RAM upgrade not working (iMac, mid-2010)

[Goldex]

My iMac (mid-2010) had 2x 2 GB RAM, the other two slots were still open. I decided to add 1x 4GB of RAM, 8 total, and I put it in the right slots (2+2, 4+0, this was the only way to get it working).

It starts up normally and the RAM is recognized, but after a couple of minutes it reboots with the message "Your computer restarted because of a problem.".

I double checked and while the RAM isn't official, the specs are the same.

Any ideas what I can do? I thought I might need another 4 GB to pair it with, but it should be working like this and I don't want to spent more money on not-working memory cards if that's the problem.

 

[maflynn]

Pull the new ram modules, and then add one and see of the problem occurs, if not, swap the new one in the machine with the new one you had out of the computer and repeat.

Sounds like you may have a bad module and you need to discover which one

 

[Goldex]

Thanks, but I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I just got one new memory module (4GB), the Mac was working fine before with the 2x2GB I had, the problem only occurred now that I added the one new one.

 

[Fishrrman]

It looks like either the new RAM you bought is defective or "out of spec".

You'll probably need to do a slow "process of elimination".
KEEP HANDWRITTEN NOTES, so you remember what you've done.

Best solution for the moment is to take the new RAM -out-, put the old RAM in, and see if the problems disappear.

You could also take the old RAM out, put the new RAM -in-, and run it with just the new RAM. Do the problems come back?

 

[Goldex]

Okay great I'll try that! Can an iMac with 4 memory slots work on just one 4 GB module btw? Just to see if it's working.