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Mallrat · Jun 25, 2005, 08:34 PM

I bought a new 1gb stick of ram today to put into my new powerbook 15 1gz.

I put it in and when I turned the computer back on, it registed the ram.

But after a minute, the computer would freeze. I tried this a few times, and the same thing.

I took the memory out and it works fine again.

Does this mean the memory is bad or just not compatible with my computer.

I has the same specs as the one that's already in there. I bought it from an apple reseller that knows specs. I told them what I had, they knew exactly what kind to give me.

Could someone explain what freezing after a mintue means? Why wouldn't it just not turn on or freeze instantly?

why does it take a minute?

Thank you.

GSixZero · Jun 25, 2005, 10:08 PM

It's probably low quality RAM. Technically it's the right kind, but OS X likes to have high quality memory that fits very specific standards.

I'd take it back, get my money back, and order from http://www.crucial.com

filmerp · Jun 25, 2005, 10:12 PM

Sorry to hear. Do you happen to know the brand of your bad RAM? Just so I can avoid it...

Mallrat · Jun 26, 2005, 01:04 AM

Ironically it was called LIFETIME MEMORY.

mad cow disease · Jun 26, 2005, 02:14 AM

What are the chips?

Mallrat · Jun 26, 2005, 03:23 AM

mad cow - what are you asking?

nuggetman · Jun 26, 2005, 08:23 AM

put your OS X reinstall CD in (the one that came with your powerbook)
turn your machine on and hold ALT after the chime to get the boot menu
choose apple hardware tester

(do this w/ the bad ram in)

chabig · Jun 26, 2005, 08:55 AM

My first suspicion is that you didn't get it seated properly. Try reinstalling it, being very careful to make sure the contact are firmly in place. In other news...I think Crucial is overpriced.

Chris

mad cow disease · Jun 26, 2005, 10:39 AM

Can you tell who the manufacturer of the microchips is on the memory in question? That will help people steer clear of that manufacturer's production. Generic memory is usually produced only by a few manufacturers and then rebadged under other company names.

tooki · Jun 26, 2005, 10:55 AM

Right, but:

1) the brand name doesn't necessarily matter -- the generic RAM is usually just made from reject chips from a reputable maker

2) brand names can be forged (and have been in the past!). With cheap "name brand" RAM, you may be buying counterfeits.

Crucial may be a bit more expensive, but in absolute dollar amounts, it's not that big an increase in cost, and the hassle caused by diagnosing and replacing crappy RAM is not worth that little savings.

tooki

outsourced · Jun 27, 2005, 08:01 PM

Make sure you have the latest OS update. I had a similar problem running 10.3.8. Updated to 10.3.9 and the problem disappeared. Later, I found an Apple KB article describing the same issue.

asodamiac · Jun 30, 2005, 04:40 AM

kingston is a safe bet too. had it in my pb for a little over a month now (close to 2) and its working fine.

d.fine · Jul 1, 2005, 08:57 AM

I had this with my 15" as well. KP's all over the place, no booting, crashes bla bla bla. Replacing the RAM solved everything and has been running flawless since. The RAM was from a reseller, was Dane-Elec brand. They replaced the modules, same brand.

Mallrat · Jul 12, 2005, 10:43 PM

I got my powerbook to work with this memory stick. I had to use target firewire disk mode to install everything, but for a week, my computer has worked.

I wondered what that means. If the ram was bad, wouldn't it have messed up by now?

I can't imagine what else could be wrong with my computer.

Mallrat · Jul 12, 2005, 10:50 PM

I spoke too soon. I was on eBay and Safari crashed. I love this computer, but it's making me angry.

Jacob · Jul 12, 2005, 10:54 PM

Go for Kingston or Corsair. Both are very expensive, but so is the Powerbook. Don't sacrifice quality and performance for cheaper memory. There's always a reason is it's 'too good' of a price.

Mallrat · Jul 12, 2005, 10:58 PM

I'm on my iMac now. My powerbook kept crashing using eBay. Now I tried to go to eBay and my computer screen went a bit dark and a grey book appeared that said

YOU NEED TO RESTART YOUR COMPUTER. HOLD DOWN THE POWER BUTTON FOR SEVERAL SECONDS OR PRESS THE RESTART BUTTON.

It said this in English and 3 other languages. Does this isolate the problem as memory related?

Jacob · Jul 13, 2005, 12:40 AM

Yes. Memory related problems are random, and what you encountered was a 'kernel pannic.' (Mac OS freaking out because of an error). This was probably caused by the memory, if you are getting errors that you never got before, it is most definetly a problem with that, because by nature, faulty ram can have very random and adverse effects. You never know what can happen, anything from slow boots, garbled screen, freezing, kernel pannics, programs not loading..etc. If it's consistant, then it's your memory. Get your money back and hook yourself up with some Kingston.

filmerp · Jul 19, 2005, 01:17 PM

Dang. I just got the Kingston 1G stick, and the same thing is happening to my 17". The Powerbook wouldn't full boot after I installed the new RAM, but works fine when I take it out.

filmerp · Jul 22, 2005, 12:24 AM

I got Overstock to send me another 1G Kingston stick after the first one froze my 17" Powerbook before it even finished starting up. Now the replacement is surviving the bootup, but will Kernel Panic after light apps usage or putting the Powerbook to sleep! Is this a bad RAM problem for certain? Should I try yet a THIRD stick from Overstock? HELP PLEASE!

chillipepper · Aug 12, 2005, 12:23 PM

I've just got a 512 crucial chip, it freezes the whole system. Takes around 4 attempts to get the powerbook booted, once in ram seems ok, same spec and everything. Soon as i use any application sudden screen freeze. Swapped and reseated the modules but still the same happens every time. Soon as I remove the new module the powerbook runs fine.