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Extended RAM Kaput on iBook G4?

dedukes

dedukes

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 28, 2005
9
0
Savannah
Hi.

I have an old iBook G4 15". It was running painfully slow when I turned it on after being on vacation for two weeks. The System Profiler shows only 256MB of built-in RAM. I had the max extended RAM (1GB?), but it's not showing (DIMM1/j31 shows as "empty").

What could have happened? I left it plugged in.... Could a surge have killed it? Or did it die of natural causes? Or is this an indication of something else?

Thanks for you help.

--dd
 
A

AdrianK

macrumors 68020
Feb 19, 2011
2,230
2
I believe death of the RAM slot is actually pretty common, no idea if it's fixable or not.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
M

Makosuke

macrumors 604
Aug 15, 2001
6,662
1,242
The Cool Part of CA, USA
I'm not quite clear on the exact computer you have; Apple never made a 15" iBook, so I'm assuming it's a 14" iBook (unless you actually have a Powerbook?), in which case it probably has 256MB RAM onboard and one slot, in which I'm assuming you had a 1GB stick (total 1.25GB--does that sound right?).

And it's possible that the RAM just up and died--I've seen it happen for no particular reason in the past, and it is a relatively old computer. You could open up the keyboard to get to the RAM slot, take the stick out, and look to make sure it's not corroded or anything, then reinstall it and see if that helps.

The only way to test for sure whether it's bad RAM or a bad slot on the motherboard would be to get another stick of compatible RAM and try that.

Note that if it does turn out to be bad RAM, a lot of good companies offer a lifetime warranty, so you might be able to get it replaced for free.
 
dedukes

dedukes

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 28, 2005
9
0
Savannah
Yes, thanks. It must be a 14". And all the other characteristics you've described are accurate.

I've already tried to get to the slot, but the screws won't budge. I'll try again.

Thanks for your help.
 
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