Notebook not booting after RAM additions

[Bob361]

Hello,

I have been having issues with upgrading my laptops RAM. It has the capability of 8GB, with 2 RAM slots. Initially i simply added a crucial 4GB SODIMM 1.2V 2400Hz into the second slot. I did remove shutdown, remove battery and be careful about static. When turning on the laptop, i was greeted with the screen turning on and off at a slow rate, from off to black. No writing or error codes on screen. The fans increased activity when black and reduced when off. This happened every power on and lasted for as long as it was left on (i left it for at least 30mins). The original ram was a samsung. So next i ensured it ran correctly with only the original ram in the first slot, worked fine. The new ram only in the first slot also worked fine. I then believed after searching online that the issue could be that the RAM sticks were from different manufacturers. So a couple of days after i tested with two of the same RAM sticks at once. Same issue as original (periodic black/off screen nothing else). I tested both new ram sticks individually in the first slot, no issues. I tested one new ram stick in the second slot and it wouldn't do anything. Constant black screen with fans at constant rate. I looked at the second ram slot and there appears to be no damage or mess inside. Next i tried BIOS settings which are too heavily restricted for me to do anything, i couldnt check or alter memory settings. Then i went to windows 10 settings (one ram stick in slot 1) and to msconfig where i tried to alter max memory to 8192, but it would always reset to 4096 the current amount. Any ideas or advice to get the notebook working with 8GB of ram?

[banhien · Accepted solution]

@Bob361 

HP 255 G6 is a series of many different models/products, some machines support 8GB of RAM on 2 slots, some machines support 8GB of RAM on 1 slot. Some machines have 2 slots of RAM but 1 slot won't work. General configuration options

One/two non-customer-accessible/upgradable memory module slots
DDR4-1866 dual channel support (DDR4-2400 bridge to DDR4-1866)
Supports up to 8 GB of system RAM in the following configurations:

   ● 8192-MB total system memory (8192×1)

   ● 6144-MB total system memory (4096×1) + (2048×1)

   ● 4096-MB total system memory (4096×1)

Regards.

[Bob361]

Thank you very much, I had no idea that the second RAM slot might not be usable (which from my tests appears to be the case). This next question is just curiosity so it's not important but do you have any idea why they chose not to have the second slot work on some models. And again thanks for your time.