Scoob
Active member
Hey all,
I have a very odd problem with a laptop memory upgrade... but a little history first...
The laptop in question is an old ASUS X555LA laptop, circa 2014. Intel 4th Gen i5, 4GB built-in RAM, spinning hard drive, Windows 8, decent enough for its day, but really rather ancient now. However, despite this, it works great. This was originally a broken laptop I was given a few years ago, but replaced the screen, keyboard and broken hard drive as a bit of a project. With that SSD and running Windows 10 it works pretty well for basic web browsing and the odd bit of Office stuff. Perfect.
As I'm a tinkerer at heart, I thought I'd have a play getting Windows 11 on this machine - totally unsupported of course. The update went incredibly smoothly, no issues what so ever and the laptop is running W11 really well. Not quite as snappy as my more modern hardware, of course, but perfect usable none the less. Pleased.
While it does work well, this machine only came with 4GB of DDR3 RAM - chips soldered on to the motherboard. It's working fine, but as I had some 4GB DDR3L SODIMMs spare, I thought I'd double the RAM with the added bonus of going from single to dual channel of course.
I pop the RAM in and fire up the Laptop. Still only 4GB reported. Ah well, not all RAM is compatible, slots never been used before, perhaps its dirty (oxidised) or the RAM's not quite in right. That was my first thought, however, when checking the RAM in Windows using CPUz, I found something really weird. The RAM module I just installed was recognised, CPUz reported the exact serial number, but as the only RAM installed in the system. Rather the built-in RAM had been disabled. Never heard of this happening before.
Now, the RAM module I installed, while DDR3L was actually a slightly lower speed (1,333 vs. 1,600 built-in - so 667/800) however, I fully expected the faster built-in RAM to simply down-clock to make both play nicely together. My thought at this time was that, due to the speed miss-match, and perhaps not being able to down-clock the built-in RAM, it decided to disable it in favour of the added RAM. Sorta odd, but plausible.
As it happens, in another Laptop, I do have some exact matching RAM. It's Samsung, like the built-in stuff, and has all the exact same timings. Absolutely the best chance to work, right? Nope. Same issue. I tried various other random sticks - all working perfectly in other laptops - and had the same problem each time. Built-in RAM is disabled when adding RAM to the single expansion slot.
While Googling this, I found one other person with the same issue, they had the slightly older ASUS X554 laptop. However, their post had zero replies.
So, I have a nice little laptop, that runs Windows 11 lovely, but it's just lacking a little RAM. Problem is, 4 + 4 = 4 for this laptop. Installed SODIMM is recognised, but it causes built-in RAM to be disabled.
Note: this laptop reportedly can support a maximum of 12GB RAM, 4 built-in plus a single 8GB DDR3L module. That would mean it stays single channel of course, so, considering I had spare 4GB SODIMMs already, adding another 4GB seemed like the perfect solution.
Note 2: I did ensure that the laptop was on the latest available BIOS, there was one from 2019, so I applied that. Considering the laptop is from 2014, that's not too bad.
Note 3: If I use HWInfo64, rather than CPUz, I do get a little more information. It shows the added RAM module as installed in "Slot #2" (CPUz showed it as in Slot #1), but it also shows the built in RAM underneath it, not in a slot. It's really rather puzzling. Neither the BIOS nor Windows sees more than 4GB available in total.
I get that this is a total edge-case scenario, but I'm at a loss how to proceed. I could try buying more RAM, but as perfectly matching RAM still has the issue, I don't think that'd help.
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions on this, I'd be happy to hear them. It's rare I get stumped by stuff like this.
Cheers.
Edit: This actually gets more curious. I found a 2GB SODIMM DDR3 module, so I thought I'd try that. I install it and only 4GB total is still shown - I assume in this case the built-in 4GB. However, checking CPUz it only shows the 2GB module, yet RAM total is 4GB. It's like the laptop is running 32 bit Windows, except it never was. W10 was 64 Bit, W11 is only available in 64bit... this is really puzzling.
Edit 2: I did wonder if, this being an older laptop, it perhaps didn't work with DDR3L SODIMMs or if the other laptops I have (where I robbed the "test" RAM) were DDR3 and this one is DDR3L. I.e. I can install "low power" RAM, but it can't use them. Pure speculation here of course. While I do tinker with older kit a lot, all my other old laptops - I have three others of a similar age - the RAM is fully interchangeable without issue. It's just this ASUS X555AL that has problems. It can see every RAM module I add - but it then "forgets" the built-in RAM, but it never sees both build-in and add-in at the same time. I might just order some RAM that's reported 100% compatible with this specific Laptop and see how I get on.
I have a very odd problem with a laptop memory upgrade... but a little history first...
The laptop in question is an old ASUS X555LA laptop, circa 2014. Intel 4th Gen i5, 4GB built-in RAM, spinning hard drive, Windows 8, decent enough for its day, but really rather ancient now. However, despite this, it works great. This was originally a broken laptop I was given a few years ago, but replaced the screen, keyboard and broken hard drive as a bit of a project. With that SSD and running Windows 10 it works pretty well for basic web browsing and the odd bit of Office stuff. Perfect.
As I'm a tinkerer at heart, I thought I'd have a play getting Windows 11 on this machine - totally unsupported of course. The update went incredibly smoothly, no issues what so ever and the laptop is running W11 really well. Not quite as snappy as my more modern hardware, of course, but perfect usable none the less. Pleased.
While it does work well, this machine only came with 4GB of DDR3 RAM - chips soldered on to the motherboard. It's working fine, but as I had some 4GB DDR3L SODIMMs spare, I thought I'd double the RAM with the added bonus of going from single to dual channel of course.
I pop the RAM in and fire up the Laptop. Still only 4GB reported. Ah well, not all RAM is compatible, slots never been used before, perhaps its dirty (oxidised) or the RAM's not quite in right. That was my first thought, however, when checking the RAM in Windows using CPUz, I found something really weird. The RAM module I just installed was recognised, CPUz reported the exact serial number, but as the only RAM installed in the system. Rather the built-in RAM had been disabled. Never heard of this happening before.
Now, the RAM module I installed, while DDR3L was actually a slightly lower speed (1,333 vs. 1,600 built-in - so 667/800) however, I fully expected the faster built-in RAM to simply down-clock to make both play nicely together. My thought at this time was that, due to the speed miss-match, and perhaps not being able to down-clock the built-in RAM, it decided to disable it in favour of the added RAM. Sorta odd, but plausible.
As it happens, in another Laptop, I do have some exact matching RAM. It's Samsung, like the built-in stuff, and has all the exact same timings. Absolutely the best chance to work, right? Nope. Same issue. I tried various other random sticks - all working perfectly in other laptops - and had the same problem each time. Built-in RAM is disabled when adding RAM to the single expansion slot.
While Googling this, I found one other person with the same issue, they had the slightly older ASUS X554 laptop. However, their post had zero replies.
So, I have a nice little laptop, that runs Windows 11 lovely, but it's just lacking a little RAM. Problem is, 4 + 4 = 4 for this laptop. Installed SODIMM is recognised, but it causes built-in RAM to be disabled.
Note: this laptop reportedly can support a maximum of 12GB RAM, 4 built-in plus a single 8GB DDR3L module. That would mean it stays single channel of course, so, considering I had spare 4GB SODIMMs already, adding another 4GB seemed like the perfect solution.
Note 2: I did ensure that the laptop was on the latest available BIOS, there was one from 2019, so I applied that. Considering the laptop is from 2014, that's not too bad.
Note 3: If I use HWInfo64, rather than CPUz, I do get a little more information. It shows the added RAM module as installed in "Slot #2" (CPUz showed it as in Slot #1), but it also shows the built in RAM underneath it, not in a slot. It's really rather puzzling. Neither the BIOS nor Windows sees more than 4GB available in total.
I get that this is a total edge-case scenario, but I'm at a loss how to proceed. I could try buying more RAM, but as perfectly matching RAM still has the issue, I don't think that'd help.
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions on this, I'd be happy to hear them. It's rare I get stumped by stuff like this.
Cheers.
Edit: This actually gets more curious. I found a 2GB SODIMM DDR3 module, so I thought I'd try that. I install it and only 4GB total is still shown - I assume in this case the built-in 4GB. However, checking CPUz it only shows the 2GB module, yet RAM total is 4GB. It's like the laptop is running 32 bit Windows, except it never was. W10 was 64 Bit, W11 is only available in 64bit... this is really puzzling.
Edit 2: I did wonder if, this being an older laptop, it perhaps didn't work with DDR3L SODIMMs or if the other laptops I have (where I robbed the "test" RAM) were DDR3 and this one is DDR3L. I.e. I can install "low power" RAM, but it can't use them. Pure speculation here of course. While I do tinker with older kit a lot, all my other old laptops - I have three others of a similar age - the RAM is fully interchangeable without issue. It's just this ASUS X555AL that has problems. It can see every RAM module I add - but it then "forgets" the built-in RAM, but it never sees both build-in and add-in at the same time. I might just order some RAM that's reported 100% compatible with this specific Laptop and see how I get on.
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