BIOS recognizes only 1/2 of my memory

[SeattleBoi]

Hi all,

I just purchased three new 256MB PC133 SDRAM generic sticks. However, my BIOS and OS's only recognize 384MB (and sometimes less--it varies from bootup to bootup) of the 768MB I purchased. Each memory stick also gives me a similar result when installed individually (e.g. my BIOS will only see 128MB when one 256MB stick is installed.) I installed the memory on a Soyo 7VBA motherboard running the VIA Apollo Pro 133 chipset and Award BIOS (2AA3). I was previously running 256MB using two 128MB PC133 sticks. Nothing is overclocked at all on the board. OS's are Win2k & Linux Mandrake 7.2.

The memory sticks are of the same brand (M&D Taiwan...whoever that is) & have the same stampings (MD57V1283204-7 200102) on each stick.

Could this memory be incompatible with my mobo or are there any BIOS settings or mobo jumpers I need to worry about?

Thanks

[Paleo Pete]

Check the motherboard manual for memory compatibility, I think either you have incompatible memory or the board you have won't use double sided memory. The motherboard manual should have the info you need, and often if it only reads single sided memory the manual will point it out.

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[tjaymadison]

Some mobo's require specific RAM stick configurations -- 16x8, 32x8,etc. Also, you may have buffered sticks, but the board requires unbuffered, or vice versa. I'd check your manual for the correct specs, or maybe the Soyo web site.

[comguy]

Are you sure what you have is 256? All your numbers and testing say it is 128.