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Mac Mini doesn't see RAM upgrade
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Rafael, CA
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My wife has a 1.98 Mhz Intel Mini I got her a year or two ago. I upgraded the RAM to 2 gb right after I bought it and all has been well since.
Recently, I ran into a number of discussions of how you can actually upgrade the mini to a maximum of 3gb, even though it's officially supposed to have a maximum of 2. Everyone says it's no-brainer: pop in a pair of 2gb chips, and the "about " will report 3 gb on board, with an appropriate performance bump.
Apparently, I missed something. I tried replacing the 1gb chips in the Mini with the 2gb chips from my MBP and got nothing - - no chime, no boot, nada. The spec is right - 667 mhz DDR2 - and I went back and forth enough to know it's not something simple like a poorly seated chip or a mistake reassembling the Mini.
So, who else has done this successfully? What am I missing here?
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Dual 1.8 G5 tower w/ Pioneer 112, 4 gb RAM, 500 & 200gb HDs
MacBook Pro 2.16 gHz Core 2 Duo, 4 gb RAM, VM Ware Fusion & Boot Camp installed with Win XP Pro (Previously used Parallels)
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: San Rafael, CA
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I just answered my own question. After further research, it turns out that not all Intel Minis can go beyond the 2GB "official" RAM limit. The older ones with the Core Duo CPU really are limited to 2GB and will just freeze up (like mine) if you try putting in more. On the newer Minis with the Core 2 Duo CPU, you can put in a pair of 2GB chips and it will see 3 GB usable.
Somebody over in the Apple discussion groups said that the limitation comes from logic chips on the motherboard, so even if you could upgrade the CPU, the older Mini would have the 2 GB limitation.
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Dual 1.8 G5 tower w/ Pioneer 112, 4 gb RAM, 500 & 200gb HDs
MacBook Pro 2.16 gHz Core 2 Duo, 4 gb RAM, VM Ware Fusion & Boot Camp installed with Win XP Pro (Previously used Parallels)
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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The chipset supports 4GB physical / 3.mumble GB logical, but Apple has crippled in in firmware to 2GB.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
Status:
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Sounds like you have a Core Duo mini rather than a Core 2 Duo mini... the former is strictly crippled to 2GB.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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Huh, the same thread twice. Crazy.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
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We've been over this a couple of times already. The last time was here.
CD/CS minis are limited to 2 GB. They won't boot if you put in more.
C2D minis were spec'ed to take up to 2 GB. They will however also address 3GB if you put in 3 or 4 GB.
The 3 GB limit is given by Intel's Calistoga chipset. The 2 GB limit is imposed by firmware.
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