Strange X60s Memory Problem

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boofoo · #1 Post by **boofoo** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 3:36 pm

I am having a strange problem with my X60s: I recently installed a second 1 GB stick of RAM (PC2-5300; there was one already), and started experiencing freezes. They happen at apparently random intervals, and not necessarily when the system is being stressed, for example with just a browser open or while only a Ghost backup is running. It can happen only 10 minutes after booting, or after a couple of hours. The display is still on, but there's no updating or response to keyboard or mouse input.

Naturally, I thought it was because the new RAM is bad. I ran MEMTEST86+ overnight, but there were no errors.

To make sure it wasn't inserted improperly, I tried reseating it, swapping it and the original RAM's position in the two sockets, and still got freezes.

To rule out something else having changed I tried going back to the original RAM only, and it worked fine (all day, no freeze).

But now I'm trying using only the new RAM, and again it's freeze-free (so far today). So it doesn't seem like the RAM is bad. The freezes only occur with both SODIMMs in place.

Any ideas as to the cause? Could there be something wrong with the memory controller or motherboard that would cause these symptoms, or something in software (I'm running XP SP2)?

Thanks!

#2 Post by **ryengineer** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:17 pm

They're not compatible with each other or perhaps your motherboard is not accepting them.

Also some brands are just not good with thinkpads itself, these are some picky machines. Try to get another stick of same nature but different brand, if possible.

Comage · #3 Post by **Comage** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:03 pm

What's the brand of both sticks anyway?

boofoo · #4 Post by **boofoo** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 9:22 am

The new one is Transcend (which people here had reported good results with), and I didn't pay much attention to what brand the original OEM part was (something like "Elphia", a name I didn't recognize).

By the way, because of problems I've had in the past I tried uninstalling Google Desktop and so far have had no freezes with both sticks installed, running 12 hrs+.

#5 Post by **rkawakami** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 11:22 am

boofoo wrote:<snip>... and I didn't pay much attention to what brand the original OEM part was (something like "Elphia", a name I didn't recognize).

Probably is "Elpida", one of the biggest names in the DRAM world.

Found this when I Googled the terms "google desktop freezing" (kind of ironic, eh?):

Does Google Toolbar have a problem with IE7?

boofoo · #6 Post by **boofoo** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:05 pm

rkawakami wrote: Probably is "Elpida", one of the biggest names in the DRAM world.

Indeed it was Elpida.

And it turns out it wasn't Google Desktop; the freezes came back. I'm trying it again with just the new RAM in, and so far (two days) no problems. Which leads me to a new possibility: is it at all likely that the second RAM socket or the motherboard is wonky? If so, would it be possible to test it by putting one stick of RAM in the second socket only? Will the system boot up in that state? I'd rather do that as a diagnostic before going through the hassle of returning the RAM.

#7 Post by **rkawakami** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:00 pm

I don't have any direct experience with the X60 systems but generally speaking you can populate only one of the memory slots in most (all?) of the Thinkpad systems Shouldn't matter if it is the "first" or "second" slot. Yes, it could be possible that one of the memory slots is bad; there has been a precedent for that before. It's also possible that with the combined 2GB of system memory something else is going on.

From reading your previous posts it appears you have run memtest86+ but I'm not clear if you ran the diagnostic with BOTH modules installed. Can you clarify?

Also, if you can post the information from the labels on each module that might shed some light on the problem.

And finally, can you verify that your profile has a valid, working email address? It appears that messages to you are or have bounced. Contact BillMorrow and he will straighten it out. Thanks!

boofoo · #8 Post by **boofoo** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:40 am

Thanks for all your help Ray.

rkawakami wrote:Yes, it could be possible that one of the memory slots is bad; there has been a precedent for that before.

I'll try using just the "second" slot then (the one that was originally empty)

From reading your previous posts it appears you have run memtest86+ but I'm not clear if you ran the diagnostic with BOTH modules installed. Can you clarify?

I've tried running it (a) with both modules installed and (b) with just the new module. No errors in either case.

Also, if you can post the information from the labels on each module that might shed some light on the problem.

The original module:
Elpida 1GB 2Rx8 PC2-5300S-555
EB11UD8AGSA-6E-E (Elpida part no.; details here
FRU 40Y8403 (additional Lenovo label on the other side)

The new one is in the computer, but hereis the page I bought it from. It seems to be discontinued at the Transcend website. The relevant specs from there are:

Model JM488Q643A-6
Type 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM
Capacity 1GB
Speed DDR2 667 (PC2 5300)
Cas Latency 5

Boofoo

Comage · #9 Post by **Comage** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:24 am

Probably you just gotten a bad combination of RAM. Some motherboards are THAT picky.

If you have the spare cash, try getting another stick of the same brand.

Personally, I have two sticks of Corsair 1GB (total of 2GB) running in my X60, without any hiccups.

berlin · #10 Post by **berlin** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:04 am

i'm trying to max out my x60s with 1 x 2gb module and 1 x 1gb different brands but both pc2-5300. will this cause problems?

yogibear · #11 Post by **yogibear** » Tue May 01, 2007 6:10 am

This 'frozen' issue also occurred on my X60s 1702 with 2 * 1G DDR2 memory. I also noticed there were many X60(s) or T60 users stated them meet similar 'frozen' issue on a famous china TP forum.
I can make sure the quality of memory.
It occurred at unpredictables condition and I also can't duplicated.
Once it happened, mouse and keyboard never responded so I had to press 'Power' button for more than several seconds to shutdown.
It bothered me for a long time and it looks better after I update its BIOS to latest 2.10.
Hope it is not design bug. Hope it helps. Thanks.

jgsx · #12 Post by **jgsx** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:56 am

berlin wrote:i'm trying to max out my x60s with 1 x 2gb module and 1 x 1gb different brands but both pc2-5300. will this cause problems?

I'm using that configuration on my x60s (3gb total) and I haven't had any problems. I'm running Vista.

boofoo · #13 Post by **boofoo** » Tue May 01, 2007 7:37 pm

yogibear wrote:It occurred at unpredictables condition and I also can't duplicated.
Once it happened, mouse and keyboard never responded so I had to press 'Power' button for more than several seconds to shutdown.
It bothered me for a long time and it looks better after I update its BIOS to latest 2.10.

Those were the symptoms I had too. I'll try the BIOS update and see what happens.

Update: The BIOS update didn't stop the freezes.

yogibear · #14 Post by **yogibear** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:24 am

boofoo wrote:
yogibear wrote:It occurred at unpredictables condition and I also can't duplicated.
Once it happened, mouse and keyboard never responded so I had to press 'Power' button for more than several seconds to shutdown.
It bothered me for a long time and it looks better after I update its BIOS to latest 2.10.
Those were the symptoms I had too. I'll try the BIOS update and see what happens.

Update: The BIOS update didn't stop the freezes.

Lenovo stated a important update when it release the BIOS update: Version 7BETC9WW (2.10).
You can refer to official URL : http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-65345

In my X60s, it almost never happen after I update its BIOS to latest version. (current is 2.11).
Good luck!

boofoo · #15 Post by **boofoo** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:36 am

I'm using the latest BIOS and it hasn't fixed the problem.

Comage · #16 Post by **Comage** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:50 am

Come to think of it, I did encounter some lock-ups also.

But I have a distributed project program running that's always crunching data in the background (100% CPU usage all the time), so I thought it might be the heat as well.

boofoo · #17 Post by **boofoo** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:39 pm

Comage wrote:Come to think of it, I did encounter some lock-ups also.

But I have a distributed project program running that's always crunching data in the background (100% CPU usage all the time), so I thought it might be the heat as well.

I'd bet that's the memory problem. I generally had sporadic lockups unless I did something CPU- and memory-intensive (the PC DR memory stress test was good at this). That made it much more likely (though, maddeningly, never certain) that it would lock up. I would try running your system with only 1 stick of RAM to see what happens, if the lockups are an issue.

Comage · #18 Post by **Comage** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 4:38 am

OK boofoo, I have tried to run it only with 1 stick in an attempt to replicate the problem.

It seems that the lock-ups occur on my system if I am fiddling around and switching between the power profiles really fast within Power Manager.

I will test it out further and ascertain the exact steps to replicate it.

boofoo · #19 Post by **boofoo** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:40 pm

An update: I have now tried two identical Transcend SO-DIMMs, same model number, manufactured in the same week though not consecutive serial nos., and get the freeze-ups. Might this be evidence of a motherboard problem? Is it something Lenovo would fix?

Comage · #20 Post by **Comage** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:29 pm

I doubt so. Unless you manage to find others with such problems and get all of them to band together and fire off emails to their support department.

The majority of the X60 users seem to be happy users who encounter 0 problems.

I had the problem of the CPU not at full speed while battery was charging (fixed in the BIOS release v2.10: (Fix) The CPU clock may down during charging the battery.) a few months after getting the X60 (around Jun/Jul 06).

And v2.10 was only released just in Apr 2007, 9 months later.

Our hopes for fixes are diminishing with the new lineup of X61's being churned into the market.

Strange X60s Memory Problem

Strange X60s Memory Problem

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