Help i've lost my memory!

[iMarcus]

Hello all, im a noobie so you may have to excuse what may be a dumb question...

Ive just got my first mac, its a rev 1 b+w 350mhz, problem is half my ram seems to be missing!

the machine had 2 sticks of 256mb in when i got it but osx states 2x 128's. both sticks of ram are labeled as 256's

when i added another 256 stick, theoretically making it 768mb osx said 384mb?? so i added another 128mb i had and that gave me the figure 512mb?? i just dont understand lol

can anyone help please??

im running osx 10.3.9 by the way if that helps

thanks in advance, mark

 

[eva01]

maybe they really are only 128MB sticks. Did it show up earlier as being 256MB chips or was this the first time you turned it on and it showed 128MB chips?

 

[iMarcus]

Hi Eva, the two sticks that were in it to begin with, say 256mb on them, and look pretty genuine? the third one i put in is a brand new kingston 256 so thats deffo a real one... only got the machine today and starting to feel a bit ripped off

cheers for your quick reply
mark

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

Try switching them around?

Well, you may be ripped off, I'd just buy from Crucial if you need more memory.

Call the guy who sold it to you?

Hope that helps.

 

[eva01]

hmmm that is odd, does the logic board only take 128MB chips on the B&W or is the logic board somehow damaged.

First talk to the person that you bought it off of. Second if you have another Mac that the RAM will work in test it and see if they show up as 256MB each

 

[CanadaRAM]

The Yikes and Yosemite motherboards can't take 8-chip 256 Mb modules, they need low-density 16-chip modules, otherwise they will read (surprise) only half the RAM on each chip.

eva- the RAM might work just fine in a Digital Audio (AGP graphics) G4.

Send that new module back if you can and get some RAM from a reputable Mac memory seller who knows about compatibility with your machine.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[Sun Baked]

Some of the PC133, only registers as half the memory in these older PC100 machines.

Somebody posted the technical explanation, but it's likely just a chipset limitation not recognizing the newer memory standards.

 

[iMarcus]

Will test all the ram tomorrow, got an old pc that takes pc100 ram...

also, the b&w apparently takes 256 in each slot so no probs there... will try swapping them around perhaps.

as for the guy i got it off, will be calling him in the am!!

Cheers for your help folks

 

[eva01]

Pay attention to what CanadaRAM said about the RAM only showing up half because of chipset things

 

[iMarcus]

Nice one CanadaRam, so thats what it is!!

looks like i might have some ram for sale on ebay then lol !!

Thanks again folks

mark

 

[Sun Baked]

Pay attention to what CanadaRAM said about the RAM only showing up half because of chipset things

Blame Motorola, because the machine uses their Grackle MPC106 memory controller.

 

[iMarcus]

Just had a look inside... all the 256's have 8 chips on them!!

 

[CanadaRAM]

Just had a look inside... all the 256's have 8 chips on them!!

Well, that'll be an early indication....

I suggest Data Memory Systems for an infusion of the correct RAM.

And slap the guy who sold you the Kingston...

Edit: Wales - got it - big ocean first, then some really nice countryside with a western vista and some damn good singers...

Data Memory Systems is able to send to Europe, I believe. You'll have to pay the VAT and any entry costs when it arrives. If you run into any problems, we can send from Canada, PM me.

 

[madmax_2069]

yea the gossamar logic board and the yikes are some what the same only one has a 66 mhz bus and the other has a 100 mhz bus. i got a rev b or ver 2 gossimar logic board in the mac that i own and yea the yikes can take a 256 mb chip's like my g3 aio here. copyed from a site,The beige G3 supports 256 MB DIMMs, but they must be built using 128 Mb chips. DIMMs built with 256 Mb chips will work, but the memory controller will only see the first 128 Mb of each chip. Compatible 256 MB DIMMs will have 16 memory chips, eight on each side. yea its for a beige g3 but as i said the yikes is like the gossimer in more ways than one sept the bus speed and a few others well and the cpu being made for a faster bus but it still takes the same Noninterleaved, 168-pin, 64-bit-wide 8ns PC100 SDRAM (3.3v)

 

[yellow]

For the non-technically inclined who might read this in the future the gist is this:

If you put in a RAM stick and the OS only sees 1/2 of the RAM size, it's the WRONG RAM.