XPS 8900, won't load/boot after Crucial memory upgrade

Disconnect data cable from hard drive.  If you have NVME drive remove it.

Unplug everything and then hold power button to discharge

Plug back in POWER and monitor

There should be an error on the screen when you turn on.  DO NOT connect any other cable or device.

If screen is still black remove ALL RAM and use one ram stick only in the first white ear slot.

Test each ram stick one at a time

If they all pass then put 2 sticks in where the white ears are.  They should match.

@athell Check the video connection to your monitor. You state that your monitor is not receiving any input. Do you even see the Dell logo screen? Are you able to use F2 to enter the BIOS and see the BIOS screen?

@speedstep should I power back up with the hard drive data cable still removed as well as NVME drive removed?  Or reinstall these after discharging power but before booting up again?

It is not the video connection, because I installed the original ram back in the machine and was able to get everything to boot and load BIOS.  Only happens when new RAM is installed.  They are installed in the 1 and 2 slots (white ear slots).  They are matching ram 16gb each sold as a set.  

@athell  -  Did you buy the 2x 16 GB directly from Crucial or from a 3rd-party vendor?

Crucial guarantees their RAM will work, if they recommended it for a specific PC. So if you bought it directly from Crucial, you should contact their Tech Support for assistance and possible replacement.

If you bought it elsewhere, check the Crucial site to see if this is the RAM they would have recommended for the XPS 8900, and go from there...

@athell  - It's possible you just got a bum module(s). So contact Crucial's support team asap.  Have your invoice info handy.

Same thing happened to me a few years back when I bought some new Crucial RAM (different PC model). They immediately replaced both modules and those have worked perfectly ever after.

Post back and let us know what happens...

Yes purchased directly from Crucial for this machine. 

@athell Are you getting any diagnostics LED indications of a failure? See this Dell document: https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln304427/a-reference-guide-to-the-xps-desktop-diagnostic-indicators?lang=en#2015_to_2020

@Vic384 no LED indicators of an error.

@RoHe that's what I'm hoping it is.  I tried everything and could not get it to load.  Tried both sticks individually.  I just put the original memory sticks back in to try that. I'm going to contact Crucial in the meantime.

When I put the original ram back in and plugged it in, the computer would start restart itself over and over as soon as it's plugged in, every 15 seconds or so.  I've had to turn it off, plug it back in, turn it back on and it is now running.  It came up with an error screen about the date/time, I hit continue, and it loaded to a windows screen stating "your device ran into a problem and needs to restart".  It calculated up to 100% and then never restarted itself.  I manually rebooted the computer and it came back up to the same screen.  So now I'm at a point where I cannot get past the windows error screen.  It is a "stop code" error message.

@speedstep  No luck.

Disconnect every cable including power.

Even without a monitor there should be some sound.

Press power button and hold for 1 minute

Remove ALL RAM CHIPS.

Plug only power and turn on it should beep.

power supply tester is what I would start with

https://www.amazon.com/Optimal-Shop-Computer-Supply-Connectors/dp/B00Q8SUYHW/r

power supply tester

@athell It seems strange that with so many possible memory diagnostic indicators that one would not appear in all your testing.

I agree.  Green light on led, all seems perfectly well and normal on that front.  Fans are running.  However typically during boot it's a bit louder for a few seconds as the processor and hard drives boot up.  The boot now is relatively quiet.  It's almost as if it is not fully booting and loading all components.

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@athell wrote:

@RoHe that's what I'm hoping it is.  I tried everything and could not get it to load.  Tried both sticks individually.  I just put the original memory sticks back in to try that. I'm going to contact Crucial in the meantime.

When I put the original ram back in and plugged it in, the computer would start restart itself over and over as soon as it's plugged in, every 15 seconds or so.  I've had to turn it off, plug it back in, turn it back on and it is now running.  It came up with an error screen about the date/time, I hit continue, and it loaded to a windows screen stating "your device ran into a problem and needs to restart".  It calculated up to 100% and then never restarted itself.  I manually rebooted the computer and it came back up to the same screen.  So now I'm at a point where I cannot get past the windows error screen.  It is a "stop code" error message.

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You probably just need to clear BIOS:

1. Power off, unplug
2. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
3. Open case and remove motherboard battery (check Service Manual for details)
4. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
5. Reinstall the battery (Time for a fresh CR2032 3-volt coin cell battery? ~$2)
6. Close up and connect mouse, monitor and keyboard
7. Reboot