Based on my research is 1GB per slot. I also have not been able to even locate a 2GB stick for the computer to even give it a try.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
bottom RAM slot in my powerbook is fried
- Thread starter tekmoe
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Based on my research is 1GB per slot. I also have not been able to even locate a 2GB stick for the computer to even give it a try.
If it's believed that this is somehow a firmware issue... would restoring back to factory defaults using the DVD's that came with the powerbook solve this?
Thirteenva, yah they make a 2GB around $110 bucks. As for being a firmware issue I have my doubts. The PB I have the slot issue with, is actually about 5 donor PB's reassembled. The logic board was previously found to have the bad slot. After assembly original installation disks were used to get her up and running. I also have a 1.33 logic board with the same condition, although is is intermittent and shows up about every 4th restart.
The Powerbook G4's will not support a PC2700 2 Gb SODIMM, even if you could find one.
Hey superflymutha ---
Am Curious to know how you got on with the Law and this issue.
I recently signed the petition, and sent snailmail letters to Apple, the Attorney Gen of Calif. and other Consumer groups in U.S., U.K. and Europe.
Today I got a call from Apple Ireland, but have been declined a repair - outside of the Ser. No. Range - although as you mention, these repairs seem only to be temporary.
What a mess.
Do you know if there was any settlement to this case in the courts? -- or what the current situ. is? I'd be curious if you had any info.
thanks in adv.
John.
If I understand you correctly, you're saying that on this powerbook the logic board (which previously had a bad lower slot) is now functioning properly after a completely fresh reinstall?
How did you handle the supposed 10.4.x updates that supposedly caused this issue?
Can anyone else confirm that they were successfully able to remedy the issue after a fresh install? I'm willing try it with mine since the slot seems to come back to life if i remove and then snap the ram back in place, but the reinstall is a time consuming process and would only like to attempt it assuming that this has worked for others.
I'd love to know this as well as I am among those 1.5 GHz Powerbook owners who lost the lower memory slot. My serial number starts 8433 so I am SOL on getting a free repair.
If this worked, I would have thought Apple would have released this information. Or is that admitting fault?
FYI, if you experience this issue, please sign the petition at:
http://lowermemoryslot.editkid.com/
Nearly 4,000 strong.
If this worked, I would have thought Apple would have released this information. Or is that admitting fault?
FYI, if you experience this issue, please sign the petition at:
http://lowermemoryslot.editkid.com/
Nearly 4,000 strong.
Slot doesnt appear fried
i just discovered this happened to me today. i had performed a hdd replacement prior, my powerbook was dead prior to this for a couple of weeks. at first i thought the ram was fried, but both sticks work fine in the upper slot. then i thought maybe i fried the slot when i reinstalled the hdd. doesnt appear so. checking in open firmware, the ram is still detected and the information on the dimm is there. it appears open firmware isnt mapping the first dimm to any address space.
you can find out if your open firmware is detecting two modules by typing:
dev /memory <cr>
.properties <cr>
this will list details on installed memory.
refer to the following apple tech note for more information:
http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1099.html
i am unsure of why this is. i hope this information is of use to someone more tech savvy.
i just discovered this happened to me today. i had performed a hdd replacement prior, my powerbook was dead prior to this for a couple of weeks. at first i thought the ram was fried, but both sticks work fine in the upper slot. then i thought maybe i fried the slot when i reinstalled the hdd. doesnt appear so. checking in open firmware, the ram is still detected and the information on the dimm is there. it appears open firmware isnt mapping the first dimm to any address space.
you can find out if your open firmware is detecting two modules by typing:
dev /memory <cr>
.properties <cr>
this will list details on installed memory.
refer to the following apple tech note for more information:
http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1099.html
i am unsure of why this is. i hope this information is of use to someone more tech savvy.
Partial Fix! Powerbook Lower Ram Slot Issue
here is a solution to the problem, sort of.
i confirmed my lower slot is not fried by starting up with a single dimm in the lower slot. however it still will not recognize the lower dimm if there is memory in both the upper and lower. this may be different to what others are experiencing so your mileage may vary.
####NOTE THIS INVOLVES THE USAGE OF OPEN FIRMWARE, YOU COULD PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR MACHINE FOLLOWING THIS PRODECURE SO
PERFORM AT YOUR OWN RISK, I WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE####
anyway as i said, my powerbook was physically detecting the ram in open firmware, simply not mapping it to any address space.
logic dictates that if the ram isn't properly mapped to an address, it will not be visible in mac os x. thus the ability to artifically reduce the size of your system ram in open firmware by changing these mappings.
1). first of all a note about module sizes. sizes appear to be in hex.
- 10000000 = 256mb
- 20000000 = 512mb
- 40000000 = 1gb
- and so forth...
you need to use the sizes above to map your ram to relavent address space.
2). next boot into open firmware.
do this by holding cmd+opt+o+f just after the boot chime of your macintosh.
3). this will bring you to the white open firmware prompt "0>". from here you need to navigate to the memory device tree by
typing:
0> dev /memory
4). to display the details about the current memory mappings type:
0> .properties
5). this is an example of how i mapped my powerbooks memory modules to address space.
0> 0 encode-int 10000000 encode-int encode+
2> 10000000 encode-int 40000000 encode-int encode+
4> encode+
2> " reg" delete-property
2> " reg" property
0> mac-boot
the first line loads onto the OF stack the location of my first memory module. in this case it starts at address space 0 and is 10000000 (256mb) in size.
the second loads my second memory module onto the stack starting at address 10000000 (directly after the first module) and is 40000000 (1gb) in size.
the third line encodes the two lines above together on the stack.
the fourth line deletes the current address space mappings (the contents of the " reg" property).
the fifth pops my new memory mappings off the stack and onto the " reg" property.
finally the last line starts the boot process for your mac. check system profiler and both dimms should be registering now.
6). There are two problems I can see with the use of this method. First of all it is not persistant, when you reboot your machine these mappings will be lost and you will be back to square one. Second, and this is the biggie, why is open firmware not doing its job and mapping both modules properly! is there a problem with it gauging the size of the memory in the lower slot when two modules are installed (i.e. faulty module)? or is this just a firmware bug?
Anybody have any answers? Anybody at all???
here is a solution to the problem, sort of.
i confirmed my lower slot is not fried by starting up with a single dimm in the lower slot. however it still will not recognize the lower dimm if there is memory in both the upper and lower. this may be different to what others are experiencing so your mileage may vary.
####NOTE THIS INVOLVES THE USAGE OF OPEN FIRMWARE, YOU COULD PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR MACHINE FOLLOWING THIS PRODECURE SO
PERFORM AT YOUR OWN RISK, I WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE####
anyway as i said, my powerbook was physically detecting the ram in open firmware, simply not mapping it to any address space.
logic dictates that if the ram isn't properly mapped to an address, it will not be visible in mac os x. thus the ability to artifically reduce the size of your system ram in open firmware by changing these mappings.
1). first of all a note about module sizes. sizes appear to be in hex.
- 10000000 = 256mb
- 20000000 = 512mb
- 40000000 = 1gb
- and so forth...
you need to use the sizes above to map your ram to relavent address space.
2). next boot into open firmware.
do this by holding cmd+opt+o+f just after the boot chime of your macintosh.
3). this will bring you to the white open firmware prompt "0>". from here you need to navigate to the memory device tree by
typing:
0> dev /memory
4). to display the details about the current memory mappings type:
0> .properties
5). this is an example of how i mapped my powerbooks memory modules to address space.
0> 0 encode-int 10000000 encode-int encode+
2> 10000000 encode-int 40000000 encode-int encode+
4> encode+
2> " reg" delete-property
2> " reg" property
0> mac-boot
the first line loads onto the OF stack the location of my first memory module. in this case it starts at address space 0 and is 10000000 (256mb) in size.
the second loads my second memory module onto the stack starting at address 10000000 (directly after the first module) and is 40000000 (1gb) in size.
the third line encodes the two lines above together on the stack.
the fourth line deletes the current address space mappings (the contents of the " reg" property).
the fifth pops my new memory mappings off the stack and onto the " reg" property.
finally the last line starts the boot process for your mac. check system profiler and both dimms should be registering now.
6). There are two problems I can see with the use of this method. First of all it is not persistant, when you reboot your machine these mappings will be lost and you will be back to square one. Second, and this is the biggie, why is open firmware not doing its job and mapping both modules properly! is there a problem with it gauging the size of the memory in the lower slot when two modules are installed (i.e. faulty module)? or is this just a firmware bug?
Anybody have any answers? Anybody at all???