2X RAM = crashed applications

austinrick · #1 July 14th, 2008, 05:38 PM

I doubled the RAM from 256 to 512. Apple Profiler says I'm running two identical cards

Size: 256 MB
Type: SDRAM
Speed: PC133U-333

...but as soon as I installed the second card, app's began quitting without warning. First Firefox; I noticed today Word quitting. Yahoo & Hotmail going away in the middle of a new message, etc.

Today I finally removed the second RAM card and all seems to be fine again. Any conjecture on what's going on? The two cards are not physically identical: the original has a thinner profile. But they appear to run at the same speed.

**Giaguara** · #2 July 14th, 2008, 05:42 PM

Hi Rick,

Which Mac are you using?
It does sound like the RAM would be causing the errors you were experiencing. RAM speed is not the only factor that will define if it will work.

austinrick · #3 July 14th, 2008, 06:00 PM

Sorry, I thought that info would appear when I entered it on the post form.

eMac G4, 1Ghz, Combo, now running 256MB
Machine purchased new Summer of 2003

Mikuro · #4 July 14th, 2008, 07:34 PM

Try removing the old memory and putting the new stick in that slot (leaving the old stick out). If you still get stability problems, that would suggest that you just have a bad RAM stick. If it works fine, though, then the stick is good and you probably have either a bad second RAM slot or a faulty logic board.

When I upgraded my Mac Mini's RAM, I got repeated kernel panics. Got the logic board replaced and everything's been great since then.

austinrick · #5 July 14th, 2008, 10:10 PM

I just tried that; new stick works fine solo; both sticks = immediate problems.

However, I also just ran Apple Hardware Test with both sticks in. Logic Board passed, and Memory passed. Now I don't know what to think. Neither does my eMac!

Aftermarket vendor is sending a replacement. Maybe the new and OEM sticks are somehow not compatible, in spite of what Apple Profiler says.

**Giaguara** · #6 July 15th, 2008, 04:00 AM

If you run the test only once, that is not accurate enough. Run it in loop mode, ctrl-L before running it and the same combo to stop it. At least an evening or preferably overnight, always with extended test.

austinrick · #7 July 15th, 2008, 12:10 PM

Currently on the 13th repetition with no problems: logic board Passed, memory Passed. I'll let it continue through about 20 loops.

I have another post regarding a screwed up OS 9.2 side. It's from May in the Mac Help Forums. Called 'Flashing Icon "Sick Mac/?/Sick....." Don't know whether there's a connection between these problems, and don't recall whether they began at the same time.

ElDiabloConCaca · #8 July 15th, 2008, 05:39 PM

Sometimes even though two RAM modules check out ok individually, problems won't appear until they're used together. While both of your sticks of RAM may each be ok, together they may be incompatible.

I ran into this same problem years ago with some cheap, no-name PC-100 RAM -- worked fine by itself, but alongside my original RAM, insto-crash.