BIOS Updates forum

I just bought a new 512MB SDRAM and inserted it into the first slot, but the motherboard would report it as 256MB!

I checked the specs of my mobo with PCChips, it's a discontinued model for PIII, however the description says :
------------------
Memory Support
- Two DIMM slots for SDRAM 168-pin memory modules
- Support for 66 MHz, 100MHz and 133MHz memory bus
- Maximum installed memory canbe 2 x 512 MB = 1GB
-------------------
It has AMIBIOS 08/22/2000S installed, the AMI string/id is 62-0822-001437-00101111-071595-A631A542-M754LMR0

Any help much appreciated, thanks.

How many chips does the SDRAM module have?

it's a double-sided module, has 16 chips.

Do you have the latest BIOS release? It sometimes solves RAM support problems.

i posted the full AMIBIOS string in my first post above.

the BIOS release date seems to be 08/22/2000.

i wish i knew if this is the latest one or not. i couldn't find a newer one anywhere that would match exactly this particular mobo model (001437-00101111-071595-A631A542-M754LMR-0).

what i found (i think on this site) was a 2001 AMIBIOS release for the M754L, and i'm not sure whether that model is the same as mine.

however, the bug-fix history list that comes with this new BIOS doesn't say anything about RAM fixes or so.

With the new Pcchips model number system the M754LMR now is the M754L
http://www.pcchips.com.tw/BIOS.html
>> ftp://ftp.pcchips.com.tw/bios/m754lmr/010822s.rom

Or get it from here :
http://www.pcchips.com.tw/bios/bios.asp?module_id=5

Thank you. I didn't know about the model name change.

I have a few questions before I proceed to any re-flashing, maybe you already know the answers. I'd like everything to go smooth as I can't afford to lose this computer

1. Do you think that re-flashing will solve the problem with the incorrect SDRAM amount detected on the 512 MB module?

2. What flashing program would you suggest for PCChips AMIBIOS?

3. Is there such a program (tested with PCChips/AMIBIOS) that would allow me to save the old BIOS and restore it back later in case anything goes wrong? Is there an automated way to do that - i.e. without manual intervention, in case I won't be able to see anything on the screen?

4. Will the CMOS values be affected by re-flashing?

5. Can I save the current CMOS values and restore them after I install the new BIOS?

6. I'm using the onboard video adapter provided by this mainboard, and in my CMOS settings I currently have a 32 MB shared memory allocated for video. Will this value be reset to "0" after re-flash? With "0" I won't be able to see anything on the screen!

7. What can possibly go wrong with the re-flashing?

8. I currently have 4 OSs installed on different partitions: Win2K, Win ME, Win XP, and RedHat Linux 8. Are they going to be affected by the new BIOS in any way. Will I be able to boot from them the same way?

Thanks!

1. Probably. It has happened on other boards.
2. The version available at www.pcchips.com.tw
3. All flashers have a SAVE feature. The FAQ will tell you how to recover from misflashes.
4. Not generally, but clearing CMOS after flashing is always recommended.
5. Hmm... I'd rather write the settings down somewhere.
6. I really doubt it will be set to 0 after flashing.
7. Depends... either you can recover from it or not.
8. The boot order is both hardware and software (OS) dependent. As long as the boot sequence is maintained in BIOS, whatever you've set in your HDDs should be maintained.

thanks.

i upgraded the BIOS but nothing changed in the amount of RAM detected.

any clue of what's happening?

how can i check if the module is truly 512MB. it has a sticker on it which says so but is there any other way i can check this?

Read the numbers off the chips and look them up ?

Could be a chipset issue. What chipset is on the board?

It may be able to take 2 x 512MB, but only in the correct density... (ie: might need a 32-chip module...if they even exist).

Please post more on your hardware.

i've posted a hw report as generated by SiSoft Sandra 2002 @:
http://www11.brinkster.com/pcguru/Syste ... 012003.htm

the report has some inconsistencies though. For some reason, Sandra doesn't see the correct BIOS date. At boot time, my BIOS release is shown as 08/22/2001S. Also the mainboard is a PCChips M754LMR with only 2 DIMM slots, not 3 as reported by Sandra.

you may also notice that I've added a new 128MB SDRAM module on the second slot.

however, on the first slot, the 512MB module is still seen as 256MB.

thanks for any advice.

http://users.erols.com/chare/chipsets.htm shows ALi Aladdin Pro II (M1621/M1543) can take 8 rows at 16Mb and 64Mb technology (memory).

64Mx64-bit, 16 chips at 32x8-bit, (8Mx8-bit x 4 bank) is a typical 512MB module...

( http://www.kingston.com/tools/umg/umg04.asp )

Wait...something looks fishy...

Shouldn't this be a TNT2 (M1631/M1535D), which can take up to 256Mb technology???

Me thinks SANDRA hiccuped...check what chipset is actually installed.

BTW, how do you like your Traveler? Mine burnt up (batteries only...can still use on PC) so they sent me a ClickSmart 510 as a free replacement...

Why do so many people use Sandra? She sucks.