I was gifted this ~2010 Toshiba Portégé. Surprisingly small and thin for its age. I was hoping to revive it, but it has only 1GB of memory ootb.
Apparently it can be upgraded up to 5GB with one spare slot that currently sits empty.
I found 2 physically compatible identical 2GB modules but no matter which one I plug in, when I start the computer it just starts the fan on highest setting and nothing else happens.
Before I go into any more detail, I found this info online:
The Toshiba Portege R600 Laptop takes the PC2-6400 DDR2-800 200pin SDRAM SODIMM memory type
My sticks look like this:
Are they compatible to PC2-6400 DDR2-800 200pin SDRAM SODIMM? I honestly can’t tell.
I read the manual which says the modules need to be “Toshiba approved” but it does not say which/what Toshiba approves.
Plus this, which I did follow (note the negative):
Do not try to install or remove a memory module under the following conditions.
a. The computer is turned on.
b. The computer was shut down in either Sleep or Hibernation Mode.
c. Wake-up on LAN is enabled.
d. Wake-up on Wireless LAN is enabled.
e. The wireless communication switch is turned on.
And this does not happen:
If you install a memory module that is not compatible with the computer, the Power indicator will flash (on for 0.5 seconds, off for 0.5 seconds) in the following way;
■ If there is an error: repeatedly flashes orange twice, then white or green once
The power indicator ⏻ stays white all the time and does not blink.
TIA
How long did you wait? Give it like 15 minutes
OK that I didn’t try yet. Will report back.
I waited for half an hour, nothing happened.
I scoured the internet for a BIOS upgrade but what little I found might or might not be the right file, and flashing it is not a trivial task (no Windows!).
It runs something called ACPI BIOS 3.20, and it is impossible to find it under that name.
It does run acceptably on AntiX though, fwiw.
My guess from that label is that the modules you have are rated for the lower 666 MT/s data rate (so “6400” is marketing lies), your laptop is trying to drive them at 800 MT/s, and they’re failing. I wonder if they are close enough to success for the computer to try to use them (maybe they claim internally to be compliant?) but not close enough for it to work.
You don’t get a boot screen or the opportunity to get into BIOS settings or anything, right?
You don’t get a boot screen or the opportunity to get into BIOS settings or anything, right?
Nothing. Black screen, usual keys do nothing, fan on high.
