Position dependent (vertical or horisontal) motherboard issu

gev

n00b
Joined
Feb 6, 2017
Messages
4
Hi,
Here's the configuration of the computer.
Acer Aspire M5100
Model: AM5100-U5301A
Motherboard: F690GVM (that's what Open Hardware Monitor shows)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+
RAM: 4 sticks of 1GB DDR2 NANYA NT1GT64U8HBOBY-25D (looks like these are replaced as there's HP stickers on all of them, besides, I can read 3GB of RAM on the box)
HDD: 500GB SATA II Seagate Barracuda ST3500830AS
Video: Onboard ATI Radeon X1200
Windoes 7 (all updates installed)
Computer fully scanned with Security Essentials and Malware Bytes

Problem 1
With 4 sticks of RAM installed, LAN won't work. With automatic IP, it shows the received IP as 169... , although my network gateway is 192.168.1.1. When I set IP manually (something like 192.168.1.150), it still doesn't work. No ping, browsers or anything.
Also instead of any sound you'd get a static noise. By the way, all of these is not mother board position dependent yet.
It all goes away when I remove the RAM stick in the 4th socket. A particular stick does not matter, It just has to be 3GB to get working. I have shuffled them. Moreover, the issue persists when I installed another 2 sticks of 2GB (total 4GB) from a different computer.

Problem 2
Now I'm telling you about the issue with 3 sticks (3GB in total) of RAM installed. OK, now check this out. Whenever I lay the box on it's side (horizontal position) everything is cool. When I put it vertical, it's normal position, I start getting a lot of ping time outs, widows update ends up throwing error 80072EE2, Skype, Team Viewer are offline, although the network sign in notification are show no problems. By the way, I'm sure it's MoBo since I have removed every single component, including MoBO, from the box and have twisted all possible ways. Only the motherboard twist from horizontal to vertical affects it.

Help please
 
If it's a defective motherboard, there's nothing you can do but have it repaired / replaced via RMA. Or just throw it away, that's a pretty old system.
 
yeah it sounds like the board is degrading internally. sorry but I think its time to move on.
 
Bad NIC socket? Weight of the cable in one orientation causing a connection issue? You could try a Linux live CD just to confirm it isn't something software related.

I'm going to guess it's something wrong with the motherboard PCB. Not worth replacing.

Either live with the system as is or replace. You can pick up a 3-5 year old off lease office system on ebay for less then $150 shipped. Would blow your current system away.
 
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Thanks Track Drew,
My bad, yeah, the NIC was the cause. OK problem 2 resolved now. :) I'm persistent, I'm going to resolve the 1st issue too, guess must be BIOS.
 
I'm going to resolve the 1st issue too

You said the same issue occurs when you have 2x2GB of memory in ANY set of slots?

Since you've confirmed that there's a NIC socket issue, any chance that when you add memory you are moving the cable enough to cause issues again.

Is this the Marvell 88E8056 NIC? What driver version/date is installed? Try updating to the newest: http://www.marvell.com/support/downloads/search.do

I'd still try a Linux Live DVD to rule out software issues, give Ubuntu/Fedora/etc a whirl with 4 gigs and see if the same happens.
 
Sorry for misleading, the problem was ban LAN cable. I changed it and it worked OK, in terms of ping timeouts, Windows update ... . Those 2 X 2GB were installed in 1st and 2nd bays.
 
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