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sameer · Jul 29, 2006, 02:18 PM

Hello All,

Firstly, lovely forum, nice to be here. Now straight to the problem.

I bought this computer in February. My first ever Apple, a Powerbook G4 – 17”

Seeing that it came originally with only 512 memory (a samsung chip), I bought another chip of 512, made by transcend.
Worked perfectly, no glitches, no freezes. However, the nature of my work, involves working with large files in Corel Draw, 200 to 700 mb, with a fair amount of cutting and pasting.

Needless to say, even though I LOVED the OS and ease of use and the screen, I was a bit disappointed with the speed. I was then advised by friends to up my memory.

So yesterday, I went out and bought 2 chips of 1gb each, made by transcend (Jetram). I was assured these were great quality and they came with a lifetime warranty.

Plonked them both in. Started up and it worked fine – for 10 minutes and then just froze up. The cursor just wouldn’t move. When this happened 3 times in the next hour, I called the guy, thinking that probably one chip was faulty.

As he suggested, I ran the computer, one chip at a time. Sure enough, it ran perfectly with one chip, and with the other, it froze in 15 minutes. I took the chip back and my dealer promptly replaced it with a new sealed chip.

Put that in and everything worked fine for 4 hours at work, with some seriously heavy files - no freezing.
And it was definitely a whole lot faster. So I was thrilled.

When I got home, I started up to surf the internet and in the past hour, it’s frozen up 4 times. Each time I have had to hold down the power button to shut down.

I am completely confused.Unfortunately my vendor does not stock other RAM modules and wont give my money back, but will replace the other one too happily. Incidentally, he called me back later, to tell me that the chip I had returned was working just fine in another notebook computer.

I would appreciate any help the experts could offer me. Thanks for reading this and sorry about the long post

romeosc · Jul 29, 2006, 02:24 PM

Sounds heat related, do fans come on?

sameer · Jul 29, 2006, 02:40 PM

The Notebook is running as warm as it used to earlier. It's not hot at all. Sorry if this sounds really stupid, but i've never heard the fans till today.

It doesnt freeze up at regular intervals. Like I said, this evening it ran for 4 hours. glitch free, with some seriously heavy work. And right now it froze up 4 times in an hour, just surfing the internet.

shabbasuraj · Jul 29, 2006, 04:18 PM

Sounds like a mother board issue. Warranty?

sameer · Jul 30, 2006, 04:34 AM

Well, yes, it is in warranty. But then it hangs only with the 2 gb RAM. With 1 gb it runs just fine. Should i send it to Apple with my 2 gb ram in it?

cms · Jul 30, 2006, 05:21 AM

Originally Posted by sameer

Well, yes, it is in warranty. But then it hangs only with the 2 gb RAM. With 1 gb it runs just fine. Should i send it to Apple with my 2 gb ram in it?

Have you tried swapping the RAM modules in and out; i.e., take out the original stick and put the new one back in the same slot. That way, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly if it's the RAM that's at fault. If not, it suggest the second RAM slot is dodgy, which means you'll need a new logic board.

concierge · Jul 31, 2006, 12:19 AM

Run your hardware test off the included discs and see if the ram passes.

sameer · Jul 31, 2006, 02:54 AM

RAM passed all tests. If I use my old 2 modules, everything works fine, therefore i know it's not a problem with the slots. I spoke to a Genius today and I may have a solution. If it works I will post it here. Meanwhile if anyone has any ideas, keep them coming, I appreciate it.

sameer · Jul 31, 2006, 11:35 AM

Hi!!

My problem is solved and I hope this will help other powerbook users.

Transcend makes 2 kinds of RAM. Though both are sold by transcend they are in different packings.
If you remember my first post, I stated that I had bought 1 gb modules made by Transcend(Jetram)
Apparently the ones I bought state clearly JETRAM at the top and tTRANSCEND at the bottom of the packing. The part number begins with JM.... This Module is marketed by Transcend, but outsourced from Jetram www.jetram.com.tw
The other kind are also transcend but these say "The memory specialist" on the top annd transcend at the bottom. Apparently these are made by transcend themselves using hynix chips and their part numbers begin with TS...

I spoke to an apple genius, who told me to buy transcend RAM who's part number began with TS.
I spoke to my dealer, who acccepted the Jetram back with no fuss, however told me that transcend RAM (TS) was 20$ more per module. I paid the 40$ difference and guess what? I'm in business.

Please do not buy any Jetram Transcend for your Mac. It doesn't work. Hope this helps.