Two memory modules
First of all, I removed the memory cover to find out if both memory modules are installed correctly. The laptop had two 1GBB Samsung modules installed and they were seated properly.
1GB memory detected
When I started the laptop and entered the BIOS setup menu, I found that only one of the two memory modules registered.
Note: In the computer world
1GB=1024MB.
I tried reseating both memory modules but it didn’t help.After that I tried installing both memory modules in both memory slots one by one and here’s what I found. The laptop worked absolutely fine when both memory modules were installed into the slot A, but failed to boot with both memory modules installed into the slot B.
Apparently, there is nothing wrong with the memory modules and the laptop has a faulty memory slot B. The memory slot is permanently soldered on the motherboard. If one of the slots fails you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard or use the laptop with only one working slot.
Buying a new motherboard for this older laptop wouldn’t make any sense because it’s too expensive, but the laptop is still in a good working condition except the faulty memory slot B, so I continued playing with that trying to find the solution.
Press on memory module
I noticed that the laptop start normally with the memory module installed into the faulty slot if I slightly press on the module with my thumb. And this gave me an idea.
Guitar pick
This guitar pick is going to fix my laptop.
Install guitar pick
I installed both RAM modules back into the slots and then placed the guitar pick over the module in the slot B as it shown on the picture.
Close memory door
I thought if I close the RAM door it will press on the guitar pick/memory module and it will have the same effect as pressing on the module with my thumb. And it worked!
1GB memory detected
Although this doesnt work in all scenerios