Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

tapeIt · Feb 20, 2006, 05:33 AM

I'm installing a new RAM in my ibook.
I would have someone else do it if I had the extra money, but unfortunatly I don't, so I'm doing it myself.
Anything tips/important stuff that I need to know?

gizmo_pony · Feb 20, 2006, 05:59 AM

you better search the forum 1st ... anyway, installing ram in ibook is a hassle-free ... just follow the instruction provided n ur own instinct ....

Duracell · Feb 20, 2006, 06:16 AM

Unclip (pull them down) the keyboard (little clips at the top two sides of the keyboard and hinge it back and lay it on the palm rest (Be careful with it!))

There is a mesh like ram cover that needs to be unscrewed. After you've removed this it's just a case of clicking it in at a 35 degree (I think. check the manual, it has detailed info on installing it with detailed annotated images) angle and you're done!

As for tips... turn it off first, remove the battery and unplug any phone cables or USB stuff.

ghporter · Feb 20, 2006, 07:40 AM

Yes, searching is your friend and the key to many things. Duracell has provided the 'quick and dirty' instructions, but you may want better, illustrated, more step-by-step instructions, so check out (surprisingly enough) the Apple Knowledgebase. There you will find really, really well written and illustrated instructions for this and many other tasks.

Frankly anyone who charges more than $10 to do this on an iBook is scamming you or charging a "nusiance fee" for doing it. It REALLY is that simple and easy. I should add one thing though: that angle Duracell mentioned is relative; some sockets will need the RAM slid in at shrper or flatter angles, so basically slide the contact end into the socket and move the other end up and down while pushing in lightly until you feel it slip in.

hookem2oo7 · Feb 20, 2006, 07:42 AM

i had to give mine a little stronger push to get it to slide in than i expected, so keep that in mind

Duracell · Feb 20, 2006, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Yes, searching is your friend and the key to many things. Duracell has provided the 'quick and dirty' instructions, but you may w...

I assure you good sir, my hands are clean and my finger nails are polished!

But yes, it's a good idea to read from the manual or the Knowledge Base unless you're pretty sure you know what you're doing. Breaking a piece of kit like that is money down the drain.

stampit · Feb 20, 2006, 10:50 AM

lmao.
our names match.

ghporter · Feb 20, 2006, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Duracell

I assure you good sir, my hands are clean and my finger nails are polished!

But yes, it's a good idea to read from the manual or the Knowledge Base unless you're pretty sure you know what you're doing. Breaking a piece of kit like that is money down the drain.

And the Knowledge Base opens up so many other doors as well; it's a good idea to have that bookmarked even. And having "the instructions" handy and open to what you're doing is a Very Good Thing™ in many ways; memorizing is for passwords and the wife's birthday!

tapeIt · Feb 21, 2006, 01:39 AM

[QUOTE=ghporter]Frankly anyone who charges more than $10 to do this on an iBook is scamming you or charging a "nusiance fee" for doing it.

Are you really? If it's that cheap, perhaps I should have it done..?

tapeIt · Feb 21, 2006, 01:41 AM

Originally Posted by stampit

lmao.
our names match.

lol. maybe geniuses think alike. (this coming from a person who doesn't know how to install ram)

tapeIt · Feb 21, 2006, 01:46 AM

thanks for all the help!

i found a step-by-step instruction (with pictures) on how to install RAM online, so i'm thinking its going to be okay.
any safety precautions i should take, other than taking out the batteries? (i.e. wearing rubber gloves? or anything?)

stampit · Feb 21, 2006, 08:30 AM

you're lucky you're just instsalling ram.

i have to take my whole ibook apart, take off the display, take the display apart and install a inverter board.

god, help me.

ghporter · Feb 21, 2006, 10:32 AM

[QUOTE=tapeIt]

Originally Posted by ghporter

Frankly anyone who charges more than $10 to do this on an iBook is scamming you or charging a "nusiance fee" for doing it.

Are you really? If it's that cheap, perhaps I should have it done..?

No, it's too easy and gives you more than enough immediate, positive feedback to have someone else do it. Use the $10 to buy yourself a couple of fancy coffees after you've succeeded. Honestly, it's a piece of cake. Look at the pictures, follow the steps (which I feel are actually over detailed) and watch for the couple of traps we've mentioned (like the angle thing) and you'll be done.

By the way, another issue I have encountered is the wire bracket for holding down the AirPort Card. Follow the instructions about this carefully; if does pop out of the way for you, but you have to the right thing to get it to.

Look at the manual (I'm assuming you're talking about a fairly recent G4 iBook) under Enhancing Your Computer.

cmeisenzahl · Feb 21, 2006, 10:53 AM

Go slowly, be gentle, walk away if you get frustrated, then come back to it later. Don't force anything.

The biggest problem I had was getting the keyboard back on properly.

volcano · Feb 21, 2006, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by cmeisenzahl

Go slowly, be gentle, walk away if you get frustrated, then come back to it later. Don't force anything..

That advice was widely used when I put my Invisible Shield on my iPod. It took me over 2 hours.

As for the RAM, just be sure to ground yourself before you touch anything internally. Keep your printed directions handy and lay them out in a fashion so you can see all the pages at once - so you don't have to fiddle through a pile of paper.

tapeIt · Feb 21, 2006, 07:03 PM

My RAM came today, and I was successfully able to install my RAM. Hooray!
The hardest part for me was to install the airport card back. The wire thingys holding the card in place wouldnt go in at all.
It took me a looooooong time to do that.
Anyway, Thanks everyone for all your help! Much appreciated!

BUT.....

Even though I installed an 1GB ram (from crucial) sometimes it still lags.
Particulary when I use Appleworks. (For making documents)
Before I installed the ram, it would literally beachball every other word I typed. (And I don't even type that fast)
And it lagged (for about 30secs) when I first opened the application, and when I switch back to appleworks from another application.

Now, it still beachballs when opening the program and switching back to the program. (Although now, it's about 15secs)
And it lags after about each sentence.

Does appleworks use up a lot of memory? Or is it an overall crappy program (both performance and the program itself), so I shouldn't bother with it and go buy MSOffice for macs?

gizmo_pony · Feb 21, 2006, 11:17 PM

i hv even broken the keyboard clips ... sob.

Duracell · Feb 22, 2006, 05:44 AM

Originally Posted by tapeIt

My RAM came today, and I was successfully able to install my RAM. Hoo... <snip>

First of all, congrats on getting the RAM stuck in, easy, wasn't it

Hopefully this will help you with appleworks.

ghporter · Feb 22, 2006, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by tapeIt

BUT.....

Even though I installed an 1GB ram (from crucial) sometimes it still lags.
Particulary when I use Appleworks. (For making documents)

First off, congratulations on your success! It wasn't quite the trial you thought it would be, was it!

You're seeing issues with disk performance, not memory. This will be particularly pronounced when programs load or close, and when they save documents. Appleworks spends a lot of time messing with the drive, so it will indeed seem pretty laggy now.

Try out something like NeoOffice or OpenOffice; they're free, they have far more features than Appleworks, and they are compatible with the "standard" office suite apps (they save in Microsoft's file formats, and at least OpenOffice can be configured to do so by default). They should also be much better at managing disk access.

tapeIt · Feb 23, 2006, 06:54 PM

Thanks! I'm glad i did it myself!

Originally Posted by Duracell

Hopefully this will help you with appleworks.

I turned off the Recent Item thing....
wow. it totally changed the performance.
thanks for telling me this. it saved me a lot of beachballs (and frustration).

Duracell · Feb 24, 2006, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by tapeIt

Thanks! I'm glad i did it myself!

I turned off the Recent Item thing....
wow. it totally changed the performance.
thanks for telling me this. it saved me a lot of beachballs (and frustration).

No problem, glad I could help.