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adding RAM to ancient G4
Name: gregg Date: October 18, 2002 at 16:28:03 Pacific OS: 9.2.2 CPU/Ram: 500/192
Comment:
i've volunteered to upgrade the RAM of my friends orginal 400 or 450 mhz G4. ordered some RAM, then i installed it in one of the 3 remaining slots. checked the Apple menu, only showing an addition of 256 megs. the RAM is a 512 meg Valueram chip. where's the other 256 megs? are the slots on the old G4's only good for 256 megs each? i hadn't heard that, unless there is something i'm not seeing. should have 512 + original 128, = 640mgs. only showing 384, tho i tried a different slot. checked the help file, under Installing RAM. nothing. any ideas....?
Name: fieraci Date: October 18, 2002 at 17:45:44 Pacific
Reply:
Watch what you are calling ancient there sonny! Some people are doing more with a ten year old mac than some are with a 10 DAY old mac. I have an original G4/450. Came with 256 & I dropped in a 512. I have 768 megs available. I •believe• at time of production 256 were the largest available chips, but the 512's work fine in there. You can mix-n-match sizes and put em in any slot. What does System Profiler say?
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Response Number 2
Name: Dave Hines Date: October 18, 2002 at 20:24:13 Pacific
Reply:
Sounds like something that could be fixed with a firmware update. Check Apple's site.
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Response Number 3
Name: bob Date: October 19, 2002 at 06:11:38 Pacific
Reply:
Try using a different slot. If it still doesn't show 512Mb, send the chip back and get another one.
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Response Number 4
Name: gregg Date: October 19, 2002 at 13:45:36 Pacific
Reply:
thanks for all the suggestions! i will keep trying. will check for firmware, as well.
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Response Number 5
Name: the pickle Date: October 23, 2002 at 19:14:00 Pacific
Reply:
Sounds like the chips are too dense for the RAM controller on the G4's mobo. Buy from a competent Mac RAM vendor next time and save yourself the trouble - ramseeker.com has lots of links.
Summary: I added 2 32MB sticks of RAM to my 8500, to try to get it going again. It won't boot after I installed the RAM. Its OS was partially corrupted, and had too little memory to install 9.0. Before I add...
Summary: You can get a manual here; http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=50018 You didn't mention which G4 it is, but you can download PDF's from Apple for Customer Installable Parts here; http://do...
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