg doesn't seem to be working properly, i may have downloaded the wrong version . .

 

It might be worth your while to check out this post next.

 

ah nice tutorial. my symbol path was incorrect .
thanks, i will do more on it this week, after work.
thanks !

 

Fair enough I like to resolve things myself as it is the best way to learn but surely for a newly built system there is some form of "after sales" service?!? Mimsy generating some excellent advice so at least you have a good support network.

 

The computer is actually close to a year old, maybe just a little over a year . I would prefer to fix it myself, as I prefer the learning process as well .
Yes, Mimsy offering some excellent advice, and i have regularly received quality support from you fine folks here at MG . :major

 

When it comes to the BSOD I am rapidly getting out of my depth, would help if I could. Have you tried removing and re-seating the Video Card, just a left field stab in the dark.

 

I am out of ideas as well... the BSoD, when not talking about memory, is a bit out of my field of knowledge. BE's suggestion to remove and reseat the video card is a good one, go for that. Maybe completely reinstall it before reseating it, even?

 

im using onboard GPU , i dont have an aftermarket card . i have yet to be able to work through the WinDbg, using the tutorial, i WILL get this figured out !

ill see if i can get something done tonight, after working 12+ hours a day outdoors in Houston heat & humidity, i am pretty friggin tapped out by the time i get home, both physically and mentally .
Ill report back with my findings .

 

Okey Dokey. Apprently,. the problem is being caused by WlanUIG.sys , which, according to GOOGLE , is a 2wire wireless LAN card driver .
should i download a new driver (from where), delete the current one (how?) and install the newly downloaded version ?
Or am I off base ?
Yes,this computer IS using a 2Wire wireless connection - which also leads me to another question, but perhaps that is best left for another thread .

thnx

 

Do a file search for that file, just to verify you have it.

If this is a driver problem, we have a whole forum for those, that you can post in. I'm going to PM another member, who is really good with drivers, and ask him to check out this thread, and see if he can help you.

 

awesome, i may have found the driver, it scanned clean (no viruses) . Not sure if its the correct one , it is an .exe file . i DID find the file in system32 drivers folder . Also found were other files apparently associated with it .
this is where i downloaded the driver from :
http://drivers.alege.net/download/6...-Driver-Windows-98SE-ME-2000-XP-download.html

i dont know anything about drivers.alege.net .

 

Are you able to get into Safe Mode?
If you can, check Device Manager for missing or improperly installed drivers.

If you are sure that you have a 2Wire 802.11G USB Wireless, this is the driver from the 2Wire Support Page:
http://www.2wire.com/pages/drvrs/2Wire_wireless_USB_XP32.zip

This is a direct download.
Extract the files, then double click the setup.exe file.

Before installing this driver you should installl your chipset drivers, first.
(That is a normal thing just to be sure that your chipset will recognize your hardware)
http://www.acerpanam.com/flex/acerdrivers/bin/drivers.html?CFID=819753&CFTOKEN=51535398
You will have to input Desktop>Aspire T180 and look for the chipset driver.
(I hate Java script because you can't link the proper page) rolleyes

 

Yes, I can get into safe mode . I wasn't sure if you were saying to GO INTO safe mode and check device manager, so i just checked device manager in current (normal) mode, as i have multiple browser pages open i am referring to while working on this.
When i look at device manager, there is no yellow exclamation mark next to the 2Wire 802.11g USB Wireless LAN Card . However, there IS a yellow exclamation mark next to the very next entry (both entries are under the Network Adapters header), which is "isatap.gateway.2Wire.net" . I tried right click>properties>update driver on the 802.11 , but was told that the driver is up to date .
I have downloaded the chipset driver, and since im not sure about the safemode thing, i will wait for musksnipe to ok the installation of the chipset driver. I'm not comfortable jacking around with drivers until im CERTAIN that i have done everything properly .
thnx

 

Sorry, I didn't follow through the thread well. (suffering sinus/alergy problems right now) I didn't realize you got past the BSOD screen and into Windows.
I just wanted to know about the drivers.
This is odd to me, "isatap.gateway.2Wire.net". The .net extension would not be a adapter.
But then I know pretty much nothing about wireless.

I am going to take a stab in the dark here. (a safe one)
Install your chipset driver.
That will make sure there are no corrupt parts in the driver and that your motherboard will be able to identify all the hardware connected to it.
Go ahead and install the wireless driver I suggested, also.

If you have any worries about this messing up the PC, set a restore point, before your installs, and you should be able to return the PC back to it's "before install" state.

What I'm thinking is that there is a problem in either the firewall (not allowing the gateway) or there is a problem in your network configuration.

It's possible that a reinstall of the wireless driver might cure that.

 

After installing both those drivers, check your Device manager again.
Still a problem there?
Try this:
Go to Start>Run, type cmd
Press Enter.
Type ipconfig/release
Press Enter.
Type ipconfig/renew
Press Enter.
Still have a problem?

 

Dang. I tried to install the chipset driver, and got this error message "Setup Error : Setup detected that the operating system in use in not windows. This setup program and its associated drivers are designed to run only on windows. The installation will be terminated."
Just to make sure i didnt pull a retard move and download the wrong chipset driver, i went back to the Acer site and checked Desktop>Aspire T180>Apire E380/T180 , and sure enough it says :
File Size (KB): 105743
Operating System: Windows XP
Description: Aspire E380/T180 Chipset Driver
Related Products: Power M8,Aspire T180,

This machine came preloaded with Vista .
I hate Vista more & more every day .
Gah !
Oh, and yes, this IS, in fact, an Acer Aspire T180 machine .
lol


Suggestions ?
(besides kicking Bill Gates in the crotch)

thnx !

 

Well I assume you have been to MS Updates and seen if they offer any?

 

Yeppers, I have all updates (including optional updates) except for silverlight, which I have no interest in .

 

Okay, since Acer doesn't seem to support their own products with functioning downloads, should i skip the chipset driver and just install the wireless driver ?

 

How do i go about getting this thread moved to the DRIVER forum - or should i just start a new one (in the DRIVER forum) ? This one seems to have died, and i have yet to solve the problem .

 

kthnx

 

Assuming the stop error is 7F (Mimsy asked and you never answered her),
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137539/
it points to a hardware problem mst of the time.

 

Often the best source for chipset drivers is from the chipset maker, e.g. I have an ASUS mobo with Intel chipsets (i.e. 975x and ICH7) so for the best drivers I goto "Intel" and get the latest and greatest.

Can you list your specific make and model of mobo? Going of initial posts it is AMD and you may find the drivers you need from here:

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_cpu.aspx

But I really need some more info so we can be precise!

 

i will do these things tomorrow or this weekend. Would a Belarc advisor readout work for the info you need ?

 

I think so but I know EVEREST Free Edition 2.20 definitely will.

 

Belarc is not always the most detailed and reliable as far as memory info goes... I would use the Everest program BE linked to.

 

Ok here we go. I am attaching the report generated my Everest , thing is the report shows the motherboard and chipset as "unknown" .
I will attach the report i generated.
thnx y'all !

 

Damn I'm sorry but "whenever" you post a report log on "any forum" always assess and edit the first paragraph of any and all private information, especially when it states "doodyhead" rofl, I don't mean to laugh but that is funny! But for your own sake please do edit any reports and generally this is found in the top of the report.

I found something very interesting:

"Your computer uses memory to run your Operating System, applications, peripherals, and to generate and display graphics on your computer monitor. Video memory is a form of RAM, and is either built into your motherboard; or on a graphics card (video card). Depending on the motherboard's configuration, and that of the video card (if separate or built-in to the motherboard), your computer may have to draw on its own RAM memory to meet its video memory needs. This creates shared memory, where your computer’s RAM will be shared between its own Processor (CPU) and its graphics chip.

The result is that some systems will have shared memory, some will not. If you have 2GB (for example) of system memory installed, you may notice that your system reports significantly less memory. This is because your system is using shared memory for your video."

http://www.compusa.com/applications...Sku=A180-2300&SRCCODE=CNETCMPUSA&CMP=OTC-CNET

Okay Chipsets:

http://www.keenzo.com/showproduct.asp?ID=1165780

Motherboard (NB): nVIDIA nForce 430
Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP): nVIDIA GeForce 6100, 256MB Shared DDR2 SDRAM Integrated. This supports earlier comments about OS reporting less RAM than is actually installed.

Here is where you will get the latest Drivers:

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Search fields will want:

Product Type: nForce
Product Series: nForce 4 series
Product: nForce 430/ Geforce 6100

your OS etc etc.

If your problem has been resolved because of the IGP and Shared Memory explaining the "missing/unreported RAM" I would not install any new drivers. Sorry for calling you "doodyhead" rofl.

Personally I only install chipset drivers when there is a serious problem that warrants it and I have read that this should be done straight after a fresh OS install.