iBook G4 RAM update issue

[Dirty Harry]

Hi!

I have 1.2 Ghz G4 iBook that came with 256 Mb RAM built-in and a 512Mb DDR Ram added, 768 RAM in all.

I bought and installed a new 1GB DDR, expecting to have 1,25 GB Ram in all. New memory IS 1GB indeed. When restarting, "About this Mac" keeps saying I only have 768Mb RAM, believing the new memory is still only 512Mb RAM.

I also found that battery is being recharged from 0%, when I know it was fully charged before the RAM change, and Date & Time is gone back to 1900.
I have Leopard OS.
This computer is suposed than handle 1.25 Gb... I checked and RAM seems to be right model for this laptop...

What's going on? Thank you!

 

[Dirty Harry]

Things are only getting worse!

I must say I already tried to reset PRAM before my first post.

Afterwards, I've managed to see the 1,25 Ghz RAM I expected only after resetting PRAM several times. Then, after a while, computer freezed really bad. I shut down and when trying to restart, computer seems absolutely dead! Not even the fan noise...

I removed the new RAM, and installed the old one, computer still won´t boot at all. I noticed the left side, just between where RAM is installed and where the ports are, was getting really hot, although computer was off. It didn´t cool until I removed battery. What's under there?

Was a bad RAM able to kill the whole computer???

 

[Dirty Harry]

Alright, after a lot of suffering, I managed to have my computer back to life. Maybe RAM was not correctly pluged in. The new RAM is installed, but still showing only 768 Mb RAM. And I don´t seem to find the way to show 1.25 Gb... and as I mentioned, at one point I managed to see 1.25 Gb.

What's the difference between doing:
-"hold down shiftctrloption and press the power on button. The iBook shuts off quickly, then reboots with reset PRAM"
-"Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears"

I found those googling. Tried both, nevermind, still only 768 Mb now...

Could the new RAM be physically faulty in the way it's only working with half of its capacity? If new RAM was faulty computer wouldn't boot at all, right?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Dirty Harry]

I passed Apple Hardware Test and got "post/0/2048 DIMM1/J31". It seems I have bad RAM stick. I'll change it and let you know...

 

[Dirty Harry]

I got the RAM stick replaced and everything is back to normal. Isn't it crazy how a simple question can drive you mad and make you waste hours and hours of precious time trying to figure out?

End of this self thread.

 

[raysfan81]

I got the RAM stick replaced and everything is back to normal. Isn't it crazy how a simple question can drive you mad and make you waste hours and hours of precious time trying to figure out?

I totally know how you feel. The simplest solutions can be the last one you try.