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MacBook RAM scare

MacBook'06

MacBook'06

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 10, 2006
51
0
Cardiff, Wales
i just bought 2GB of DDR2 667Mhz SO-DIMM PC2-5300 RAM, and when I came to installing it i found it had those black things one both sides instead of just one as was the case for the original 2x256MB sticks!?! i presumed this was because they held 4 times as much memory so didn't think about it too much. Put them in and they were really stiff, then the levers wouldn't take them out again. i managed to get them out by pulling on the RAM with my fingers. After installing the original RAM again (which by the way went in very easily) i restarted my MacBook and got the shock of my life.... the computer was only reading 256MB of RAM!! and was going very slow!
i thought i had ruined the slot by putting in wrong RAM, but after an extra 2 more restarts it worked again!
so basically, is this RAM ok? is it normal to have the black things on both sides instead of one? I know the RAM has to be 200pin, i don't know how to check it though! All i know is that the RAM is the same size as the previous RAM (dimensionally)
sorry if this doesnt make too much sense! its late!
thanks in advance
i was really scared for 5 minutes or so! i thought i had wrecked my baby!
 
My blacbook has ram in it with chips on both sides now after i replaced the stock 512mb with 2gb from newegg. It was a little tricky geting them to go in there though as they didnt slide in so easily because of the ram on both sides. Works fine though :)
 
Run the Apple Hardware Test ffrom your OSX CD and see if it passes.

Hopefully, you mean the module had chips on both sides, and not that there were metal heat spreaders on both sides on top of the chips..?

What brand are they?

Do I read you correctly that you never actually booted with the 2 Gb, and the Apple RAM is back in the machine? THe probable cause of registering 256 Mb is that you failed to get one of the Apple 256ers all the way into the socket. If it is still not 100% seated in there, you may have a failure later with thermal expansion and contraction.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com
 
I sent my macbook back for a refund after I installed Ram and my computer wouldn't start again. I pushed on them really hard, but I guess I didn't push hard enough. Well, I'm glad I sent it back because I finally decided to get a Macbook Pro instead.
I've been hearing a lot of complaining though about the installation procedure for the macbook. It's supposed to be more user friendly, but it sounds like it's just creating more problems.
 
craigatkinson said:
I sent my macbook back for a refund after I installed Ram and my computer wouldn't start again. I pushed on them really hard, but I guess I didn't push hard enough. Well, I'm glad I sent it back because I finally decided to get a Macbook Pro instead.
I've been hearing a lot of complaining though about the installation procedure for the macbook. It's supposed to be more user friendly, but it sounds like it's just creating more problems.
Click to expand...


I just installed 2 aftermarket chips in a Macbook. Piece of cake. Took 5 minutes max.
 
thanks guys all is fixed!
i hadnt actually booted with the 2GB in there because i thought it was completely wrong! but with a little bit more confidence i shoved those in there and they are registering fine! the computer is so much faster! i recommend anyone who is debating on getting more RAM to get it!
thanks for you help
MacBook'06
 
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