Weird Memory Clips Problem: Are they gone?

[Aeolis]

Hi folks,

PROBLEM: Form time to time my computer memory clips show a very strange behavior. First my computer stops in the black boot screen before loading Windows XP PRO. So I stop everything, turn computer off, pick my memory clips off and start to test which is with trouble. I only have two memory slots so I clean everything (clips and slots) and put only one clip in slot one and after that only clip one in slot two and so one trying to find which is the problematic clip and computer doesn’t boot with any of them in any slot in any combination.
After one hour or two of tests an put on and put off clips without any conclusion they magically start to work in any slot and in any combination. That’s pretty strange!
It happened three times one in each year I have this computer (I think it’s 2 or 2,5 years old).
Does anybody have any clues or ideas? Please I need help here.

HISTORY: I have never changed mother board battery on the time I use my computer, only today that I have the above problem again. My motherboard is an ASUS P4V533-MX and it’s compatible with PC2100/PC1600 unbuffered non-ECC DDR DIMMs (as the manual says), but I am using two Markvision (I think that’s the name wrote in the clips) PC3200 clips. I didn’t choose that, my computer came that way and I’ve not changed anything since it was bought. Warranty is gone by the time I have it.
I recently installed ZoneAlarm Internet Suite 6, avast! 4.6 Pro and AVG Anti-virus 7.1 (I know they have some issues when working together, but I don’t think that’s the problem here). I had the above PROBLEM before I install that combination of programs.

See you later,

Aeolis

P.S.: If you can’t help me could point me a site or forum where I could find some help.

[Nelson37]

Doesn't seem to be a precise link between the failure to boot and the memory chip procedure. Quite possible some secondary effect is actually the answer.

I have a board that acts in quite a similar fashion, the problem is actually the AGP video card getting slightly loose in the slot. Anything which flexes the board, such as installing a RAM chip or another expansion card, will affect the video card. Typically remove and re-insert the video card, lock it down, and tighten the screw and it is OK for a while.

When your PC fails to boot, do you see the memory count on screen and do you get any beep codes?

[redwudz]

Next time it does that, unplug it from the wall and wait at least 30 minutes without doing anything else, then see if it boots properly. I can't explain why that works sometimes, I'm still chasing that down in one of my machines.

That memory should work fine, even though it's rated for a higher speed. If the BIOS battery were dead, you would lose the clock settings and the date each time you turn on the computer.

It could be any number of things. AGP card is one, memory failing is another, or a hard drive hanging up during boot, or a power supply problem or worst case, a failing motherboard.

I would check all internal connectors and PCI cards. Take a look at the capacitors that surround the CPU for any bulging or swelling.

The software you mention shouldn't affect the booting, it usually kicks in after the black splash screen just before the Windows screen at the earliest.

Another thing to try when it won't boot is to get into 'safe mode' when you first boot. You may have to look to the motherboard manual for that. Usually clicking one of the function keys, f5 or f8 will do it. When you get the black mode selection screen, choose 'safe mode with command prompt'. That will step you through the boot. If it locks, look to the next to the last entry and you may have a hint of why it's stalling. It will load the OS system drivers first, then the regular AGP and other PCI card, etc., drivers last.

That should keep you busy for a while. Good luck.

[Aeolis]

Hi folks,

Nelson37: When that problem happens the black boot screen normally show only the total memory number (1024 MB) or sometimes only the half memory number (512 MB) and stops in a line: Checking NVRAM... (I don't remember if checking is the right word, but it had something with NVRAM). When it happened I pressed del to reach BIOS Setup and the computer made beep if insist a lot of beeps were listened.

Thank you two Nelson37 and redwudz. I remembered other things that may help I tried using another hard drive I have (during that problem) as master and the results were the same (couldn't boot). Even now computer is magically working the Windows XP blue loading bar screen hangs a little the it goes ok. I had done a boot section avast! scan too. Well, for now it's what I can remember if you want extra info please ask them. I will do everithing as you very kind guys are trying to help me.

See you later,

Aeolis

[ronnylov]

To test your memory I recommend memtest86+
http://www.memtest.org/

Make a bootable floppy or CD that runs memtest86+ at startup and let it go through all the tests. To be sure let it run for at least 24 hours. There should be no errors reported.

[Nelson37]

NV Ram is Ram on the video card. Does it ALWAYS stop at this point, when it does in fact fail to boot? This would strongly point at the video card and/or its connection.

When you hear a series of beeps, how many do you get? Betcha its eight.

[Nelson37]

Woops, brain fart! Been researching Nvidia all day.

NVRam is Non-Volatile RAM, This means a ROM chip somewhere on the mainboard or an add-on card. Could still be video, or a mainboard chip, or a modem or soundcard.

Same question applies, is it ALWAYS at this point when it does stop, and how many beeps?

[Aeolis]

Hi folks,

First of all Nelson37 I can’t tell you how many beeps because now PC is working back, but working very strangely. I can tell you that computer did memory check showing 1024 MB then NVRAM… and stopped. When I insisted pressing DEL it did lot of continuous beeps then I turn it off (I’ve not counted them).
I have an external HD in a external enclosure and now when I turn it on after successful booting windows shows a strange message saying that I’ve connected a hi-speed accessory in a low speed connector and tell me that I am supposed to install a hi speed USB host. Strange that, is like my computer drivers are gone. Do I have to reinstall them? Normally windows recognize a USB 2.0 accessory and then simply install it. Now I have this warring message.
My computer works like it was always slow. Open windows in a slight jump not fluid as before.
I had a cooler vibration noise (my computer tower case has metal side walls) so I bought a new processor cooler, but now just a few month after I have again the same noise with the new cooler. The noise is not from the cooler itself, but from the vibration in the tower. Could that vibration (noise) do any warm to the components? If yes what I could do?

See you later,

Aeolis

[Nelson37]

Well, the vibration will not cause any harm BUT, and notice that is a large BUT, the typical cause of vibration is an out-of-round cooling fan, these usually run slower, blowing less air, and THAT can be a major problem. Then again, it could be the CD drive.

One thing to do in such cases is remove or disconnect EVERYTHING that you do not absolutely need, such as modem, optical drives, external drives, all but one RAM stick. Then if you still get the NVRAM error, there are a limited number of possible causes.

In addition to removing all possible hardware, get some additional cooling, a regular fan pointing into the case should do it.

I take you are into water cooling? This may very well be the cause of your problem, and the cause of possible motherboard death. In a standard PC, the chip fan also cools several nearby chips just by circulating air. With a watercooler, there is much less air circulation which often causes other chips to overheat. While NVram don't usually run hot, it may be right next to a chip that does.

Do these failures occur when booting after being off for a while, half-hour or more, or do they occur after a warm boot, which occurs while the PC has been running for some time? This would indicate the problem is heat-related. A flaky chip will often run OK when cool, and fail when hot. A perfectly fine chip can fail if it gets TOO hot, then run fine again when cool.

Try these things, and COUNT THOSE BEEPS!! They may not help at all, but they may point exactly to the answer.

[ronnylov]

Maybe you need a new battery on your motherboard. The bios settings can be lost when the battery is empty.

But it might just be that you have changed some bios setting (like memory timings or overclocking) which makes the computer unstable so it can't boot. The fix for this is to unplug the power, open the case and move the mainboard CMOS restet jumper (near the battery) to the reset porition and then put it back to original position before connecting power again. Some motherboards also require to remove and replace the battery. Read your motherboard user manual how to do this. Press del or whatever you need to get into bios setup and load "optimized defaults", save and restart. Now you need to set the time and other settings in bios but the computer should start after this.