M17-R1 RAM help

Hello,
I have an old M17-R1, not from Dell.

I've been searching for information about upgrading the RAM during the past week, but I've finally come to realise that I have to post about it instead because I've found nothing.

My system atm has 2x2gb 1066 ram and today my new 2x4gb 1066 arrived. I have the latest bios, b14 as both reported by SIW and I also just reflashed it just to be sure. It will however not detect either of my sticks, not if I put only one in either slot or both.
According to what I read and understood from the bios part in this guide B13 added support for it, right?
EDIT:While booting there's just a black screen, AW icon does not show up and computer just seems idle.
Any help appreciated!

UPDATE: Changed to 2x4gb from Crucial and worked perfectly.

 

I've now also tried the zfactor 29 BIOS but it did not change anything, still only detects 4gb.
Screencap from SIW:


I've seen a few people having 8GB in their sigs and I wonder how they managed it, if it's true according to my SIW that it only supports 4gb.

I also gave them a call but they are clueless and only say that it's an old legacy system and that it's not supported anymore so I'm not expecting much more help from them.

 

Remove battery, remove power cord and try unplugging, then refitting the Bios battery after 30secs.
Go into Bios screen, if you use RAID, this will need to be set up again, as well as the system clock.
Whilst you are there, check how much system memory is seen.
What OS are you running?

 

I tried to do as you told me. I also put the 2x4gb into my computer after refitting the bios battery, but it would just start to a black screen as before. I then put my 2x2gb back and started it up again and then it told me the ACPI(or sth like that) BIOS was installed. I went into the bios after reboot and set up my raid.
The memory reported in the BIOS however was still 4gb. I'm not sure if it's because it's the maximum it detects, or if it's the current installed.
As for the OS it's a clean 7 ultimate OEM reinstalled about a month or two ago.

Edit: Just checked the RAMs in my friends computer and it had no problem detecting them at all. The bios that got installed by following your reply is the latest version, just FYI.

 

Try putting in one 4gb stick plus one 2gb stick (that is 6gb total installed).
If you get a blank screen, swap the 4gb stick and try again.
Remember to take the battery and power cord out each time.

 

Already tried that as well, tried every possible memory combination in each slot, 2x2, 2+4, 4+2, 4+4.
I'll give it another try, however SIW still reports maximum of 4gb as in the picture in my first reply, isn't that strange, or is that just the total memory installed atm?

Tried it again, nothing new, SIW reports 4gb as max while running on 2gb too, so I'd presume the error's in the bios/hardware support.

 

From your screenshot, SIW sees both sticks, but only 2gb from each.
What is interesting is, the part number returned for each stick by SIW is actually for a 2GB stick: EBJ21UE8BASA-AE-E
Odd.
Send a PM to zFactor, he may be able to shed some light.

 

Well it's because those are the 2x2gb stock ones I've put into the system. If I put a 4gb, alone or with a 2gb or the other 4gb, the computer gives me a blackscreen before the bios aw head pops up.

When i put my 2 4gb sticks into my friends computer it detected and reported them correctly in SIW. Remember I can't even get to bios with a 4gb card in the computer.

 

Can you get a screenshot of SIW with the 4gb sticks in your friends computer? That would help.

 

here ya go

 

Other people have had problems with the same part number "CM3X4GSD1066" 4GB sticks as yours inside the m17 with updated bios, see here.
I'm afraid the best I can suggest is, try a different brand and/or model of memory.

 

True that, but he also notes that it worked with one, whereas for me it's not working at all, not even got it to boot.
I'm still fairly confident there's something else that's wrong since my bios says maximum capacity 4096mb and not 8gb. Is there any M17 8gb RAM owner out there that can verify this, so it's not a bios report error?

 

Hello

I can confirm that the M17 runs fine with 8gb as I have a pair of crucial 4gb sticks in mine.

 

What else could it possible depend on, that makes my computer different from yours. Seeing your build mine's almost the same:
X9100 @3.06
1920x1200
3870x2
2x500gb raid
and the stock 2x2gb RAM

Did you have to do anything to upgrade to 8gb, such as change anything or specific updates?

 

To be honest all I did was just remove the old RAM and put the new RAM straight in. Then it just booted and all was fine. Im using Zfactors Bios if that makes any difference not the stock one.

 

Update if anyone finds this thread and has the same problem:
Got new memories from Crucial today and they worked perfectly.

 

Perfect.
A bit out of topic - does the notebook support 2x8GB?
And I read that 2x4GB Crucial ddr3 @1600 could work on 1066 which is the maximum of the notebook on better timings than other brands on 1066.

 

would also like to know this too

 

I have DDR3 1600MHz in my pre dell m17 r1 its the corsair vengance 2x4gb brand ,cpuz says its at 6 6 6 26 the old stuff i had in there was kingston timings were 8 8 8 24 got , nice speed boost yes it works

 

Yes I know this is an old thread but there might be people out there wondering the same thing.

The Alienware m17 r1 does NOT support 2x8gb. It maxes out at 2x4gb. If you want 2x8gb then you'll have to get a m17 r3.

Max Ram for m17....
m17 r1 = 8gb
m17r2 = 8gb
m17 r3 = 32gb
m17 r4 = 32gb

If you have any questions on how much RAM your laptop can handle, download "Crucial System Scanner", but the scanner isn't always correct.

 

Bringing back from the dead.... I have tried 2 different brands and models of ram and cannot get 8gb to work in my M17-R1. I currently have the Kingston PnP KHX1600C9S3P1K2/8G and cannot get my system to boot 1 or both sticks. I can swap back to the factory 4gb (2/2gb) of ram and it works like a charm. I have tried the b14 and .029 bios to no avail. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bryan Tracy

 

Alright,
1. Install the latest B14 bios.
2. Check the bios to see if it recognizes the ram (perhaps the OS limits the ram).
3. If the bios does not report 8gb, try 1 x 4gb in each slot, to see it there is a motherboard fault.
4. If the bios recognizes 8gb, it is the OS which is causing problems.

 

The Alienware m17 will not accept Kingston memory other than the stock memory. I have crucial 2x4 in mine.