RAM issue, slot 1 & 2 not working. Tried nearly everything. Beer for whoever fixes it!

LeMson · 7 Sep 2021 at 18:12

Check voltages to everything, then start giving things more juice

gradyhawks · 7 Sep 2021 at 18:14

LeMson said:
Check voltages to everything, then start giving things more juice

Can you give certain slots more power via BIOS then?

gradyhawks · 7 Sep 2021 at 18:14

im4gine3 said:
Try different RAM

I have the exact same problem as you with one of my rigs which is running a 4770k on an Asus Crosshair mobo and Corsair Vengeance red 4x8gb 2400 memory.

Initially this worked great for more than a year, then i dropped something on the rig (can't remember what it was.. pencil holder maybe but was relatively heavy) and since then, the computer no longer posts with an error code of D6 and the DRAM light on the mobo. Tried everything from reseating CPU, checking for damaged contacts between the CPU and memory slots, trying different ram slots, updating bios, resetting bios to defaults etc etc... and nothing would work.. only adding ram into slot 3 and 4 would work but thats no use.

With a lot of head scratching and prodding, the computer managed to boot with memory in slot 2 and 4, and since then just left it as is. If i had different sticks of memory i could test if that was the culprit.

So.. it just ended up working one particular boot?

im4gine3 · 7 Sep 2021 at 18:31

oddly enough yes.. i left the machine off for a couple days cos' i was so frustrated that i tried prodding again and managed to get it to boot.

Obviously just luck, but i have no idea what the resolution is even to this day.. and well give the age of the system, seem pointless for me to buy new sticks of memory to see whether that is the cause of the problem.

im4gine3 · 7 Sep 2021 at 18:44

not gonna try prodding again since it's working, and well i have my main rig to fall back on (which is running a 5800x fine), but i know that the rig will not boot if i put the other 2 sticks back in to seat all 4 slots.

gradyhawks · 7 Sep 2021 at 19:06

One thing I've not tried is just having all 4 sticks in and just.. leaving the PC on overnight to see if it can somehow work past whatever issue it's having.

serious_adam15 · 8 Sep 2021 at 10:22

I have the same ram, and I had similar issues when I was upgrading my parts, moving stuff about in the rig, every time id shut off id have a habit of turning the switch off at the back, and then pressing the power button to get rid of excess power in the mobo before moving anything.

When I finish working on it, and turn it back on, it would get stuck on the orange DRAM light on my Asus board, for absolutely no reason as I haven't touched the RAM at all. Tried power cycling, to no avail, left it without power for a minute, suddenly boots up. This happened so frequently it drove me nuts, so all I did was move the B2 ram into A2, and the A2 into B2, and now it works without getting stuck on DRAM post.

Ram is weird, but THIS is even weirder. All i can think of is your 4 rams may not be compatible with each other, one runs more voltage than the other, maybe or one is 'ryzen optimised' and the other one isn't. Who knows lol. if you're able to boot up to windows in single channel, check hwinfo on affected ram sticks and compare to see if its pulling something in that wont let the rams dual channel.

neur0maniak · 8 Sep 2021 at 13:33

My previous computer (Asrock Z97 Extreme4, i7-4790k, 4x 8GB DDR3-2400) has a weird memory issue.
There was never a problem at first, but it seems to have deteriorated over time.
It's memory slots are labelled A1/A2/B1/B2.
It first occurred after moving the computer, and it's onboard diagnostics gave dr.debug error code 55 (Memory not detected).
I tracked down the problem to being only on slot B2. I had to reseat the memory many dozens of times before I could get it working again.
There is a small amount of room for wiggle, and the motherboard only detects the ram in the slot if it's pushed right up against the top edge (closest to edge of motherboard).
Over time, it's become so sensitive, all it takes is the slightest bump or knock to dislodge it and error 55 returns, and it still takes me dozens of attempts at reseating it, cleaning contacts, and brushing the slots to get it to work.

Maybe you've got a similar problem?

413x · 8 Sep 2021 at 14:31

I had some weird ram issues with my old desktop.
Somehow, I have no idea how. The bios I was using must have corrupted.

I'd tried everything. At some point I flipped to the backup and everything was fine. It wasn't a bios update. No idea what happened.

Probably not same issue. But at the point I found this I was at my wits end.

Mr Mcgoo · 8 Sep 2021 at 14:31

have you tried clearing the cmos. also are the 4 ram sticks all from the same pack. i.e. you brought all four as my kit?

gradyhawks · 9 Sep 2021 at 17:00

neur0maniak said:
Maybe you've got a similar problem?

Mr Mcgoo said:
have you tried clearing the cmos. also are the 4 ram sticks all from the same pack. i.e. you brought all four as my kit?

The motherboard has been replaced, so unless I've gotten 2 mother boards with exactly the same issue, it's not that. The 4 X 8gb sticks are from 2 lots of the same RAM kits.

Never the less, I've replaced the RAM now with new RAM and cleared CMOS. Still nothing for slots A1 and A2.

There is literally nothing left for me to check now.... Makes no sense at all.

gradyhawks · 9 Sep 2021 at 17:02

im4gine3 said:
Try different RAM

No banana. Tried some new 3600mhz 2x16gb sticks. Fine in slot B1 and B2. Anything in slots A1 or A2 and no boot. Just sat there.

serious_adam15 · 9 Sep 2021 at 17:14

gradyhawks said:
No banana. Tried some new 3600mhz 2x16gb sticks. Fine in slot B1 and B2. Anything in slots A1 or A2 and no boot. Just sat there.

Arent they supposed to boot in A2 and B2 for dual channel?

im4gine3 · 9 Sep 2021 at 17:14

gradyhawks said:
No banana. Tried some new 3600mhz 2x16gb sticks. Fine in slot B1 and B2. Anything in slots A1 or A2 and no boot. Just sat there.

Were they by the same manufacturer - Corsair Vengeance? or throwing a completely different name out liek GSkill for example?

I wasn't sure if this 'problem' only happened on Asus boards as there are plenty of threads on Google regarding this issue, but i guess not, since you are running an MSI, therefore could it be the type of memory used... given this issue is happening using Corsair Vengeance.. both of which we are running on

VaderDSL · 9 Sep 2021 at 17:17

Have you re built the system outside of the case?

As in take everything apart, including the mounting system, the rebuild from scratch outside the case.

I’d even take cmos battery out to reset Bios then setup from minimum system until it stops working or works fine at stock.

On my system, XMP profile 1 will immediately cause my system to fail to Post with red ram led, with 2 sticks.

Armageus · 9 Sep 2021 at 17:20

gradyhawks said:
There is literally nothing left for me to check now.... Makes no sense at all.

Just checking but you have tried it built outside the case (to rule out a bent motherboard or a short?)

im4gine3 · 9 Sep 2021 at 17:26

Armageus said:
Just checking but you have tried it built outside the case (to rule out a bent motherboard or a short?)

I'd actually be interested in the result of this as i didn't do that to mine. Given mine is working now, i'd rather not in case it goes kaput again (not to mention, dismantling the custom hardline loop), so if you do do this @gradyhawks, share the results

gradyhawks · 9 Sep 2021 at 19:15

serious_adam15 said:
Arent they supposed to boot in A2 and B2 for dual channel?

Correct, but ever since I changed to an AIO about a year ago I can't dual channel

im4gine3 said:
Were they by the same manufacturer - Corsair Vengeance? or throwing a completely different name out liek GSkill for example?

I wasn't sure if this 'problem' only happened on Asus boards as there are plenty of threads on Google regarding this issue, but i guess not, since you are running an MSI, therefore could it be the type of memory used... given this issue is happening using Corsair Vengeance.. both of which we are running on

It's still Corsair Vengeance, but it's the newer ones. Not sure if that means it's actually any different whatsoever.

VaderDSL said:
Have you re built the system outside of the case?

As in take everything apart, including the mounting system, the rebuild from scratch outside the case.

I’d even take cmos battery out to reset Bios then setup from minimum system until it stops working or works fine at stock.

On my system, XMP profile 1 will immediately cause my system to fail to Post with red ram led, with 2 sticks.

Armageus said:
Just checking but you have tried it built outside the case (to rule out a bent motherboard or a short?)

Not tried it outside the case and when I swapped the motherboards over I did it incase. It could be something that's bending the motherboard somehow or shorting it. It has to be this.

I just wanted taking it out of the case to be the last step... I spent hours cable managing things :'(

But ... I might try it. As in two days if it's not working still it's going to a PC repair shop on a no fix no fee (oh the shame....!)

Craig_d1 · 9 Sep 2021 at 21:27

Someone on another thread had same issue and did the following.

I may have just been lucky, but I run a Dell OptiPlex 755 and I updated the BIOS
After that I:
1. turned "fast boot" off in the BIOS (while I was running single channel memory)
2. booted the PC once with the "fast boot" off.
3. turned off the PC then installed both channels of RAM
4. Turned the computer on, the computer beeped (which it wasn't before)
5. Tried the power again and it booted just fine
6. Turned the "fast boot" back to on and everything was back to normal.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 10 Sep 2021 at 11:21

Update: in my case, it appears to have been the CPU cooler block mounting playing silly sods.
Got my chip back, plopped it in, and tightened the cooler very gently, just enough for good contact... Now running all 4 Dimms at 3200MTs tight.
I was skeptical about that being the problem, but there seems to be something in it...