RAM Confusion, Elitedesk 800 G2 Tower

[Mealticket]

All - I'm baffled. I have the HP Elitedesk 800 G2 tower PC, with i7 6700. It came with 2 Kingston 8GB sticks of 2133 RAM which worked fine.. I bought my Dad the Elitedesk 800 G2 SFF and swapped the Kingston into that as he needed something ASAP. The SFF came with 2 Hynix 4GB sticks which worked fine in my tower. Then when I tried to upgrade my tower back to what it was, I went with 2 8GB G.Skill Aegis sticks using the NewEgg memory finder, and the fun began. That memory wouldn't work at all. I got an error, I think 2E1, memory size error. Then, after I tried to put the Hynix modules back in, it would only recognize the 4GB in DIMM 1. I swapped the sticks and it didn't matter; it only saw DIMM 1. Then I used Crucial's memory finder and bought 2 8GB 2400 sticks, and again it will only see DIMM 1. CPUID does show the speed there as 2400. The BIOS seems to give no functionality to change anything regarding the RAM settings. Any data I found online basically left me with only the option to swap the Mobo. For $20 I did that, and with the Crucial sticks, it gave 3 nasty beeps then 2, and wouldn't boot. I played around and if I left the Crucial 8GB stick in DIMM 3 only, it booted and recognized it. With a Crucial stick in DIMM 1, no joy. Huh? I'm lost, Is the BIOS stuck in some weird loop? Both boards are using the most recent BIOS. Mobo is called Spitfire Rev A.

[itsmyname]

@Mealticket --  I got an error, I think 2E1, memory size error. 

That is just a "warning", indicating that this start-up of the computer has detected a change in the amount of installed RAM.  Either you added RAM, or somebody with physical access to your computer "borrowed" some RAM, leaving you with less RAM.  Click "OK" to acknowledge that you know why the change was detected.

Did you accidentally damage the DIMM2 socket, such that it will not accept any RAM?

For each stick of your RAM, is your RAM labelled "1R8" or "2R8", or a mixture? Same speed for each stick?

[Mealticket]

Itsmyname - yes, it's a warning, but it corresponds with a functional problem, and there is no option to click 'ok' to resolve it. The reason I bought the spare mobo was in case I damaged the socket with that first upgrade. So, it does not appear to be a bad socket. Both Crucial sticks and both Hynix sticks are 1Rx8. Both Crucials are the same 2400Mhz, and both Hynix are 2133,

MT

[itsmyname]

@Mealticket -- there is no option to click OK to resolve it

The resolution is to enter BIOS SETUP, and then immediately do a "Save-and-Exit".

That will "register" your computer with the current amount of RAM.

So, the next time that you power-on your computer, the actual amount of RAM at that time will match the "saved" value, and the message should not appear.

QED

[itsmyname]

@Mealticket --  it gave 3 nasty beeps then 2

For HP computers, it usually means that either the add-in graphics adapter card, or one of the sticks of RAM is not properly "seated" into its socket.  But, you played around, probably removing & then reconnecting the RAM.

Since everything seems to work with one stick inserted into DIMM3, I would experiment: try each stick, one at a time, into that DIMM3 socket, to see if any of the sticks cause any error -- probably "beeps".  You may find that one stick is "bad".

Are the four sockets for RAM the same colour?

Or, are two adjacent sockets in one colour, with the other two sockets in a different colour?

Or, are the 1st & 3rd sockets the same colour, with the 2nd & 4th sockets in a different colour?

If your motherboard supports "dual-channel mode", then the two sticks with IDENTICAL specifications must be placed into the same-coloured sockets.  If all four sockets are of one colour, there is no such "hint" as to which sockets should be "paired" to obtain dual-channel mode.  Sigh.

[Mealticket]

Entering BIOS and then hitting save changes does not work. I tried it 3 times. Both sets of RAM, the Crucial and the Hynix, do bizarre things on either Mobo. It's not a bad stick. This is dual channel; slots 1 and 3 are black, and slots 2 and 4 are white. On the chance that I had the two channels mixed up, I tried the white only, and it would not boot. The black slots are channel 1.

MT

[itsmyname]

@Mealticket -- Entering BIOS and then hitting save changes does not work

I realize that doing that "Save-and-Exit" trick will not solve your "larger" problem, but did it get rid of that warning message?

1. Start the computer.

2. See the warning message.

3. Enter BIOS SETUP.

4. Save & Exit.

5. Power-off your computer.

6. Disconnect the power-cord.

7. Hold-down the on/off button for a few seconds, to "drain" any residual electricity.

8. Reconnect the power-cord.

9. Power-on your computer.

10. Do you now see that "warning" message?

[Mealticket]

It's never been about the error message. It doesn't pop up on start-up; it happened the first time. I saw it one more time, I don't know, maybe when I hit the esc key to get the start menu, or maybe during the memory test. It's still hanging around, but I don't care about that. I care about using the RAM I paid for, on the machine I paid for.

MT

[itsmyname]

@Mealticket --  I care about using the RAM I paid for, on the machine I paid for

Since you say that everything seems to work with one stick inserted into DIMM3, I would experiment: try each stick, one at a time, into that DIMM3 socket, to see if any of the sticks cause any error -- probably "beeps".  You may find that one stick is "bad".

[Mealticket]

That was the other mobo. On this original mobo, only slot 1 works. I just tried the other Crucial stick by itself in slot 1, and it worked fine. The modules are fine.

MT