Please help... memory error

[seadragon]

Hi guys,

I have a 2009 Mac Pro with 12 GB of Apple installed RAM. It's been running fine overall, but last night I ran into a memory problem. I have 6 x 2 GB sticks installed in slots 1,2,3,5,6,7.

I started up the MP and a memory configuration adviser screen came up and said the memory sticks were not in the correct order. The computer only showed 10 GB or RAM in the About menu. I then clicked on More Info and it showed memory slot 7 was empty.

So, I restarted again with the same results.

I restarted a 3rd time and this time the memory adviser came up again and said that all memory was installed correctly. I then had the full 12 GB showing up.

I ran Apple Tech Tool deluxe and it's quick memory test said it passed.

Has anyone run into this problem? Again, this is Apple RAM that was pre-installed by Apple. I recently applied the 10.0.3 update if that has any bearing.

Thanks for any help/advice.

 

[SilentPanda]

I believe you need to move 7 to 4 or 3 to 8. 4 sticks should be on one riser and the other 2 sticks on the 2nd riser.

Edit: doh nevermind... they don't have risers anymore apparently. Here is Apple's guide:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Mac_Pro_Early2009_Memory_DIMM_DIY.pdf

Have you tried just reseating the RAM?

 

[seadragon]

Thanks for that link SilentPanda!

I'll try reseating the RAM as you suggest. Just strange that it started doing this after 9 months.

 

[seadragon]

Just a quick update...

It looks like one of the sticks of RAM is going bad. The problem usually only happens when the computer is first started up. If I restart again, the RAM gets recognized.

I swapped the stick from slot 7 to slot 1 and then slot 1 started showing the RAM as missing. So its definitely the stick. I'll have to figure out how to get the warranty replacement done now.