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    BSOD on samsung Q35

    Discussion in 'Samsung' started by B_O_O_Y_A_R, Aug 18, 2008.

  1. B_O_O_Y_A_R

    B_O_O_Y_A_R Notebook Enthusiast

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    My Q35 is getting BSODs a lot! - pretty much everytime i use it.
    Sometimes it lists a varying driver and often says IRQL is EQUAL or LESS or something to that effect.
    I often get alerts saying desktop windows manager needs to be closed too.

    I think it might be Hardware based - RAM/CPU/motherboard.

    I have run Memtest86 - sometimes this fails 1st pass - usuall tests 3+4 and or test 5 failing. However - sometimes its passes (although I don't leave it many passes).

    Finally - I have taken out the removable 512MB DRM2 and still sometimes get fails but sometimes it passes. When the stick is in I get fails in the range 1-512MB and 512-1024MB which corresponds to both the stick and onboard RAM.


    So am I really unlucky and have bad removable and on board ram or is it something else like heating or CPU.


    Any help would be fantastic even if just point in a particular direction. Thanks
    This is also in the samsung forum.
     
    B_O_O_Y_A_R, Aug 18, 2008
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  2. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Memtest is usually right. Another test would be to download and run a Linux Live CD without RAM in the slot. If that crashes (you may need to use it for several hours and open up applications to ensure you use all the RAM) then it does point to the on-board RAM. If that's bad then you will probably need a new motherboard. I don't think there's any way to stop the system using the on-board RAM, even if you put a 2GB module in the RAM slot but maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps try allocating the maximum possible RAM to the GPU in the BIOS.

    If Linux works fine with the on-board RAM then try it with the RAM module in the slot. If that also works fine then it may be a corrupted driver in Windows.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Aug 18, 2008
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  3. B_O_O_Y_A_R

    B_O_O_Y_A_R Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok I'll give that a go. Hoever I refuse to believe that both the onboard and slot ram are shot! Might try claning it out too although im not sure how to get right into it
     
    B_O_O_Y_A_R, Aug 18, 2008
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  4. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    If the on-board RAM has a problem then it may appear to affect any RAM in the slot. I don't know how the RAM is mapped when there is RAM in the slot. Maybe the memory is inter-leaved rather than sequential.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Aug 18, 2008
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  5. B_O_O_Y_A_R

    B_O_O_Y_A_R Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok that makes sense - hope its not though because i think thats another motherboard!

    The strange thing is at work it seems ok - managed since 10 this morning!

    I presume the errors are when it uses bad area of ram

    It is currently 512 +512 on board. do you think that replacing my 512 stick with a 2gb stick might al least help - that was the on board ram is only 20% of the total instead of 50% and might make the problems less frequent?
     
    B_O_O_Y_A_R, Aug 18, 2008
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  6. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    It might help. But any BSODs are not good. 2GB may also let you increase the RAM allocated to the GPU in the BIOS. If you are lucky then the bad RAM (if that's the problem) might end up being somewhere where it isn't normally used.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Aug 18, 2008
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