I think I am the person that had the post you are
referring to. Feel free to e-mail me for any details.

Here is what I found...
I also had a big problem getting memory to work with my
COMPAQ Presario 4505. I spent a LOT of time reading
this forum, and looking for some defining statement
from COMPAQ on their website/forum.
From this, I did learn that there were many other
COMPAQ Presario owners trying to do the same upgrade
and facing the same problem, and wasting a lot of time.
At the time, it appeared that the moderator at COMPAQ
("Greg") did not have this type of information in the
database he uses to try and help users.

I tried two different 32MB PNY SDRAM memory modules.
Both were recognized by the COMPAQ as only 8
 MB.
On some reboots, the COMPAQ did not see any additional memory.
Like you report, depending on what way you were looking,
there were different amounts of memory reported.
My guess is that it was dependent on the timing and
method that the memory was being looked at.

Here's what worked for me with the Presario 4505:

Crucial Technology
Item number: CT4M64S4d10
SKU: CT134305
Description: 32MB 168-pin DIMM 4Mx64 SDRAM unbuf 10ns
www.crucial.com
In February, I bought it on their website (gives you a 10
percent discount) and paid $41.39 + $5 shipping + sales tax.
They are a division of Micron. Call them for pre-sales
support on your model, but I think it is the same.

Technically the PNY memory modules met the specifications
by COMPAQ, but they just don't work.
The difference between the memory modules is that
the Crucial memory is configured differently
. It uses
sixteen 2MB chips (8 per side), while the PNY memory used
just four 8MB chips all on one side.

There may be other manufacturers memory modules that work.
It is the "density" of the memory is the critical factor.
- "density" being the number of memory chips that are used
to make up the 32MB's on the module.

After going thru all of this, I sent this information to
the COMPAQ forum for posting. The last time I looked, it
had not been posted. Not sure why.

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