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

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Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    Yes, OK. Might as well try a 2012 version 1.x.x when Win7 machines were still in vogue.

    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    I downloaded rufus-1.2.0.exe dated 4 June 2012.  It gave FAT32 as the default file system but there was no partition option.  There was also no SELECT button to click, so no way of specifying a target file.  I reformatted the USB with the default options and this seemed to work OK.  But when I tried to send the iso file from the hard drive to the USB, I got

    The file '(GetMyOS)Windows_10_Multi_(Home_Pro)_x64_V1511_Apr_16_EN' is too large for the destination file system.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    You must checkmark the create a bootable disk using an iso image in the dropdown


    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    OK.  I used that option from the dropdown menu and then the icon to the right of the dropdown to specify the iso file which I wanted to install on the USB.  It took a reassuringly long time to transfer the files but then said "DONE".  I switched to safe boot mode and powered off.  At power on again I pressed F12 and chose the USB option for boot.  It said "Press any key to boot from the USB" but when I did that, I just got the Window logo on the screen and auto power off, auto power on and so on.  If I don't use F12 to change the boot option and just let it boot from the hard drive I get the same off/on/off cycle, sometimes interrupted by "Preparing Automatic Repair" or the "We'll restart for you" message giving "DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL" as the problem.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    >>> I switched to safe boot mode and powered off.>>>

    (1) Just leave it in regular Windows mode and power off.
    (2) Turn it on with the thumbdrive inserted and immediately press F12
    (3) Select to highlight the USB boot option. Then press enter, not just any key.

    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    I switched safe boot mode off and restarted, using F12 to boot from the USB and the enter key when asked to press any key.  The ACER seemed to boot OK but this is with the 4 GB board in it.  When I replaced the 4 GB board with the 8 GB one and did exactly as above, it went back to the switch on / switch off cycle again.  I get the windows "four-square" logo and usually the moving circle of dots below it but somewhere around that point, the boot procedure seems to hit an irrecoverable fault and aborts itself.  

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    >>>I switched safe boot mode off and restarted, using F12 to boot from the USB and the enter key when asked to press any key.  The ACER seemed to boot OK but this is with the 4 GB board in it. >>>

    What do you mean it booted OK. Did it boot from the v1511 installation stick or boot from Win10 on the HDD?

    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    Presumably from the 1511 installation stick since I had used F12 to choose the USB boot option and then pressed the enter key when it said "Press any key to boot from the USB".
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    OK. We recently had another case similar  to your's with a dual channel capable mainboard, It would boot Windows with either one single-channel or one dual-channel sodimm. But would not boot with two sodimms unless they were both dual-channel sodimms. That  may be what we're up against now.

    Accordingly, so we don't have re-visit  5 pages so far in this thread, what are the model nos and brands of two sodimms that we're trying to make work in this machine now? If you could put them side by side in a phone photo and post it here, it might help us decide on the next step.

    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    The numbers on the chips are tiny and may not come out clearly on a screenshot or photograph so I'll type the numbers in.

    ******************************************************

    For the 4 GB board (the one in place when I bought the ACER), the chips were made by hynix of Korea.  There are eight chips on the board.  On one side each bears the following:

    hynix
    H5TQ2G83CFA
    H9C       141A
    DWLD1347SA2

    On the other side of each chip, the characters are the same except that the last line is DWLD1066A1.

    There is a label stuck on one side which has the following:

    4GB 2Rx8 PC3 - 10600S - 9 - 11 - F3
    HMT351S6CFR8C

    ******************************************************

    As for the 8 GB board, again there are eight chips.  On one side, each chip has:

    SEC 813 BYKO
    K4B4G0846E

    There is a third line but this varies from one chip to another.  An example is E7LD100UC.

    On the other side, the characters are the same except that the last line is different.  An example is E7LC9214C.

    There is a label stuck on one side which has the following:

    S146
    8GB DDR3L 1600MHz 1.35V
    SODIMM
    Batch: 3195329888
    offtek

    ******************************************************

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    >>>As for the 8 GB board, >>>

    Aye!!! You can't use an 8GB module! You must use two  4GB module. One in each socket!!! Not an 8GB in one socket.

    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    This has been a very long conversation and I am grateful for all the time and effort you have put into sustaining it.

    As I said in my very first post on 2 March, my initial RAM upgrade approach was to buy a second 4 GB board and put it in the second slot.  But, whatever I tried, the ACER would not recognise the second slot.  Hence the attempt to use the first slot with an 8 GB board in it.

    You said on 15 March that you thought that there was a 51% chance that 8 GB in the first slot would work.  And, when I reported on 17 March that the BIOS saw 8 GB of installed RAM with the 8 GB board in the first slot, you said <<Hold on! The BIOS recognized 8GB. That's the important thing right now.>>  If I can't use 8 GB in one socket, why can BIOS see it?

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    >> > If I can't use 8 GB in one socket, why can BIOS see it?>>>

    The BIOS can. Windows obviously can't. At least not Win10. Win10 v1511 is arguably the most forgiving Win10 version for older Win7 era machines.

    Two more possibilities.

    (1) The second RAM socket will only function with a matched pair of dual channel DDR3 4GB sodimms. A ~$30 test.

    (2) See if LinuxMint 19.3 will recognize 8GB in a single RAM socket. I suggest this test because Mint is even more forgiving on older machines and now with the possibility of virtually the same Windows desktop GUI and functionaility even with Elements pro. A free test. If Mint installs with the single 8GB RAM, then you know its possible. It might even install with the two 4GB sodimms  If it doesn't, then you'll know it's probably time to consider a new machine.

    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    I downloaded Linux Mint 19.3 cinnamon and used rufus-1.2.0 to copy the iso file to the USB drive.  This seemed to work OK.  I then powered down, reinstalled the 8 GB board in the lower slot, powered back up again and used F12 to select the USB drive option.  I got:

    SYSLINUX 4.05 EDD 2011-12-09
    boot:
    vesamenu.c32:  not a COM32R image

    The last two lines then reiterated about every ten seconds, for ever apparently.  Do you think I should have used a more recent version of rufus to create the bootable USB drive?

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    At the repeating error screen, press the tab key. You should then get a blining cursor. At the cursor, enter 'live'

    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    At the reiteration, I pressed the tab key and, as you said, the reiteration stopped.  There was the prompt 'boot:' and a blinking cursor.  I typed 'live', pressed enter and a mass of lines flashed up on the screen, most of which were incomprehensible to me.  The last two however were largely in English:

    [    0.907433] Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x0000000b
    [    0.907526] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init! exitcode=0x0000000b ]---

    The machine then became unresponsive to any key and I had to power down by holding the on/off button down until it stopped.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    >>>Do you think I should have used a more recent version of rufus to create the bootable USB drive?>>>

    Yeah, OK. The error suggests a bad USB stick but can't tell if it's the stick itself or the Mint iso installation. Maybe re-do the iso on the USB with a newer Rufus.

    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    I used Rufus 1.4.12 to install a LinuxMint 19.3 cinnamon iso file to a brand new USB stick.  Then I powered down, installed the 8 GB board and powered up again.  BIOS still recognised the 8 GB board for what it is but when I used F12 to select the USB as boot device, I just got the switch on / switch off / switch on cycle again.  I get the four-square logo but as soon as the little circle of dots starts going round (or I get "Preparing Automatic Repair"), the ACER cuts out and restarts.  
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,871 Trailblazer
    The BIOS seems to only recognize that an 8GB module is installed. But obviously can't pass it on to an operating system.

    We keep returning to the same conclusion. The only way this BIOS  has a chance of functioning on 8GB is with a matched pair of 4GB dual channel sodimms that can sync with each other. If such a matched pair also won't work, then the second RAM socket on the mainboard is likely dead.


    Jack E/NJ

  • MorgantheBear
    MorgantheBear Member Posts: 53 Troubleshooter
    Can I be sure I understand the position we have reached?  The ACER is quite elderly.  The 4 GB board is the one which came with it and is therefore also quite elderly.  When I bought a new 4 GB board and installed it, the ACER only recognised 4 GB regardless of whether the old board was in the lower slot and the new one in the upper slot or vice versa.  It did recognise 4 GB if the new board was in the lower slot and the upper slot was empty, but there had to be something in the lower slot.

    This means that either (i) the upper slot is dead or (ii) the new board was different from the old one in such a way as to make them incompatible, though either can work on its own.  I can only differentiate between these by buying two new 4 GB boards and seeing if together they can make the ACER recognise 8 GB.  But if this doesn't work, I am left with two 4 GB boards and one 8 GB board, none of which I can use, and am back where I started.  And it seems intuitively unlikely to me (though you are better placed to comment on this) that the old and new boards would each work OK alone but not together.  On the other hand, there are no moving parts in a RAM slot.  Why should it be dead?

    I have pasted below a section from my post of 4 May.  Can you tell from this whether the chips on the old board are soDIMM?

    ******************************************************

    For the 4 GB board (the one in place when I bought the ACER), the chips were made by hynix of Korea.  There are eight chips on the board.  On one side each bears the following:

    hynix
    H5TQ2G83CFA
    H9C       141A
    DWLD1347SA2

    On the other side of each chip, the characters are the same except that the last line is DWLD1066A1.

    There is a label stuck on one side which has the following:

    4GB 2Rx8 PC3 - 10600S - 9 - 11 - F3
    HMT351S6CFR8C - H9 N0 AA          1141

    ******************************************************

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