Clevo D9f laptop, 6gb memory, only 4gb available. ?

Hi all,

Ive been having a problem with this laptop for a month or so now, basically, the bios states that I have only 4gb of ram, although windows resource manager states I have the correct 6gb, only 4gb is useable as 2gb
is "hardware Reserved".

Im just about to return to manufacturer but thought id hit this forum as a last resort, the best thing to do if you know anything about this problem or are interested is to view my novatech forum link which contains the history of this problem.

BTW I have also installed a clean version of Windows 7 and Vista and both show only 4gb or ram being available.

Please see this link for more info, and if anyone can shed any light on the problem I would be very grateful and I wont miss my laptop for a couple of weeks

http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?p=213041#post213041

Many thanks for your time.

 

I think the problem is that you're running on 32bits version of Windows.


EDIT: Oh, i read the link you posted. I guess its not the version of windows then.

 

Sorry ye forgot to say both Windows that I installed are all 64bit versions.

 

My guess is a bad ram chip. I'd suggest trial an error, use two chips at a time and swap them out to see if you can locate the bad chip.

Alternatively, MS provides a memory-checking program that creates a bootable CD that will verify your memory. You can get that here.

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

 

Do you have an option such as Memory Hole in your bios anywhere? Given the limited capacity of most laptop BIOS it should really be on auto if not, but if its there, try enabling it, you have to on a large number of desktop machines either to access over 3.25GB or over 4.

If you installed this RAM recently as well, or after last BIOS reset, try resetting the BIOS to default/optimal settings, this may also help as it should reload default RAM settings in concordance with your current setup.

Also, under Vista was that 6GB actually available or just listed as present (I've seen that before too), it may never have been working and is just labelled differently now!

 

No the OS vista or W7 has always listed the ram available as 6GB. But usable only 4gb.
So yes, basically it lists that 6gb is installed, but it is only able to use 4gb.

 

Where have u seen it before btw, as it sounds like its the same problem as i have.

 

Many many machines have similar issues and dont support greater than 4GB (or even 3.25GB) by default without an option like max memory, or memory remapping being enabled in BIOS.

If no option exists in your BIOS, I'd recommend trying to obtain the latest BIOS for the machine from Clevo, and see if that helps, as sometimes initial BIOS do not always contain the full feature set later allowed, or capabilities and hidden settings revised.

On top, I'd also reseat your memory if at all possible (perhaps boot with one stick in, then shutdown and install the other[s?]), and try ensuring the latest chipset drivers are installed for your machine.

Beyond this theres the further possibility that your machine doesnt really support 6GB as yet, or a memory stick is faulty, depending on your RAM layout. If you look around google, many people have had similar issues
Even type in 6GB 4GB usable and you'll find some

 

Just in case anyone else was following this thread it turned out the problem was with the slot on the motherboard, the ram modules were fine. Two weeks new MB and no more problem.