Lenovo N100 Ram problem

I recently installed 2 gigs (1 gig each of PNY pc2-5300 667mhz ddr2 sodimm) but when i turn on the laptop all i see is the white lenovo screen.. it doesnt go pass that andi cant press the help button. what do i do? thanks.

 

Try booting off a memtest86+ disk and have it run for awhile, Linux also comes with it if you have disk.

If you get a error then you have bad ram and you need to RMA it.

 

is there an alternative? i dont have any of that... but since it doesn't give off a bad sound or anything it means the ram is compatible but something is going wrong right?

 

i really need help with this... ugh i wasted so much money on ram!

 

Do what Tailic says... Nobody has memtest86+ until they download it for free: http://www.memtest.org/

You have to make a bootable cd with memtest. It doesn't run in windows. Google is your friend.

 

Looks to me like the easiest way would be to download an iso (zip file) from here... http://www.memtest.org/#screen

Unzip the file -> use a free program like imgburn ( http://imgburn.com/index.php?act=download ) to burn the iso file to cd

Use must use a program like imgburn to burn iso (image) files to cd. You can't just drag and drop to cd. It won't create a bootable disk that way.

 

i installed both rams and then booted with the memtest in my drive... all my laptop shows is the Lenovo screen and that's it... are there any other suggestions?

 

I would check in the BIOS and make sure that the cd-rom drive is set up as the boot drive.

I wish I could help further. I don't have my thinkpad yet. I plan to run memtest when I upgrade the RAM when I get it. In the meantime maybe someone else could chime in.

Also, you could call the manufacturer of the RAM. I'm sure they can assist you with testing your RAM.

 

The problem is that the N100 is finicky about the first SODIMM installed. If you return the original memory, I'll bet it works no problem.

I have a similar problem in that I bought an Ultra SODIMM as the second memory, and it works fine. But I started having memory problems (diagnostics pointed to a RAM problem on the original SODIMM). Thinking this easy, I replaced the Lenovo SODIMM with the Ultra, and voila the machine won't boot.

Some research I did suggests this is a common problem. That Ultra and Kingston SODIMM's seem problematic. I have heard--but not tested--that Corsair and Patriot SODIMM's worked fine.

In all likelihood, Kingston and Ultra may make products that would work as the first SODIMM. It could be that my specific SODIMM just has some characteristic that the laptop doesn't like. Memory comes in so much variety, I just can't say.

So, you can get a 'partial' upgrade in all likelihood by replacing SODIMM 1 with the original (probably a 512MB) and putting the other 1GB in... leaving you with 1.5GB where you wanted 2GB.

This is the best you can do unless you can find the right 1GB SODIMM to boot with... I'm off to the local shop to see if I can find one. (I'll test the Corsair/Patriot theory, I suspect).

Count yourself lucky, I don't know if I have a bad SODIMM or a bad motherboard!!

 

Swapping the SODIMM fixed my problem. I bought some no-name brand, as they didn't have a lot of selection.

I want to remind everyone that VISTA has a Memory Diagnostic if you boot the DVD and Repair your Computer. This might save you some aggravation from having to download a memory tester.

 

I have an N200 with exactly the problem described. I purchased two Patriot 1GB sticks and after inserting them both, boot hangs after the "Mouse initialized" message in BIOS. After swapping memory around a bit, I find the Patriot 1GB will NOT work in slot 1 (the inner or under slot). The original Lenovo 512MB in slot 1 and either Patriot 1GB in slot 2 works fine. memtest86 says both Patriot sticks are good (with the original Lenovo 512MB in slot 1).

I actually used the Lenovo/IBM Electronic Service Call to report this online. Much to my surprise and amazement, I got a call back within about half an hour. Of course, the response was "third party memory won't work", which appears to be so. Has anyone found a 1GB memory stick (other than IBM's) that DOES work in slot 1?

 

I just did this and had the same issue white sceen will not go further. So any sort of test software will not work, will not load.
I think it may have something to do with the dual channel stuff.
Buy 2 1 gbs not quite a match??
when you stick in the old 512 and a new one gb it works.
dosn't matter which one of the one gb is in they both work.

has anyone with this issue bought a 2gb and stuck it in with the 1 gb.
i'm going to take back 1gb and try a 2 see what happens.. different size will not try to dual channel may work.
but for now i have 1.5 gb
Alex