MB constantly crashing, upgraded RAM recently

[fortuneg]

Hey Guys,

About 3-4 months ago I upgraded my BlackBooks stock 1GB of RAM with a matching 1GB pair from Crucial.
Installed it fine (i'm a complete beginner when it comes to opening up computers) I think.
Everything seemed to be ok for the next 3-4 months (I think I remember 1-2 crashes).
But recently it's been crashing every time I play a video, load music onto my iPod, do anything that might be a little strenuous on the memory (using Word with iTunes on).

Sometimes it would show me a transparent black screen saying I need to restart the computer (in numberous languages), but most of the time it just powers down, sometimes restarting, sometimes not.

Then this morning after a restart with no warning instead of the usual grey screen with a spinning pinwheel I got what looked like TV static with the Mac startup music repeating over & over in a really robotic sound.
Haven't touched it since.

I'd really appreciate some advice, could this be down to the new RAM?
Unfortunately i'm nowhere near a repair shop/Mac shop out in the middle of nowhere in Oz.

Any help would be much appreciated!

An Irish guy stranded in the middle of the Australian Outback (with no BlackBook)

 

[Bobioden]

The transparent black screen with different languages telling you to restart is a Kernel Panic. I got quite a few when using my DVD player, usually on my 3 or 4 rip if I haven't restarted an awhile.

You should not have any problems using iTunes and Word at the same time. Repair your permissions, reset your PRAM, call Applecare, they will tell you to take it to a Genius.

 

[anirban]

You should not have any problems using iTunes and Word at the same time. Repair your permissions, reset your PRAM, call Applecare, they will tell you to take it to a Genius.

Just hold off the call to Apple until you are sure that repair/reset of PRAM didnt fix the issue.

Most cases it should. Also, can you determine what temperature your computer is running at? If your RAM is faulty, it should not be spontaneous.

 

[fortuneg]

Ok, so I've now tried the PRAM reset (held down the power button for 5 seconds with no adapter or battery attached).
No luck

Now whenever I press the Power Button the screen stays black (no sign of life), but the DVD drive makes its usual powering up noise.
Also the white light on the edge down below the trackpad is blinking quite rapidly, i've never seen it do that before.

Any new ideas?

 

[flopticalcube]

Make sure your RAM is seated properly. Then test each stick in turn to see if its one or the other.

 

[CanadaRAM]

^ what floptical^3 says

The memory in a MacBook takes a fair bit of pressure to properly seat into the socket. It will go in about 1 inch and then stop. You have to get both thumbs on it, and push it in another 1/8th of an inch to seat it in the contacts. You will have dents in your thumbs after.

Try re-seating the RAM and re-testing before taking it in, and you may wish to try the Apple RAM back into it to test.

 

[fortuneg]

Thanks for the replys guys.

Tried reseating the RAM with some success.
Each of the 1GB Units works fine on their own in slot 1, but when the other is inserted into slot 2 the computer just won't power up (as described above, blank screen, optical drive powering up, led blinking).

Seem's like it's possibly a faulty connection/faulty socket/loose wire/or something like that.

Anybody know how much it costs to have a new RAM reader (or whatever it's called) installed?

Thanks a lot for the help guys!

 

[CanadaRAM]

Does one module alone work in Slot 2?


The memory sockets are soldered to the logicboard, so a repair, if that's what it is, means replacing the logic board. Hope you have Applecare.

 

[redwarrior]

i had that problem with a pc laptop once. no memory would work in the second slot at all. thankfully, i was able to get a memory stick with the amount i needed to fit the one slot and left the other one empty. it was the cheapest solution.

 

[fortuneg]

Does one module alone work in Slot 2?


The memory sockets are soldered to the logicboard, so a repair, if that's what it is, means replacing the logic board. Hope you have Applecare.

Haven't tried that yet, I was under the impression slot 1 had to be filled before you filled slot 2 (not sure where I got that from).

No Applecare i'm afraid, and i'm just over the one year warranty period, although that probably would have been void since I put the 3rd party memory in myself.

I'll try slot 2 after work & have a technician look at it when I get back to Brisbane.
As redwarrior said, I might just have to use 1 slot & 1GB of RAM on it's own.

Thanks for all your help guys, it's very much appreciated!