Toshiba Satellite Vista laptop won't recognize ram upgrade

[edong]

It's dual channel.

1. Original RAM is 512MB PC2-4200
2. Bought from Crucial.com their suggested upgrade which is 512MB PC2-4200.
3. Confirmed that the new memory stick is not defective by installing it alone.
4. Confirmed that the second memory slot is not defective by inserting either of the memory sticks there with the first slot vacant.
5. Both Toshiba tech support and Crucial.com did not mention about compatibility or conflict between different brands

Computer>Properties only shows 446 MB of RAM with one OR both sticks installed.

Thanks

[aedipuss]

what does the motherboard bios report? some use del during boot to get to bios setup some others use a function key.

[TBoneit]

My take on this issue from working at a local computer repair store.

Go to a local repair shop, don't stiff them. We do not charge for installation if you buy the memory from us. If it doesn't work we'll take the laptop to our wholesale distributor to try different brands to get it working.

If we have memory and it works and you don't want to buy from us then we will charge, that is only fair.

Check with Toshiba first and be sure 512 isn't a limit of your model.

Send back the crucial as it isn't working. Do not try and ghet it working and spend so long you can't return it. Most likely you won't get it working, don't get stuck with it.

[Krispy Kritter]

I would contact Crucial right away, if for no other reason than to let them know it doesn't work. They are known for standing behind their products, but the clock is ticking.

As for the actual issue, it is most likely a laptop (bios) issue and not a memory conflict or faulty memory (as you've already verified).

[edong]

Toshiba said to me to take the laptop to one of their authorized service center which I am going to do. Question - is there a feature in Vista that will prevent another users from opening the Windows Mail or any other program? I am not very comfortable thinking somebody else can read my e-mails. I think I have some e-mails generated when logged as administrator and Guest. Perhaps there is password to set up but have not looked into yet. Thanks.

[Krispy Kritter]

They won't be able to read your emails unless you are using a default admin account. Even then, unless you give them the password or they hack it, they won't have access to that account and your email. You should have a specific user account created, in which case your email will be seperate from other users and admin.

They won't need to boot Vista or login to solve your memory issue...they can check the bios to see if all of the memory is recognized.

[edong]

Thanks Krispy.

That's what I did. I created a separate user account with no password that the tech guy can use if necessary. I also moved all my Excel files to a USB storage. I just want to show that I made the effort to secure the important files just in case.

[TBoneit]

And you need to remember they may, quite likely will wipe the drive and do a clean install as part of the process.

Backup anything you don't want to lose.

[spathion]

I have the exact same problem, bought an additional 512 MByte SODIMM from Crucial and Toshiba Bios doesn't recognized there is 1 GByte worth of RAM no matter how I arrange the slots. Model#A135-S2286, did you ever figure out what was wrong?

The last thing I'll be trying is updating the BIOS.

[edong]

I have the exact same problem, bought an additional 512 MByte SODIMM from Crucial and Toshiba Bios doesn't recognized there is 1 GByte worth of RAM no matter how I arrange the slots. Model#A135-S2286, did you ever figure out what was wrong?

The last thing I'll be trying is updating the BIOS.

The Toshiba Repair Center who had my laptop for a day (under warranty) concluded that the Crucial stick is not compatible. I bought a 1 GB Corsair PC5300 (mine is 512MB PC4200) and both seems to like each other. I now have 1.4 GB of RAM!

I do not know what is the effect of mixing different density/speed because I read, in dual channel, identical sticks should be used for best performance. Well. . .

[TBoneit]

The difference between what you have and dual channel mode is memory bandwidth (Speed).

This presumes that your Toshiba support dual channel mode.

Dual channel mode handles memory different than single channel mode. It more or less interleaves memory from both memorys to double the memory speed. For that to work, the Motherboard must support it, and the memory must be matched pairs.

The Above is a simplistic way to look at it.

It is possible that since your computer came with one memory it doesn't support dual channel mode. Only Toshiba or the manual can say.

If it supports dual channel than 1 Gig of dual channel might, "Might", be better than your 1.5 gig of memory. that sort of depends on what you do. BTW if it is truly only showing 1.4 gig in the bios and none is being used for video memory then all is not well as 1 gig plus 512Meg should not equal 1.4 gig total.

[edong]

The laptop supports dual channel. About the amount of RAM, I'm thinking some are alloccated to video that's why I kind of ignore it. Even with the original 512MB, it only showed a bit more than 400MB. I will try to remove the 512MB and see if it really makes a difference using just one stick.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I have a Toshiba Satellite with two memory slots,I just bought another 512MB of Toshiba OEM RAM and it works great.Windows uses 64-256MB of RAM for the onboard video.
BTW:get the 8 cell battery...it's worth the money.

[TBoneit]

Doesn't matter since with different sizs it is in single channel mode. Remove one and it will still be in single channel mode, just less memory.

[spathion]

BTW, Crucial memory is incompatible. I bought a 1GB PNY DDR2, and now the Satellite Notebook recogizes both memories.

[tgd]

I'm having the same issue trying to upgrade a friend's A135-S2276 with a Crucial 512MB stick.
A call to Crucial Support revealed that what may be causing the problem is the number of chips on the memory sticks.
The original Samsung stick in the Toshiba has 8 chips, 4 on each side.
The Crucial stick has only 4 chips on one side
Per Crucial Support, the 8 chip stick is an older type, which has an incompatibility when paired with the newer 4 chip types. The rep said it took them a while to figure that out.
So now I have an RMA & once Crucial sends me an 8 chip stick, I expect the memory to be recognized. But I'll report back regardless.

[buttzilla]

My new toshiba works fine with the original stick and 1 gig of corsair value ram rated at pc-5300. Most good memory is backwards compatable. I have since replaced the 512 with another gig of corsair. I have a a135-s2276 model

[tgd]

Good news, Crucial's replacement 8-chip 512MB memory stick arrived today & it works great! The full 1024MB from both sticks is now recognized by the Toshiba (before the allotment for shared video). The Crucial part number is CT6464AC53E.8FB