HELP -- ram installation laptop not booting

So I just added 512MB (OCZ PC2700) to my Presario. There was 256MB in there originally. The first time I tried to turn the computer on nothing happened (ie, it wouldn't turn on). So I swapped the placement of the 512 and 256 and tried turning it on again. This time it's stuck on the boot screen and the words/characters are "corrupted." The Compaq logo is across the center of the screen and at the bottom it says "Press <Esc> to change boot order" and "Press <f10> to enter setup, <f12> to boot from Wan(?)." Also, holding down the power button doesn't turn off the computer. I will try taking out the battery, putting it back in and turning it on again, but in the meantime, any ideas???

 

Okay, this time the initial screen was okay, but then after the Compaq logo and "Press ... " text disappeared, I got a blank screen with wavy lines along the left hand side. After that, nothing happens.

By the way, I was careful to discharge any static electricity before installing the ram.

 

Maybe the RAM isn't all the way in?

 

Opened up the back cover and made sure that the RAM was pushed all the way in. Any other ideas?

 

Okay, if I take the new RAM out, the computer starts up. Does this mean I was sold the wrong RAM?

 

The V2000z comes stock with 200pin DDR333(PC2700) SO-DIMM. So, if that is the spec of the RAM you bought then it should be the correct type of RAM. Maybe there migt be a defect or the laptop is picky about OCZ memory. Your best bet is to try to swap it with another memory(Crucial, Kingston, Corsair) or try a replacement from the store you bought the RAM from.

 

Try booting with only the new stick, just to confirm that the two sticks aren't having compatability issues.

 

Try what RogueMonk said. It wouldn't be the first time that two SODIMMs didn't play nice together. It could be compatibility, the OCZ stick could just be bad...

AMD64 CPUs are very picky about RAM, especially in notebooks. That's why I try to steer people to Crucial memory because HP told me they test against that. Get Crucial PC3200 if you wind up replacing the OCZ (it'll fall back to PC2700 if you leave the HP-supplied stick in there). Regardless, as soon as you can get what appears to be a working configuration test it with MemTest86+.

You should also both unplug and remove the battery before making hardware changes. It's theoretically possible that you fried the new memory if the battery was in place when you dropped it in but you probably didn't.

 

did you buy the ram in its boxed retail version, or was it an oem one? sometimes, its is a question of defective ram. then again it could also be something else. hard to tell because there are a good number of possibilities why it is not working you would just have to do trial and error, eventually eliminating one by one possible causes.

 

I work on the hardware side of IT, and I work with people all the time that dont push the chips all the way in.

Also, the 2 chips may not work together.

Also, your laptop may not hold that much ram (doubt it though).

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm guessing that it's defective RAM or the two chips aren't working together. The computer is running fine now back on the original chip. Tomorrow I'll try running it on just the new chip, and if that doesn't work, I'll try sending it back to newegg. Incidentally, it looks like it came in the OEM packaging, for whatever that's worth.

 

at times oem versions may have lemons because they are shipped by the manufacturer to the seller in bulks. even though it may be "branded" it does not always guarantee that the modules would not conk out along the way. i had a few instances of buying oem crucial that functioned then suddenly died never to resurrect. i had to return it to seller for exchange.

 

for ram to be compatable, the pin number needs to be the same; but the other variables (clock speed, dual channel, mb size) aren't always 100% manditory in matching?

 

correct. but performance wise the memory configuration follows the weakest link, that is, the machine will follow theoretically the speed of the module with the lower spec (be it in the latency or clock speed, etc.) even though they have the same ram capacity. the difference may not be that obviously observable for the casual user, but it may be critical for the power user. nonetheless, as long as the modules are compatible with the motherboard, and with one another, the notebook should power up and function without a glitch.

 

i would recommend sending that stick back, then buying two of the same sticks of ram (i like OCZ ram the best).

pb,out.