Acer Aahd3-vc Motherboard Manual
Gauthier Zitnik
I'm looking to upgrade my RAM. Should I be concerned that my motherboard is bad, since it won't POST with certain RAM configurations? The motherboard manual recommends using slots 2 and 4 if you're using two sticks. I was under the impression that this was just a recommendation, not a requirement. Is that correct?
So no, it's not just a recommendation. It's a requirement, although the wording on the diagram in the manual is misleading. You must always install the first module in DIMMA2, but it's up to you how to install after that first one.
You certainly want to follow the manual's recommendation when it comes to which slots to use, as installing the memory incorrectly could limit memory throughput significantly (you want to be able to leverage dual-channel memory whenever possible).
The slots on your board are labeled DIMMA1, DIMMA2, DIMMB1, DIMMB2. DIMMs A2 and B2 should be filled first to leverage dual-channel memory. If you put one in A2 and another in A1 or B1, the machine might boot, but it will not run in dual-channel mode. Follow this diagram for installing memory (also from the manual):
I had to exchange the case for an Acer Aspire M1201. The motherboard used in that build is an Acer RS740DVF. The trouble I'm having is that neither could I find a service or user manual for that motherboard, nor are the front panel pins labeled on the board itself. They are color coded though:
Providing the pin number (ie, which is pin 1) would be more helpful since most mobo manuals would illustrate pin-outs by numbers. But on most mobos, red would be hard disk led, blue is reset switch, green is power led (not sure which one on your picture above). You could try to momentarily short out any of the adjacent yellow pins to see which one would power on the computer (power switch connector). Also note that there are polarities on the led connectors.
The pins configuration described above for the Foxconn RS740M03A1-8EKRS2H worked for the front panel of an Acer RS880M05A1 motherboard, although there was an aditional jumper (2 pins) on the right of the front panel pins block, as it is show in the first posted picture of the Foxconn layout.
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