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faresalandlos

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2013
24
2
Hello Guys,
i really need some Help,

my mack book pro is 15-inch Early 2008 MacBookPro4,1
2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

when i checked on Crucial, they say i can make it 4 Gb Ram 2X2
and even here in some Topics it say it can be 6 Gb, 1 is 4Gb and the other one is 2Gb

one year ago it was 2 Gb 1X1 and i wanted to upgrade it
then i tried a cheap Kingston it didn't work 2X2 it only worked as one of the Originals 1GB with one of the new Kingston 2 GB, when i opened about this Mac, the King Stone in the Manufacturer or the Serial Number it was 000000
so i thought maybe this Ram is Low Quality and maybe that's why

2 weeks ago i said i will upgrade my Laptop so i asked when of my Friends from the US to bring my 1 TB HD, and 4 GB Ram 2X2
but on amazon i made sure it's certified Apple


"Certified for Apple Memory Module 4GB 667MHz DDR2 (PC2-5300) - 2x2GB SO-DIMMs MA940G/B by Arch Memory"


today when i try to install it, doesn't work at all only worked when i installed one of them with the Original 1 Gb so in the end i'm back to the same Situation only 3 GB


can you help me ? tell me if i should lose hope and this the Maximum Memory my Laptop can have or what to do if it's not!


Best Regards,
Belal
 

Crzyrio

macrumors 68000
Jul 6, 2010
1,586
1,110
Hello Guys,
i really need some Help,

my mack book pro is 15-inch Early 2008 MacBookPro4,1
2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

when i checked on Crucial, they say i can make it 4 Gb Ram 2X2
and even here in some Topics it say it can be 6 Gb, 1 is 4Gb and the other one is 2Gb

one year ago it was 2 Gb 1X1 and i wanted to upgrade it
then i tried a cheap Kingston it didn't work 2X2 it only worked as one of the Originals 1GB with one of the new Kingston 2 GB, when i opened about this Mac, the King Stone in the Manufacturer or the Serial Number it was 000000
so i thought maybe this Ram is Low Quality and maybe that's why

2 weeks ago i said i will upgrade my Laptop so i asked when of my Friends from the US to bring my 1 TB HD, and 4 GB Ram 2X2
but on amazon i made sure it's certified Apple


"Certified for Apple Memory Module 4GB 667MHz DDR2 (PC2-5300) - 2x2GB SO-DIMMs MA940G/B by Arch Memory"


today when i try to install it, doesn't work at all only worked when i installed one of them with the Original 1 Gb so in the end i'm back to the same Situation only 3 GB


can you help me ? tell me if i should lose hope and this the Maximum Memory my Laptop can have or what to do if it's not!


Best Regards,
Belal


Where are you checking how much ram is installed?
 

ybz90

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2009
609
2
What do you mean by "it doesn't work at all"? This is important to diagnosing your problem. Does it stall/freeze? Or fail to boot completely? When you have the 4GB (2x2), do you hear any beeps when you try to start up?

I had this model a few years back and I know it can use up to 6GB of RAM. Depending on your actual symptoms, it could be that one of the RAM banks is getting bad, as it seems unlikely that both sets of RAM you tried would fail when you use a 2GB stick (though not impossible). The Penryn models are not very choosing when it comes to RAM, so you needn't necessarily buy Apple certified.

If you can, run the Apple Hardware Test and see if it returns you any errors.

----------

Where are you checking how much ram is installed?

I'm guessing he went to About this Mac, since he mentions it in his post.
 

faresalandlos

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2013
24
2
Where are you checking how much ram is installed?


about this Mac

Are you on the latest firmware version?

last time i checked was yes that was few months ago

What do you mean by "it doesn't work at all"? This is important to diagnosing your problem. Does it stall/freeze? Or fail to boot completely? When you have the 4GB (2x2), do you hear any beeps when you try to start up?

I had this model a few years back and I know it can use up to 6GB of RAM. Depending on your actual symptoms, it could be that one of the RAM banks is getting bad, as it seems unlikely that both sets of RAM you tried would fail when you use a 2GB stick (though not impossible). The Penryn models are not very choosing when it comes to RAM, so you needn't necessarily buy Apple certified.

If you can, run the Apple Hardware Test and see if it returns you any errors.


----------


the light turns on which is in the button that open the Screen!

but the Screen doesn't show anything it doesn't turn on, no lights no boot nothing!

and no i don't recall hearing any beeps, i will check for that apple hardware test
 

share

macrumors newbie
Jan 17, 2013
1
0
What OS are you using ?

You need a 64 bits system in order to use more than 3 GB of RAM, i.e. at least snow leopard ( and pressing 6 and 4 when booting on this one)
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,595
3,936
New Zealand
What OS are you using ?

You need a 64 bits system in order to use more than 3 GB of RAM, i.e. at least snow leopard ( and pressing 6 and 4 when booting on this one)

What the...?

There is no such restriction; even Tiger supports more than 3 GB.
 

faresalandlos

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2013
24
2
What OS are you using ?

You need a 64 bits system in order to use more than 3 GB of RAM, i.e. at least snow leopard ( and pressing 6 and 4 when booting on this one)

i have OS x 10.7 and i can't start AHT

i still need some help ?
 

Vudoo

macrumors 6502a
Sep 30, 2008
763
1
Dallas Metroplex
I used to have the same model and I was able to use 4 GB in it.

Did you do the basic troubleshooting like putting in only one stick at a time to make sure that the memory and slot is good?

  1. Stick 1 into slot 1 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  2. Stick 2 into slot 1 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  3. Stick 1 into slot 2 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  4. Stick 2 into slot 2 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM

If all 4 tests pass with the Arch RAM that you bought, then it's something else wrong. If any one of those fail, then you will know it's the RAM.
 

snaky69

macrumors 603
Mar 14, 2008
5,908
488
I used to have the same model and I was able to use 4 GB in it.

Did you do the basic troubleshooting like putting in only one stick at a time to make sure that the memory and slot is good?

  1. Stick 1 into slot 1 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  2. Stick 2 into slot 1 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  3. Stick 1 into slot 2 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  4. Stick 2 into slot 2 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM

If all 4 tests pass with the Arch RAM that you bought, then it's something else wrong. If any one of those fail, then you will know it's the RAM.

Do this.

You model does support 6Gb of RAM, by the way, you may have some kind of a hardware fault preventing you from using the 4GB you bought.
 

faresalandlos

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2013
24
2
I used to have the same model and I was able to use 4 GB in it.

Did you do the basic troubleshooting like putting in only one stick at a time to make sure that the memory and slot is good?

  1. Stick 1 into slot 1 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  2. Stick 2 into slot 1 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  3. Stick 1 into slot 2 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM
  4. Stick 2 into slot 2 only, power on to test, then remove the RAM

If all 4 tests pass with the Arch RAM that you bought, then it's something else wrong. If any one of those fail, then you will know it's the RAM.


ok, i have an update , it doesn't boot with even 1 2gb Ram
this is crazy, i don't know if i mentioned that before or not ?

it has to have one the 1 Gb to boot with or with out the one of the 2 Gb ram
 

sparkyms

macrumors 65816
Feb 22, 2007
1,304
3
Southampton UK
To be honest, it sounds like you either have bad RAM, or they sent you the wrong RAM.

Will it boot with one of the original sticks + new stick? If it does does it recognize the new stick when it boots?

To me, sounds like that RAM needs to go back and then buy it from elsewhere.. You should try Crucial, I've never had any RAM issues with them.
 

Vudoo

macrumors 6502a
Sep 30, 2008
763
1
Dallas Metroplex
also i checked this Topic
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1274332/
and i think the Ram i bought doesn't conflict with it

Certified for Apple Memory Module 4GB 667MHz DDR2 (PC2-5300) - 2x2GB SO-DIMMs MA940G/B by Arch Memory"

Just because the sellers says that the RAM is certified doesn't mean much unless they are a trusted source. From what I looked up, Arch memory is a small business in St. Louis, Missouri and apparently they advertise selling tobacco and cigars off their website as well. I would only buy name brand RAM like Crucial, Samsung, Kingston and etcetera. There's too much risk with third party resellers especially if you do not live in the US.

As it sounds like, you either got the wrong RAM or it's bad because the laptop should be able to boot up with a single 2 GB stick especially since it will boot with the original 1 GB stick. Another test is to find someone else who has a similar MBP and see if their machine boots with the 2 GB RAM. If yes, it's your computer. If no, it's the RAM.
 

faresalandlos

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2013
24
2
To be honest, it sounds like you either have bad RAM, or they sent you the wrong RAM.

Will it boot with one of the original sticks + new stick? If it does does it recognize the new stick when it boots?

To me, sounds like that RAM needs to go back and then buy it from elsewhere.. You should try Crucial, I've never had any RAM issues with them.

it boot with one of the original sticks + new stick
and it recognize the new stick when it boots




Just because the sellers says that the RAM is certified doesn't mean much unless they are a trusted source. From what I looked up, Arch memory is a small business in St. Louis, Missouri and apparently they advertise selling tobacco and cigars off their website as well. I would only buy name brand RAM like Crucial, Samsung, Kingston and etcetera. There's too much risk with third party resellers especially if you do not live in the US.

As it sounds like, you either got the wrong RAM or it's bad because the laptop should be able to boot up with a single 2 GB stick especially since it will boot with the original 1 GB stick. Another test is to find someone else who has a similar MBP and see if their machine boots with the 2 GB RAM. If yes, it's your computer. If no, it's the RAM.

i will try what you said, but i also need to mention that i've tried the same thing
before few months ago
and i still have one Kingston Ram 2 Gb that has the same thing
thanks for the information about the Arch Memory
and i will try the same ram in another Laptop see if it boots or not
 
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