Just got my first Mac (2.0 MB alu) friday. I got 4 Gigs of ram (OWC, from http://www.macsales.com). I installed it this morning with no problems. I was watching a .avi this afternon, when the screen went black (with the exception of some colored lines flickering at the top 1/2 inch of the screen). I shut it down, and restarted it. I got the boot up sound, the blue screen with the apple logo, then it did the same thing (except the screen stayed blue with the flickering at the top this time). Tried it a 3rd time, same thing. I opened up the back, took the new RAM out, replaced it. Fired it up, worked fine. It's now been working fine for about an hour with the new (4.0 gigs) installed. Any ideas? Can the memory be faulty, but work intermittently? Could it have been installed slightly wrong the first time or somthing? Any chance it's somthing else entirely? Thanks!
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Freezing after upgrading memory
- Thread starter greenn17h
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If your 100% that you bought the correct RAM that you need for that model of computer, and your 100% sure you inserted it properly (could be loose) then its broken RAM.
Which RAM did you purchase?
Have you run a memory test on it?
Which RAM did you purchase?
Have you run a memory test on it?
I haven't run a memory test (how do i do that?). I'm pretty sure it's correct, it was listed as being for my computer. It's OWC 2.0 GB PC-8500 DDR3. I thought I installed it correctly, it slid in pretty easily, I didn' thave to force it, and it clicked down easily. I guess if it happens again I'll send the memory back?
Is this normally how RAM issues present? I've never swapped RAM on my own before.
Is this normally how RAM issues present? I've never swapped RAM on my own before.
On one of the DVD's that came with your system, there should be a hardware test. Follow the instructions printed on the DVD to activate the application. Run all the tests if possible, it should identify problems if any are discovered.
Hmm, it's how faulty ram presents themselves, I'd demand a refund, get your money back, and purchase from iFixit, they have the ram you need.
Bad RAM happens sometimes. Talk to OWC and get them to replace yours (I've always had good experiences with OWC). RAM is pretty much RAM, and as long as it's PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz RAM it will work in the new MacBooks. Though looking at what you said... try pushing harder on the RAM. I had a RAM problem once and it turns out I didn't push it in hard enough (though I felt it slide in).
Sounds eerily familiar. I went through two sets of OWC RAM for my 2GHz Alum MB back in October. Neither one worked without freezing. About 10 loops of the extended Apple hardware test won't get you anywhere as the RAM checks out fine. I suggest you return the RAM for a refund and try another brand like Crucial. FYI, my freezing issue was never fixed until I was contacted by Apple Support (yes they contacted me after posting in Apple Discussions about my issue) and he wanted to do research on my MB with the OWC RAM. So he had me go to the Apple Store and they gave me a brand new MB with 4GB of Apple-supplied RAM. It has worked very well and I'm happy of the way it turned out. I'm not sure what the overall solution/problem is with these nvidia chipsets vs. RAM but you could try a 2GB OWC chip with the original 1GB RAM to see if it works. I'm guaranteeing it will work just fine. However, you should return it while you still can for a refund.
An extremely long post on the freezing issue in the new Apple notebooks.
So I've got one vote to remain with OWC, one to go to crucial, one to go to ifixit. Any other suggestions? I guess I'd rather stay with OWC, as it's easier to just have them send me another set, and they'll buy back my old (stock)RAM, but if there's a known issue with their product than I'll go somewhere else. Does anyone know offhand if crucial will buy the old RAM?
Thanks for all the help!
Thanks for all the help!
just installed OWC ram today, been up and running for about 3-4 hours no problems yet!
lol I just ordered last sat. for $79.99 and price dropped another $5! dammit!
lol I just ordered last sat. for $79.99 and price dropped another $5! dammit!
Crucial won't buy the old RAM. OWC will. However, if you give your original RAM how do you expect to use the machine when going through the RMA process. Also, Apple may remove your third party RAM if you ever take it in for repair so you are going to want to keep your original RAM.
As for whether this is a problem with OWC, "third party" RAM in general, or the new MBs nobody knows. I suggest you try to use the machine with 3GB just as a test to see if it works.
An update
Called crucial, they sent me replacement RAM. Installed it, everything fine for a week or so, then suddenly the same problem. Called crucial again, spoke with tech support. They told me it was a known issue with all aftermarket RAM, and said that apple released a firmware update for it that I'd have to manually download from the website. I downloaded several of the latest firmware updates applicable to my computer, tried to install them and discovered I already had them.
Am I missing something? Does anyone know anything about this? What is the exact firmware update I should be looking for, I forgot exactly what crucial told me, maybe I downloaded the wrong ones (although I doubt it). I was all ready to demand my money back from crucial, but now I'm thinking that maybe it really is me that's doing something wrong. Thanks.
Called crucial, they sent me replacement RAM. Installed it, everything fine for a week or so, then suddenly the same problem. Called crucial again, spoke with tech support. They told me it was a known issue with all aftermarket RAM, and said that apple released a firmware update for it that I'd have to manually download from the website. I downloaded several of the latest firmware updates applicable to my computer, tried to install them and discovered I already had them.
Am I missing something? Does anyone know anything about this? What is the exact firmware update I should be looking for, I forgot exactly what crucial told me, maybe I downloaded the wrong ones (although I doubt it). I was all ready to demand my money back from crucial, but now I'm thinking that maybe it really is me that's doing something wrong. Thanks.
They don't know what the issue is and neither does Apple. The firmware updates don't help.
Maybe you could try the Samsung memory. When I bought my memory upgrades, I remember that they also had Samsung besides Crucial. I went ahead and bought the Crucial memory instead though because it was cheaper. Maybe a different brand would be compatible.