T30 won't boot with 1 gig ram

[houdy]

I have a ThinkPad T30, running Windows XP Pro, SP2. I recently tried to increase my RAM from 768 megs to 1024 megs using two brand new Lenovo 512 meg memory modules. I encountered a problem, however, the ThinkPad would boot up and start Windows XP, but about 15 seconds after the desktop came up, it would freeze, requiring a hard reboot. I tried booting both in safe mode and using clean boot, with the same result.

Has anyone else had a similar problem, and any suggestions as to what could be the problem?

[djpharoah]

if im not mistaken the T30 has a P4-M chipset which uses DDR266. The first thing to check is if both sticks run independently of each other. If they do then you know they are imcompatible with each other.
also make sure that they are both DDR266 and nothing else.

-dj

[dr_st]

also make sure that they are both DDR266 and nothing else.

-dj

DDR333 shoule work.

[djpharoah]

also make sure that they are both DDR266 and nothing else.

-dj

DDR333 shoule work.

yeah i realized that DDR333 would just clock down to 266 but i have seen ddr200 modules.
i know i know..those are very scarse...but i have seen them

-dj

[danage]

Any DDR1 memory in SODIMM format will work, actually. Even DDR-400, albeit uncommon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR_RAM
The labeling is often confusing. DDR2 is the "new" standard. Faster, cheaper, and incompatible with DDR1. Notice how there are DDR2-400 modules as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR2_SDRAM

I am assuming you got DDR2 ram? In my opinion, it is not necessary to get "original" IBM modules. IBM dont make them themselves. There are only a few memory chip manufacturers in the world. Differences appear only in terms of warranty. Kingston for example offers lifetime warranty.

[houdy]

The problem is NOT the memory modules, I have tried midules from three different sources, and I carefully checked to make sure they have the correct specs, plus they all work if used with a 256 meg module.

[danage]

sorry, i skimmed your initial post and missed important information: your machine does start. under normal circumstances, freezes mean bad memory: as soon as a bad memory region gets accessed, the machine hangs. please give more information:
a) which modules do work in your system? one/two?
b) do your modules work in other computers?
c) do the modules work when using only one at a time? in each slot?

certain bios updates address memory issues. if you don't already have, upgrading to the lastest might help.