MacBook Won't Boot while Upgrading RAM

[cblizza1]

I have a late 2007 MacBook running Leopard and recently decided to do some upgrading.

I first cloned my hard drive onto a larger hard drive and installed the new hard drive with no problems.

I then decided to upgrade my 2GB (2 x 1gb) ram to 4gb (2 x 2gb), supposedly my MacBook can handle up to 6GB (1 x 2GB + 1 x 4GB).

The new RAM is the correct type of RAM but I am still having problems with it.

At first I tried installing both sticks and it did not work. Then I tried installing just one stick and leaving one slot empty and this did not work with either stick in either slot.

Then I tried installing one new stick (2gb) and one old stick (1gb) and it worked. Further I tried this in every combination of 1 new stick and 1 old stick in every slot and chip combination and they all worked.

I've tried resetting the PRAM many times as well as the SMC, but I can never get both new 2GB to work together.

Any Suggestions?

 

[spinnerlys]

Did you buy 200-pin 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM like offered here?

 

[Covart]

I have a late 2007 MacBook running Leopard and recently decided to do some upgrading.

I first cloned my hard drive onto a larger hard drive and installed the new hard drive with no problems.

I then decided to upgrade my 2GB (2 x 1gb) ram to 4gb (2 x 2gb), supposedly my MacBook can handle up to 6GB (1 x 2GB + 1 x 4GB).

The new RAM is the correct type of RAM but I am still having problems with it.

At first I tried installing both sticks and it did not work. Then I tried installing just one stick and leaving one slot empty and this did not work with either stick in either slot.

Then I tried installing one new stick (2gb) and one old stick (1gb) and it worked. Further I tried this in every combination of 1 new stick and 1 old stick in every slot and chip combination and they all worked.

I've tried resetting the PRAM many times as well as the SMC, but I can never get both new 2GB to work together.

Any Suggestions?

Yep, your new sticks are clocked higher than the computer will handle. You can use one new one, but that is it. Right now, you'll only be able to use 3GB, until you buy the correct RAM.

 

[blackburn]

You can edit the spd i've done that to fix my ram speed

Check last post for more info:http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1035300712
Be careful it's not hard but it's not easy you need to read everything carefully and if you have any doubts I can mod the spd for you so that you just flash it

 

[cblizza1]

Did you buy 200-pin 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM like offered here?

I did buy 200-pin 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM, from OWC. When one new stick and one old stick are in they are both registering as being 667MHz

 

[cblizza1]

Yep, your new sticks are clocked higher than the computer will handle. You can use one new one, but that is it. Right now, you'll only be able to use 3GB, until you buy the correct RAM.

What do you mean by clocked higher, and correct RAM?

 

[Covart]

What do you mean by clocked higher, and correct RAM?

Everything you described is classic example of your new RAM being higher speed rated than 667Mhz. Once put into the computer and you are able to boot and look at the hardware, both chips will register as the chip at the lower, but correct 667Mhz speed, even if one chip is higher actually rated at a higher speed (say 800Mhz.)

I'm curious what the sticker reads on the chip itself.

 

[blackburn]

Check CPU-Z on bootcamp and check the ram speed there. OS X is not very helpful it will show the same speed on the ram modules even if one is 667 and the other 800