I have a bunch of Toshiba 2805 laptops. I also have a 16-chip 256MB
SDRAM memory module (other specs unknown). I tried to put this into a
2805-S603 and a 2805-S402 and neither machine POSTS, both machines sound
a single beep and display a "please remove incompatible memory module"
message on the LCD screen.

Yet, the same module works fine in a 2805-S201 and a 2805-S202.

I am speculating that the failure in the two higher end and later models
is "artificial" .... that the module WOULD work, but that the BIOS sees
some parameter that it was programmed to reject and won't allow the
machine to work with that module even though it would.

I have the latest BIOS in all 4 machines.

Kind of frustrating. [Also interesting ... the crucial web site does
not list the Toshiba Satellite 2805 series at all ... it was one of the
most popular series of Toshiba machines of the past 10 years, and these
machines are very, very common].
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

In news:2ad82$487d6516$16230@news.teranews.com,
Barry Watzman typed on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:03:49 -0400:
> I have a bunch of Toshiba 2805 laptops. I also have a 16-chip 256MB
> SDRAM memory module (other specs unknown). I tried to put this into a
> 2805-S603 and a 2805-S402 and neither machine POSTS, both machines
> sound a single beep and display a "please remove incompatible memory
> module" message on the LCD screen.
>
> Yet, the same module works fine in a 2805-S201 and a 2805-S202.
>
> I am speculating that the failure in the two higher end and later
> models is "artificial" .... that the module WOULD work, but that the
> BIOS sees some parameter that it was programmed to reject and won't
> allow the machine to work with that module even though it would.
>
> I have the latest BIOS in all 4 machines.
>
> Kind of frustrating. [Also interesting ... the crucial web site does
> not list the Toshiba Satellite 2805 series at all ... it was one of
> the most popular series of Toshiba machines of the past 10 years, and
> these machines are very, very common].

See the old 2005 thread about this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/31...a-2805-problem

Funny, Google Groups didn't archive this one. At least I couldn't find it
there. Btw Barry, how many Toshiba 2805s do you need?

--
Bill
Gateway Celeron M 370 (1.5GHZ)
MX6124 (laptop) w/2GB
Windows XP Home SP2 (120GB HD)
Intel(r) 910GML (64MB shared)

I presume you saw that I was part of that old exchange ... but I was not
the person with the issue (as I am now).

It seems fairly clear to me that there is something present in the BIOS
of the S402 and later models that rejects memory modules which would
physically work if the BIOS didn't block it. Aarrrrghh ...

If you have some 2805's to get rid of, I might be interested in them.
Contact me (presumably you can figure out my E-Mail address).


BillW50 wrote:
> In news:2ad82$487d6516$16230@news.teranews.com,
> Barry Watzman typed on Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:03:49 -0400:
>> I have a bunch of Toshiba 2805 laptops. I also have a 16-chip 256MB
>> SDRAM memory module (other specs unknown). I tried to put this into a
>> 2805-S603 and a 2805-S402 and neither machine POSTS, both machines
>> sound a single beep and display a "please remove incompatible memory
>> module" message on the LCD screen.
>>
>> Yet, the same module works fine in a 2805-S201 and a 2805-S202.
>>
>> I am speculating that the failure in the two higher end and later
>> models is "artificial" .... that the module WOULD work, but that the
>> BIOS sees some parameter that it was programmed to reject and won't
>> allow the machine to work with that module even though it would.
>>
>> I have the latest BIOS in all 4 machines.
>>
>> Kind of frustrating. [Also interesting ... the crucial web site does
>> not list the Toshiba Satellite 2805 series at all ... it was one of
>> the most popular series of Toshiba machines of the past 10 years, and
>> these machines are very, very common].
>
> See the old 2005 thread about this:
>
> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/31...a-2805-problem
>
> Funny, Google Groups didn't archive this one. At least I couldn't find it
> there. Btw Barry, how many Toshiba 2805s do you need?
>
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

In news:487F89F8.2090504@neo.rr.com,
Barry Watzman typed on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:05:44 -0400:
> I presume you saw that I was part of that old exchange ... but I was
> not the person with the issue (as I am now).

Hi Barry! Yes I did notice that.

> It seems fairly clear to me that there is something present in the
> BIOS of the S402 and later models that rejects memory modules which
> would physically work if the BIOS didn't block it. Aarrrrghh ...

Yes indeed. It would be interesting if one can downgrade the BIOS.

> If you have some 2805's to get rid of, I might be interested in them.
> Contact me (presumably you can figure out my E-Mail address).

I don't have any right now, sorry!

--
Bill
Gateway Celeron M 370 (1.5GHZ)
MX6124 (laptop) w/2GB
Windows XP Home SP2 (120GB HD)
Intel(r) 910GML (64MB shared)