Hi, Okay so I am running into an issue here with my iMac 2020 with a 3.1GHZ 6-core Intel Core i5. So when I got this system used 2 years ago it only came with Micron 8gb 2x4gb sticks of ram. I bought Crucial 16gbx2 for a total of 32gbs of ram and replaced the ram. No issues except a few small unexpected shutdowns when the system was sleeping. Yes I beta test and have macOS Tahoe. So the shut downs never caused me any issues what so ever always turned the system back on and ran like it should with no issues.
Anyways last week I was using safari nothing out of the normal when suddenly out of the blues the iMac just froze. Nothing was moving or working. Just dead froze. Lasted about 30-60 seconds then just bam. Black screen system shut down harder then ever like you held the power button down. Tried to restart to no avail. Though wth. Tried disconnecting the system from the external monitor and all the external hard drivers and nothing.
Thought okay maybe I have a power issue. Checked the power cable getting 122 ac volts. Knew the power wasn't the issue coming to the system. Tried setting it in front of a AC for a little to see if it was overheated. No dice. I tried to reset the SMC which didn't work. I also held the power cable down while disconnection the power and left it sit for 5 minutes again to no avail. Nothing I was trying was working to get the system to power back on. Finally I left it plugged in and walked away to answer a phone call and came back about 1.5 hours later and could hear the system running. Still no screen what so ever.
Finally I shut it down and took the ram out and put one stick in at a time and got the screen to pop in with one stick and not the other. The ram has 4 ports it can go into the bottom is 1 the top is 4 in my case. I have the ram stick in 1 so it works with one ram not the other. I.E. one will turn the system on with the chime and screen the other would give me nothing what so ever. And when I installed them both back into 1 and 3 together I got nothing yet again.
Finally I dug out the ole 8gb ram that was from when I bought it and that wouldn't even turn the system on then again after hitting the power button. So then I tried the other 2 and 4 slots and still got nothing. But when I tried the "known" good ram in only slot 1 it turns on and works just fine. Even if the other 16gb ram is in slot for it only picks up slot 1 and only reads as installed 16gb of ram.
So I did some more working on the ram seeing if the ram was the issue and installed the other "bad" ram in slot one and gave it about 60 seconds and it turned on with a screen so tried the other good ram in slot 3 as well and didn't get it to power on at all. Finally I took the slot 3 ram and installed it in slot 2 so slots 1 and 2 are filled and it took about 60 seconds but chimed and turned on and now its showing I am running 32gbs again.
I am beginning to think this is a memory slot issue or some weird software bug on this system as it's making sense but isn't making sense if you know what I mean. Anyways anyone have any advice for me that would be great because idk what to think. Thanks in advance and sorry for the long trouble shooting story.
Anyways last week I was using safari nothing out of the normal when suddenly out of the blues the iMac just froze. Nothing was moving or working. Just dead froze. Lasted about 30-60 seconds then just bam. Black screen system shut down harder then ever like you held the power button down. Tried to restart to no avail. Though wth. Tried disconnecting the system from the external monitor and all the external hard drivers and nothing.
Thought okay maybe I have a power issue. Checked the power cable getting 122 ac volts. Knew the power wasn't the issue coming to the system. Tried setting it in front of a AC for a little to see if it was overheated. No dice. I tried to reset the SMC which didn't work. I also held the power cable down while disconnection the power and left it sit for 5 minutes again to no avail. Nothing I was trying was working to get the system to power back on. Finally I left it plugged in and walked away to answer a phone call and came back about 1.5 hours later and could hear the system running. Still no screen what so ever.
Finally I shut it down and took the ram out and put one stick in at a time and got the screen to pop in with one stick and not the other. The ram has 4 ports it can go into the bottom is 1 the top is 4 in my case. I have the ram stick in 1 so it works with one ram not the other. I.E. one will turn the system on with the chime and screen the other would give me nothing what so ever. And when I installed them both back into 1 and 3 together I got nothing yet again.
Finally I dug out the ole 8gb ram that was from when I bought it and that wouldn't even turn the system on then again after hitting the power button. So then I tried the other 2 and 4 slots and still got nothing. But when I tried the "known" good ram in only slot 1 it turns on and works just fine. Even if the other 16gb ram is in slot for it only picks up slot 1 and only reads as installed 16gb of ram.
So I did some more working on the ram seeing if the ram was the issue and installed the other "bad" ram in slot one and gave it about 60 seconds and it turned on with a screen so tried the other good ram in slot 3 as well and didn't get it to power on at all. Finally I took the slot 3 ram and installed it in slot 2 so slots 1 and 2 are filled and it took about 60 seconds but chimed and turned on and now its showing I am running 32gbs again.
I am beginning to think this is a memory slot issue or some weird software bug on this system as it's making sense but isn't making sense if you know what I mean. Anyways anyone have any advice for me that would be great because idk what to think. Thanks in advance and sorry for the long trouble shooting story.
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