Lost another two GB of RAM on Riser Card

[Freis968]

SIGH!

I had 8 - 1GB RAM sticks spread out between the two riser cards in my Mac Pro. About six months ago I turned on my Mac Pro the and the power light began blinking white. I narrowed it down to slots 3 and 4 were bad on my lower riser card. That knocked me down to 6GB of RAM. About one week ago I turned my Mac Pro on again and the white light started blinking again!!! Slots 3 and 4 on the upper riser card went bad this time. Now I am down to 4GB of RAM.

My Mac Pro is a 2008 [early] btw unless you saw it in my sig already.

I am just curious if this is common for a 2yr old Mac Pro for the riser cards to go bad like this.

When I get a spare $200 I plan on replacing both riser cards as I have not found them anywhere online cheaper than about $100.

 

[hugodrax]

SIGH!

I had 8 - 1GB RAM sticks spread out between the two riser cards in my Mac Pro. About six months ago I turned on my Mac Pro the and the power light began blinking white. I narrowed it down to slots 3 and 4 were bad on my lower riser card. That knocked me down to 6GB of RAM. About one week ago I turned my Mac Pro on again and the white light started blinking again!!! Slots 3 and 4 on the upper riser card went bad this time. Now I am down to 4GB of RAM.

My Mac Pro is a 2008 [early] btw unless you saw it in my sig already.

I am just curious if this is common for a 2yr old Mac Pro for the riser cards to go bad like this.

When I get a spare $200 I plan on replacing both riser cards as I have not found them anywhere online cheaper than about $100.

Sounds odd, sure it aint underspecced memory? I have been running my 2006 box with 4 sticks of 4GB (16GB RAM) for years non stop and no issues.

 

[Luis Ortega]

SIGH!

I had 8 - 1GB RAM sticks spread out between the two riser cards in my Mac Pro. About six months ago I turned on my Mac Pro the and the power light began blinking white. I narrowed it down to slots 3 and 4 were bad on my lower riser card. That knocked me down to 6GB of RAM. About one week ago I turned my Mac Pro on again and the white light started blinking again!!! Slots 3 and 4 on the upper riser card went bad this time. Now I am down to 4GB of RAM.

My Mac Pro is a 2008 [early] btw unless you saw it in my sig already.

I am just curious if this is common for a 2yr old Mac Pro for the riser cards to go bad like this.

When I get a spare $200 I plan on replacing both riser cards as I have not found them anywhere online cheaper than about $100.

I have had the same problem in the past.
After a vacation, I turned the mp on and it reported only 12 of 16gb.
I spent about one hour moving sticks around and cleaning the sockets and contacts of dust, trying to figure out which sticks might be bad or which risers might be bad.
In the end, they all were recognized again.
This has happened twice in 3 years, once when I cleaned the insides and once after being away for 2 months on vacation.
All your components may be fine, just loose or dirty.

 

[Freis968]

Ok, I finally got motivated to tackle this issue again. It appears that four of the six sticks that I purchased from OWC were indeed bad...glad I did not order those riser cards yet. I submitted my information to OWC and looking forward to a favorable response and some new RAM soon.

 

[J&JPolangin]

...do you have applecare?

If your machine is only two yrs old they should be covered parts...

 

[Wild-Bill]

Ok, I finally got motivated to tackle this issue again. It appears that four of the six sticks that I purchased from OWC were indeed bad...glad I did not order those riser cards yet. I submitted my information to OWC and looking forward to a favorable response and some new RAM soon.

Sweet. OWC RAM comes with a lifetime guarantee.

 

[rockinrocker]

I had a very similar issue ('cept it was slots 1 & 2 on riser B).

Could tell the problem wasn't the RAM as it didn't matter how it was arranged, whatever was in those slots wouldn't show.

Replaces riser, didn't solve the problem.

Replaces logic board, solved.

Thankfully the system still have applecare coverage so it didn't cost anything.

 

[Freis968]

...do you have applecare?

If your machine is only two yrs old they should be covered parts...

No Applecare and the RAM I purchased from OWC.

 

[Freis968]

Sweet. OWC RAM comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm Wild Bill...

 

[zenjabba]

Ok, I finally got motivated to tackle this issue again. It appears that four of the six sticks that I purchased from OWC were indeed bad...glad I did not order those riser cards yet. I submitted my information to OWC and looking forward to a favorable response and some new RAM soon.

I've had exactly the same problem on 2 machines in different locations.

OWC replaced the memory without question, the puzzling part was why did it all die so quickly.

 

[Freis968]

I've had exactly the same problem on 2 machines in different locations.

OWC replaced the memory without question, the puzzling part was why did it all die so quickly.

I was wondering why they died so quickly as well. OWC did send me an email saying that their RAM is usually fine and more or less blamed it on improper seating, etc. Well, I received my replacement RAM this week and popped it in and it worked just fine. Nice to be back up from a paltry 4GB to my rocking 8GB...

You were saying OWC???