eBay auction 270506501893 - 256MB Toshiba 8100 PC100 M464S3323BN0-L1H


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I make it a standard practice to take pictures of my eBay purchases. Here's your package, front and back, as received January 4, 2010. There is/was no apparent damage to the outside of the envelope. Addresses have been obscured for privacy reasons.

The 256MB module, wrapped in a paper strip and inside a sheet of plastic.

Front and back of module, with your label and possibly ink marks on one of the memory chips and the circuit board.

For each memory module I buy, I test it using a program called memtest86+. It is designed to run several memory tests to verify that the module is 100% functional. I am a memory test engineer and have been one for the past 30 years. My job is to write computer programs which tests memories to make sure that they are working correctly. I did not write memtest86+ but have relied on it for many years. The program is freely available for downloading on either a boot floppy or CD-R. It does not require any other operating system, beside the version of DOS that is already included with the program. It does a good job at catching both simple and complex failures. Here I have installed your module inside an IBM T21 laptop. That laptop is designed to take PC100 low density memory modules, of which, the Samsung module is one. The laptop did NOT signal any problem when booted; IBM laptops like this one will beep with an error code of 1-3-3-1 (single beep, pause, 3 beeps, pause, 3 more beeps, pause and 1 beep) if it detects a problem with the memory. Again, your module "passed" the simple boot test run by the T21 laptop. However, when memtest86+ executes, it finds errors within the first second (the time displayed under the heading "WallTime"). The column "Err-Bits" is indicating that errors are occuring on at least 4 of the 32 output pins.

I tried your module in both memory slots of this T21 and the failures still occured. I re-installed the original module that was in this laptop and it passed to the memtest86+ program. I also tried cleaning the contacts on the edge of the module using a pencil eraser (an old trick that sometimes works) but your module still failed.

At this time, I'd like to return the module to you (at my cost) and request a refund of $11.99. Unless you have a similar low density PC100 module, in which case I will accept that as a replacement and as long as it has the same 14-day warranty. The module can be identified as 256MB "low density" if it has a total of 16 individual memory components on the module.

Please confirm the return shipping address. Should I use the P.O. Box at the 01876 ZIP? Thanks!