Adding 32 GiB of RAM to Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G6

At ${WORK}, we ordered one Lenovo ThinkPad P1 G6 (P/N 21FV000MMX) which came with 32 GiB of RAM. This laptop has two slots for memory modules, so we ordered and waited on one additional 32 GiB memory module.

The memory module finally arrived, and I installed the module in the free slot. When I turned on the laptop, it began doing memory retraining. The hardware maintenance manual, “No-beep symptoms,” table 4, physical page 37, logical page 43, says this should take only a few minutes. A few minutes turned in to half an hour, then one hour, and so on.

I figured I should remove both memory modules and place the new module in the slot where the original module once was. The memory retraining succeeded to my surprise, and I placed the original module in the free slot. The laptop needed one additional round of memory retraining before all was well.

This is the first time installing additional memory modules had led to a blocked system.

The manual doesn’t mention it, but maybe the correct procedure is to remove all original memory modules, install the new ones, let the laptop perform any memory retraining, install the original modules, and let the laptop deal with this combination of memory modules.