New RAM not recognized - no POST
I just purchased some RAM online and received the package of previously opened RAM (that's where the first alarm bell went off), powered down my PC, disconnected all peripherals, opened case and added these two sticks of memory, reconnected powered up and nothing happened. By nothing I mean there was not even a beep from the BIOS or any signal sent to the monitor. The only sounds were those of the power supply and the hard drive.
I then tried the following:
- removed the two existing 1GB sticks of Kingston RAM and tried rebooting again. Same results, nothing at all.
- moved the two new sticks of RAM to the other channel and tried again; same results
- removed all RAM and this time received a beeping CMOS error for lack of RAM
- disconnected everything and removed the CMOS battery for a few minutes and then restarted with just the new memory. Nothing happened once again
- removed the 4GB of "new" Crucial RAM and put the original 2x1GB of Kingston back in. Powered up and all was good (I had to put date, boot device order...).
So here's the equipment:
ASUS P5Q SE Motherboard
Original RAM: 2x 1GB modules Kingston 99U5429-005.A00LF
New\additional RAM: 2x 2GB modules of DDR2 667 PC2-5300 Crucial (CT25664AA667.16FHZ #on sticks).
I used the Crucial Scanner tool to check for compatibility. I don't have a floppy installed so couldn't run a Memory test if I could even get by the boot up.
Currently if I install these sticks of RAM I don't even have any POST activity. Is there something else I can do, or should I just put them back in the mail and try to get a refund? As I said, the package had been previously opened and stapled closed when I received it in questionable packaging (meaning that there is nothing that seems to protect it from static or magnetization).
