aspire 5733Z Upgrading 4 GB installed RAM to 8 GB by adding a second board

MorgantheBear

I have an ACER aspire 5733Z laptop with 4 GB of installed RAM.  I recently upgraded my Adobe Photoshop (2003 vintage) to Adobe Elements 2022 only to discover that the more modern version requires 8 GB of RAM.  So I bought a 4 GB RAM upgrade board and installed it in the second slot.  However the Aspire does not see the new RAM, saying (as it did before) that there are 4 GB of installed RAM, of which 3.68 GB are usable.  The Aspire has BIOS V1.07 and the website of the firm supplying the second RAM board said that a new version of BIOS might be needed before the Aspire can see the RAM extension.  From the ACER website I downloaded BIOS v1.10 which seems to be the most recent version, though it is dated 2013 which is a long time ago in laptop terms.  My questions therefore are (i) has anyone else had problems installing RAM upgrades for the Aspire 5733Z, in particular the upper RAM slot not being recognised and (ii) is there a BIOS more recent than V1.10?

{Thread was edited to add model name to the title}

JackE

What Windows version are you using? Is it 32-bit or 64-bit?

MorgantheBear

My most recent Windows upgrade said that it had installed "Windows 10 V21H1 for x64-based Systems".  It also said that my laptop does not have what it takes to upgrade to Windows 11 but as I am happy using Windows 10, that should be OK.  

JackE

Your model is an early version of dual channel capable RAM which are sometimes  sensitive to mis-matched modules whose frequencies may be slightly different from the nominal 1600MHz or  1333MHz speeds. Dual channel capable mainboards should ideally use a matched pair of 4GB DDR3 sodimms.  Please show a phone photo of the BIOS Main tab if possible.

MorgantheBear

Actually, I'm just plain folks trying to get my laptop working so where do I find the BIOS Main tab?  If it helps, the chips on the old RAM board have the following printed on them:

H5TQ2G83CFA
H9C        141A

while the ones on the new board have:

H5TQ2G83BFA
G7C        119V

The numbers and letters in the lower line vary from chip to chip but as far as I can see, the letters and numbers in the upper line are constant within a board (and differ by only one letter - the third from last - between boards).  Both boards are recognised in the lower RAM slot but neither in the upper slot.  I'll send a photo if you can describe exactly what you need.

padgett

Might be able to turn the dual channel setting off in the BIOS.

For memory I show:

Memory ELPIDA SO-DIMM DDRIII 1333 4GB
EBJ41UF8BCS0-DJ-F LF 256*8 46nm
KN.4GB09.002

Memory NANYA SO-DIMM DDRIII 1333 4GB
NT4GC64B8HB0NS-CG LF 256*8 0.055um

KN.4GB03.005

JackE

>>>H5TQ2G83CFA>>>H9C        141A>>>>while the ones on the new board have:>>>>H5TQ2G83BFA>>>>

You seem to have a pair 2GB sodimms, not 4GB???. H5TQ-2G-83CFA????  H5TQ-2G-83BFA????

Shut down your machine. Turn it back on and immediately tap F2 to enter BIOS menu. Please post phone photos of the Information and Main tabs if possible.

MorgantheBear

I checked the numbers and letters on the RAM chips and the ones I gave are correct (i.e. with 2G in the middle).  Each of the two RAM boards has eight chips arranged in two blocks of four.  The label on the keyboard of the laptop says "4 GB DDR3 Memory".

I attach two photos taken of the screen after I held the F2 key down while the laptop started up.  DSCN6136 is the Information tab and DSCN6137 is the Main tab.  I hope that these are clear enough for you to get the information you require.

JackE

>>>So I bought a 4 GB RAM upgrade board and installed it in the second slot.  >>>

Did you install this yourself? Or did you have someone else install it?

MorgantheBear

I installed it myself.  I bought it as a kit from a firm called Offtek.

JackE

Open task manager. Click performance tab. Then memory. Please post  a screenshot of result like below if possible.

MorgantheBear

I have tried to attach the screenshot but it may not have worked.  If not, then the bits where you put red circles said "Memory 4.0 GB DDR3" and "Speed: 1067 MHz, Slots used: 1 of 2, Form factor: SODIMM, Hardware reserve: 329 MB".  

JackE

OK. One of the slots seems disabled. Let's try the following test with only the old sodimm installed

(1) Remove the new sodimm so only the old sodimm is in the original RAM slot. See if the machine boots OK

(2) Then put the old sodimm in the other RAM slot. See if the machine boots OK

If the old sodimm boots in both cases, then repeat with only the new sodimm installed

MorgantheBear

The combinations I have tried are as follows:

Lower slot             Upper slot        Result
old SODIMM           empty              4 GB    (original configuration)
old SODIMM           new SODIMM     4 GB
new SODIMM          empty              4 GB
new SODIMM          old SODIMM      4 GB
empty                   old SODIMM      fan runs but laptop will not boot

This seems to mean that if either SODIMM is in the lower slot, the laptop boots OK but with 4GB, regardless of what if anything is in the upper slot.  But if the lower slot is empty, it won't start.  So the upper slot is disabled.  There is no visible damage to my untrained eye.  Is there anything I can do to enable the upper slot?

JackE

Try this. Unplug charger & battery pack. Remove CMOS coin cell. Check that it's voltage is still 3.1v or higher. With the coin cell removed. Short all the solder bumps in the  RAM slot. Put both sodimms back in. Button it back up. F2 into the BIOS menu. What does the BIOS Main tab total memory show?

 

padgett

If upper slot is not responding atol, clean thoroughly, may have some lint blocking a contact.

JackE

Yes. Good point. Lint or other debris is possible.

MorgantheBear

I checked the button battery and voltage read 2.8V so I replaced it with one which read 3.1V.  There was no sign of lint or anything else in either of the slots but, using a little air brush which I use to clean cameras, I brushed them up anyway and replaced both the RAM boards.  The Settings home page still says 4 GB of installed RAM.

I assume that "short" is an abbreviation for "short-circuit".  How are you suggesting I do this?  Solder wires across the two pairs of terminals marked "A"?  

JackE

NO SOLDER!!!!!

Simply bridge the gaps with a screwdriver blade for a few seconds. Or perhaps a piece of wire using two hands should be sufficient. We're just trying to discharge any residual charges in the mainboard circuits that may be preventing the second socket from being recognized.

MorgantheBear

I was getting worried when I thought you meant soldering!  I removed the battery pack, the button battery and the two RAM boards and used a screwdriver blade to make contact between each neighbouring pair of solder bumps.  I then used the voltmeter to look for residual charge.  I found none that the meter could measure.  I reassembled and switched on but no joy.  It still says 4 GB (3.86 GB usable).

JackE

>>>I bought it as a kit from a firm called Offtek.>>>

What do you mean by "kit"?? Also please post a phone photo of your BIOS Information tab if possible.