I recently bought a second hand low profile 256MB PC133 RAM stick for my Bondi Blue iMac G3, which was running on 96MB (32MB+64MB). I took out the 32MB stick today, and replaced it with the 256MB one. Booted the machine up... it only registers it as a 128MB stick? Swapped places with the 64MB stick... nope. I think this is the Rev. B model (6MB of VRAM), but even if it were the Rev. A, it should detect the 256MB stick fine. What's going on here? Is this a known issue? Is the 64MB messing with it?
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iMac G3 detects 256MB RAM stick as 128MB
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THe machine can only use 256MB sticks in the second slot I believe. The first one only supports up to 128 MB sticks, for a total and unofficial, support of 384MB. So in essense, just swap the chips currently in the machine.
It's a Rev. B, which should take a total of 512mb.
You need LOW DENSITY RAM for this model. Search for DIMMs with 8 chips per side(16 total). They are available out there in "normal" length(not the huge Apple sized ones). You don't NEED PC133(PC100 or PC66 will work fins) so search for these speeds to broaden your net a little bit.
I went through the same thing a few months back maxing out the RAM in my Powerbook G3s. The first round of 256mb sticks I bought only registered as 128mb, so I went hunting(and found on Ebay) the 16 chip 256mb ones.
You need LOW DENSITY RAM for this model. Search for DIMMs with 8 chips per side(16 total). They are available out there in "normal" length(not the huge Apple sized ones). You don't NEED PC133(PC100 or PC66 will work fins) so search for these speeds to broaden your net a little bit.
I went through the same thing a few months back maxing out the RAM in my Powerbook G3s. The first round of 256mb sticks I bought only registered as 128mb, so I went hunting(and found on Ebay) the 16 chip 256mb ones.
Isn't 32x8 low density? Or do I need even lower?
I was aware that the speed doesn't exceed the PC66, however this stick only costed me €2,50 shipped to my mailbox, so it's not much of a loss. Having some RAM as a back up can't hurt after all.
I was aware that the speed doesn't exceed the PC66, however this stick only costed me €2,50 shipped to my mailbox, so it's not much of a loss. Having some RAM as a back up can't hurt after all.
I think you need even lower. Isn't 32x8 4 chips per side(8 total)?
As I said, you MUST have the 16 chip sticks. I think I used something like these after buying some 8-chip SODIMMs for my Wallstreet and PDQ and running into the same issue you're having.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-256MB-P...685781?hash=item2587b6ac55:g:NGgAAMXQVT9SyWoN
(no connection with seller)
As I said, you MUST have the 16 chip sticks. I think I used something like these after buying some 8-chip SODIMMs for my Wallstreet and PDQ and running into the same issue you're having.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-256MB-P...685781?hash=item2587b6ac55:g:NGgAAMXQVT9SyWoN
(no connection with seller)
And I owned a couple of those Bondi Blues, one with the lower Vram and the 6vram and got both up to 1 gig total in ram . Ignore the 512mb limit set by Apple; with the correct ram they can run 1 full gig of memory.