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General discussion

RAM memory expansion slot

Mar 20, 2005 4:03AM PST

Hi, my compaq presario laptop stopped booting up recently. I just keeps beeping at me before showing the standard windows screen which offers to start in Safe Mode etc. As beeping generally suggests a h/ware problem I tried running memtest86 and it showed multiple test failures indicating that there is indeed something wrong with my RAM. As it is a laptop I have very little accessibility to the motherboard. All I can access easily is the RAM expansion slot. So what I want to know is:
Can I install a new RAM card in the expansion slot and then make the laptop ignore the existing (faulty) RAM on the motherboard? If this is possible, how do I do it?

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Run the test with no added memory.
Mar 20, 2005 4:11AM PST

You didn't tell if you did that.

And... no. You'll have to get another motherboard or find shops like ikenfixit.com or notefix.com that can repair common failures like yours.

Too bad you didn't note the model number. Is the forum tip not showing today?

Bob

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testing without expanded RAM
Mar 20, 2005 4:54AM PST

The laptop currently has only the motherboard RAM, the expansion slot is empty. So if the errors reported by memtest86 are genuine then it has to be the motherboard RAM but obviously before getting this replaced I would like to verify that this is in fact the problem. Hence my plan to add new memory in the expansion slot and setting the laptop to ignore the motherboard RAM. I gather from your reply though that this is not possible.

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Unlikely rather than not possible.
Mar 20, 2005 5:08AM PST

If you are an avid reader in this forum, Ken noted a similar issue in some Sony's. The stress and strain on the motherboard eventually leads to some chip's solder joint cracking and there's an issue. Repair is not expensive and if you don't then you've made the call.

Bob

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Onboard RAM
Mar 20, 2005 9:40AM PST

If you are having failures with the onboard RAM this means 2 things.. #1 the laptop is at the point of being more economical to replace versus repairs. (Older 12XL Perhaps? Or possibly worse). It is possible to track down and change the onboard memory mod's but an E-bay or similar replacement board would be a really good option at this point. I didnt notice a model number as of yet.. But I'm guesing thats its not a machine we could do much to save you heartache on with your wallet at this point. If you can find the board number, Generally 6 digits followed by a -001, Or 273987-001 (example)(Located in the RAM expansion slot). We may have a board here you could have for the ship costs.. Weve sent them before at no cost to help people out..

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laptop model
Mar 20, 2005 7:17PM PST

Hi, the laptop is a Presario 721 and it is not that old. It was bought only a year ago, although I suppose the retailer may have had it a few years, but the spec is reasonable: 1.1 GHz Duron with a 20 Gig hard drive. Returning it to the retailer is not an option as the store has since gone out of buisness. So if you have a replacement board I would certainly like to try to fix this rather than write it off. Unfortunately I am at work at the moment so I can't check the board number but I can find it when I get home this evening.

Thanks,

Oisin

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Same boards
Mar 20, 2005 7:56PM PST

Thats ok I'm very aware of the 700 series notebooks and the system boards are all the same for the most part.. 128 or 256 onboard? And these have surfaced quite a few various issues, Onboard memory is one of them. We do not have boards for this model and are working to purchase more. I do have parts boards here though and could salvage the onboard RAM for repairs of yours if this is the issue. These are prety much the last ones Compaq produced with the onboard memory and we repair a ton of them. Its a 2-4 year old laptop actual age I'd guess..I have found bad solder joints on the RAM mods but its not a common issue on these.. Maybe you'll be lucky.

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on-board RAM
Mar 21, 2005 6:23PM PST

Hi,

The on-board memory is 128Mb. When I open the expansion slot cover I can see 4 hynix 206A (HY57V281620HCT-H) chips soldered to what I assume is the motherboard. It's a bit odd though, when I look at the solder points they all look perfect, in fact the all of the PCB that is visible through the expansion slot cover looks very clean, not even any dust. This is my mother's laptop and is only used very infrequently and never moved about, it just sits on a desk. It seems odd to me that the RAM would spontaneously stop working, can you think of any other tests or diagnostic tools I could use to try and be certain what the problem is ?

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Chips
Mar 22, 2005 6:12AM PST

Theres also 4 piggybacked to those directly above them on the top side of the board.. Get a magnifying glass and look close.. They can be decieving...

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Accessing the motherboard
Mar 25, 2005 7:14AM PST

Hi,

I decided to take a closer look at the motherboard to see if I could see any defects as the section visible through the expansion slot looks to be in pristine condition. I finally got a T-9 torque screw driver and removed all the screws I could find(including the 3 in the battery compartment). This allows me to prise up most of the top section (keyboard + palm rests etc.) of the laptop but not to remove it. There still seems to be something (another screw ?) holding the top section on. Whatever it is, it is located at the bottom left corner of the keyboard right under the 'Fn' key. I even removed this key to see if there was a screw head accessible beneath it but there wasn't. If you have opened a laptop like this before do you know what is still holding mine together ? Are there more hidden screws somewhere? I have already tried applying quite a lot of pressure to make sure that it is not just some plastic latches or something but have had no success so any help would be apreciated.

Thanks.

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All screws
Mar 25, 2005 8:12PM PST

Pull all of the screws out of the back of the machine.. Then the first thing to do is pull the power button panel off (behind keyboard). This allows access to remove the keyboard and heatsink, Hinge covers, Hinges.. The rest is history.. If you need more help just yell..

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Cleaning?
Jun 1, 2012 10:10PM PDT

Hi oisin,

Not sure if this is relevant or would work on a laptop (I am not a computer tech, but know a little about them).

When my desktop was doing the not booting up thing and beeping and doing what you're saying your laptop is doing, I took it into work and used the high pressure air hose to clean it out.

The beep sequence was telling me that it was a problem with the RAM cards (?), so when I had the box open and was hosing it out, I took out the RAM cards and blew out the slots and the cards and put them back in. Worked a treat and the computer has been behaving itself ever since. (You shoulda seen the dust and dust bunnies that came outta that thang!)

Cheers,
Kay