Came across a problem at work today that I've never seen before. We were
setting up a computer that hadn't been used for a while. When we turned it
on, we couldn't get any signal to the monitor. My first thought was that the
video card or monitor was bad, but both of those check out OK in another
'puter. I messed around for a while and finally got down to the RAM.

This is where it gets kinda strange. First of all, the RAM *is* good. It
checks out in another system. If both slots of one or both banks are filled,
there is at least no video and I guessing the system isn't booting. If the
first slot of one or both banks is filled, video comes up fine, system goes
through POST, and only stops then right before it boots an OS cause it can't
access a full bank. If the second slot of one or both banks is filled, the
system just gives the POST beep code for no RAM. I've gone through this with
multiple sets of simms and video cards and even tried a different processor
and nothing makes any difference.

Anybody ever see something like this before? Any idea what would cause it?

I'm not sure of the brand of mainboard (the company lost the manual and I
can't find any silk screening for identification). It uses a VIA chipset and
has a generic S3Virge video card. The original simm configuration when this
started was one bank of two 8 meg EDO's. The other bank is empty.

TIA

--
Adam Gonsman
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