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only 5GB seen out of 9GB

SDAVE

SDAVE

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 16, 2007
3,625
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Hey guys, got my Crucial RAM today. 4x2GB sticks. I installed it the way that the Apple drawing says inside the case....the 2 FBDimms don't show up. On the second riser, the FB-DIMMs do show up.

Any clues? Smells like a bad batch? I did not mix and match RAM sticks so I know which RAM came in first. 4GB per box.
 
The 2 RAM sticks on the second riser work (Slot 1&2). The OEM 2 sticks work (5x512) but the first 2 sticks on RISER A slot 3&4 do not show up in OSX.

Here's how it looks:

picture2bn9.png
 
Ok I just took out the case's cover and 2 lights are on.

Bad RAM?

Jeez these things get hot, I almost burnt my finger trying to replace their location.
 
I just put the 2 "working" rams on the top Riser 1&2...put the "non working" ones on the Riser B 1&2 and removed the Apple RAM temporarily. Here are the results:

picture1qj3.png


It sees it as 2 1GB sticks??? One light is on now on Riser B.

Looks like BAD ram. I will call Crucial tomorrow. I think it was their last few batches that they had in stock, so they sticked me.
 
CanadaRAM said:
What happens if your take the 2 x 512 out and put the two non-appearing Crucials in Riser A 1 & 2?
(that's the way you want them anyway, for 256 bit access.)
Click to expand...

I tried that....the culprits seem to be these 2 combo sticks (I got two of the 2GBx2 chips from Crucial).

Should I send in all the ram sticks and tell them to send me fresh 4 new ones?

Which tests should I run to check if the current Ram sticks that are "working" is good? I took out the bad ones.
 
SDAVE said:
I tried that....the culprits seem to be these 2 combo sticks (I got two of the 2GBx2 chips from Crucial).

Should I send in all the ram sticks and tell them to send me fresh 4 new ones?

Which tests should I run to check if the current Ram sticks that are "working" is good? I took out the bad ones.
Click to expand...

If you got AppleCare with your Mac Pro, it should come with TechTool Deluxe, that has a RAM test that you could run. And I'd just send back the non-working sticks back to Crucial.
 
Thanks, I am going to give that a try for the "working" chips.

The bad ones I will send back to Crucial...I will tell them to overnight me new ones and pay for my return shipping since it's not my fault that they were bad.
 
The 2x2GB sticks that work in both riser A and B seem to be fine, so my guess is you only have to replace the other two bad ones.

Interesting how both bad sticks are the same. Is that a case of how the system works if only one stick is bad it affects both? I wonder what would happen if you split them up and paired them with each of the other good ones.
 
awmazz said:
The 2x2GB sticks that work in both riser A and B seem to be fine, so my guess is you only have to replace the other two bad ones.

Interesting how both bad sticks are the same. Is that a case of how the system works if only one stick is bad it affects both? I wonder what would happen if you split them up and paired them with each of the other good ones.
Click to expand...

I think one stick is bad of the two...since they come in pairs, I'd rather get 2 good ram sticks, you know what I mean? I didn't expect this from Crucial, but it does have lifetime warranty so I should be ok as long as I don't hit it with a hammer :D
Good thing I didn't get TransIntl, I'm sure I'd run in more trouble. These Crucials look EXACTLY the same. It is labeled as Micron and the OEM's are Nanya.

I am going to run that test now and let it run overnight.
 
you can pair a 512 with a 2GB stick and they'll both function fine--so if you have to exchange a 2GB chip, you can use the other in the meantime and just set a 512 stick aside
 
slughead said:
you can pair a 512 with a 2GB stick and they'll both function fine--so if you have to exchange a 2GB chip, you can use the other in the meantime and just set a 512 stick aside
Click to expand...

I'll just send both...it's a combo unit. I'm too lazy to figure out which one is the problem, so they'll just send me two new ones since it's in the first 30 days. It's $900 worth of RAM :)
 
Ok I did the Apple Extended Hardware test and got this error:

4MEM/41/40000006 B:0 C:1 R:1

I have removed the "Bad" rams.....what's next? Are all these chips bad????:confused::mad:

I'm going to run a test with just the Crucial RAM in the machine...., then run only with the Apple RAM,,,if I get the same error with only the Crucials in the system, I'm sending all 4 sticks back.
 
I'm officially pissed, guys.

Ran the test again with only the "good" crucial sticks...got the same error!

I took out the crucial sticks, put in the 2x512 OEM Apple RAM (Only RAM in the computer), ran the test again, no errors!

Crucial, here I come buddies. Overnight time for good sticks!

If the new sticks that come in are bad as well, I'm REALLY going to be pissed.
 
Man... I might just have to get the expensive Apple RAM if I am going to have problems like that. At least I can go back to the store and return them for new sticks the same day and not have to wait a week or two to get new ones.
 
Crucial agreed to overnight them to me...unfortunately I have to pay for the shipments back to them. $5 down the drain or whatnot?

I agree with the above poster, I hate headaches like this...I just want to get back to work....but is that worth $1,200 more to what Apple charges??

Damn you Crucial!
 
Almost exactly the same thing happened to me. Got 2x2gig sticks and one was dead. Thank heavens for those diagnostic lights. Got replacements from crucial in no time. Sh** happens. You're right, the ram does get very hot
 
Hey thanks for that, at least I'm not alone on this one :D

You're right, sh*t does happen...always to me though :cool:

Anyways, hope I'm in luck and the new ones are from a good batch or else I'm going to knock my head off. I gotta get back to work and 1GB just doesn't cut it for me. I've had my Mac Pro for 2 weeks now, without a good amount of RAM.
 
Ouch...was just about to order 4 gb from Crucial.

Would you have ordered from OWC instead, in retrospect?
 
I've never tried OWC, but it seems a bit cheaper than Crucial...some people here report that it works fine.

I stuck with Crucial because it's a known brand and they use Micron chips and the heatsinks look exactly the same as the APPLE Oems...except Apple uses Nanya chips.

I think your best bet is Crucial. Maybe this was a bad batch, but all 4 of them is a little odd.

Good luck! :)
 
How would I set mu ram up when it gets here? It is 2GBx4...should I put 4gb on riser A and 4gb in riser B, both in slots one and two, then the OEM ram on slots 3and4 on riser A?
 
Yep, the biggest ones first on A then B, then the smaller ones on A. I have the same ram setup as you, 4x2GB from Transintl plus the 2x512MB from Apple making 9GB.
 
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