Helping a friend upgrade memory. Few ?'s....

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I have a friend who owns a HP Pavilion DC2037US laptop running on an Intel Centrino Mobile and 1 GB of PC2-4200 DDR2 So-Dimm memory (2 dimms, 512 mb per slot) and Win XP.

I got a hold of two 1 GB PC2-6400 DDR2 So-Dimm memory modules, tried installing them into this computer and the thing will not boot after the install of new modules. The computer just beeps once very loudly and shows a black screen.

I thought PC2-6400 should be backwards compatible with PC2-4200 and clocks down accordingly. I've done my research and know this computer will accept a maximum of 2 GB and each memeory slot will read up to 1 GB.

I've also tried installing just one new module and keeping one 512mb in the other slot. The computer turns on but only reads 512mb of ram.

I've upgraded ram in my Compaq laptop that also originally came with PC2-4200 DDR2 and replaced it with PC2-5300 DDR2 and everything works fine.

What's the deal here?
 
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They are backward compatible but at the same time you have to make sure the board itself will support that speed of DDR. Very rarely on laptops it could be a voltage issue for the memory as its not getting enough juice.

Lastly, I'd recommend trying to put 1 stick, and only 1 stick into the laptop. Remove the 512 module, and remove any others and put one 1 1gig stick in and see if it boots up. Try resetting the CMOS as well to clear any memory specific timings set by HP.
 
I dont know if it applies to so-dimm or not, but in the dimm world there are two types of memory: low density and high density. most motherboards will not read the high density. (the high density are usually sold at bargain prices) the result is either: no read, or only a fraction of the memory is available. what brand so-dimm modules do you have?
 
One thing to look out for with seating sodimms is to really make sure the stick gets in the socket.

Sounds like you know your way around a laptop, but shouldn't hurt to try a reseating of the 1GB sodimms. Maybe needs a little more oomph seating them in the socket.
 
The two OEM modules installed from the factory are a Hynix brand 200 pin. The two new memory modules were also taken out of a new HP computer and are a Micron brand, 200 pin.

The CL number is different and I assume latency is different as well. From my research, none of this matters since the faster ram would down clock itself.

The latency and CL specs printed on the module sticker are the maximum speed these chips can support.
 
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So, if anybody wants to trade two 1GB PC2-6400 Micron brand ram for two 1GB PC2-4200 or PC2-5300 ram let me know. Perhaps your laptop can benefit from the faster ram capabilities and my friends will benfit by being able to actually boot up and work as was intended by HP.

This Micron ram was taken out of a brand new HP laptop before the first boot up as it was also upgraded from the very beginning. I don't care if your PC2-4200 DDR2 memory is used, as long as it works.
 
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Nice catch Quattro Pete. It was a typing error. It is indeed a DV2037US model. I've read the same thing on their website but thought PC2-6400 is backwards compatible to PC2-5300. Thus if the computer supports PC2-5300, there wouldn't be a problem. I guess I was wrong.

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Spartuss
I have a friend who owns a HP Pavilion DC2037US laptop running on an Intel Centrino Mobile and 1 GB of PC2-4200 DDR2 So-Dimm memory (2 dimms, 512 mb per slot) and Win XP.

I can't find DC2037US. I did find DV2037US. According to Crucial's site, the max this computer will support is PC2-5300 modules.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Pavilion dv2037us
 
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