Memory Empty?

hndsmman

hndsmman

Creative Genius
I currently have 3 x PC100 128 and 1 PC133 = 512mb in my G4 Power PC 350 Mhz. I purchased 2 PC133, 512mb each. When I replaced 2 of the 128's and booted up and went to System Profiler it said the slops were "empty". Now question, does this mean they are no good? are they in the wrong slots? or can you not put 2 512mb's with 2 128mb's? or something I don't even know about?
 
Probably, the new memory is not seated in the slot properly. Try swapping the memory into different slots, then restart, and check to see if there is any change. If no change, try reseating once more. Take a memory stick out. Be sure that the tabs at the end of the slot are completely open, then push the stick firmly into the slot until the tabs both 'snap' into place into the ends of the chip. Let the memory stick 'pull' those tabs into place. Your memory will usually be fully seated if you do it that way. If the memory is still not recognized, then you have one or more of the following:
Bad memory sticks.
incompatible memory.
Bad memory slots.

The first two mean going back to your memory supplier.
The last means a bad logic board.
 
Thanks for responding. Yes, I tried that, tried them in all the slots and still "empty. I ran a program in OS 9 called DIMM First Aid and it said "incompatable number of column bits" "The DIMM has problems that DIMM First Aid can't fix". That can't be good?

As far as "Bad memory slots" it still recognizes the 128Mb's that are in there now, does that still mean there is a problem with logic board. Or is the problem is can't read 512's?
 
Could those chips possibly be ECC chips? The PowerMac G4 350MHz doesn't support ECC ram (error-correcting RAM), and if those 512MB chips are ECC chips, they won't work.
 
Your memory should be PC-100 3.3v, unbuffered, 8-byte, non-parity 168-pin SDRAM
Your PowerMac G4 should read 512 MB chips. PC-133 should work fine, also. You said you already were using one 512 stick, does that one work OK? You can try putting ONLY that good 512 MB chip into each slot (nothing in any other slot), and test each slot by trying to boot with that one chip. You will then know that your slots are good. Put one of the new chips in, and try the same thing. If you don't get your Mac to boot, then you can be pretty certain that memory stick is bad, or just wrong (incompatible). Return those sticks, and go with a reputable Mac memory supplier, such as crucial.com
 
No, currently I have 4 128's = 512. And yes I have been to crucial.com and they recommended the very similar RAM to me there at a rather exorbaint price, being one of the finacially challaged Mac users. Fortunately I bought these from ebay and am in the process of contacting the seller to return them.

Anyone have some 512's extra they want donate to an dedicated under-privileged finacially-challenged devoted Mac user feel free. You will be giving them to a good home. Where they will be raised with other Apple products.

I think Steve Jobs said it best when he spoke to an auditorium of catholic nuns "If any of us can help a improve the RAM of G4 350Mhz PowerPC, then the kingdom of heaven will be our's!" Actually I heard that through a third party who knew one of the nuns...sister and I sorta embellished it a bit too.
 
Last edited:
hndsmman said:
I currently have 3 x PC100 128 and 1 PC133 = 512mb in my G4 Power PC 350 Mhz. ...
Click to expand...

Sorry, I just assumed when you posted that you had 1 PC133 = 512MB. that you already had one 512MB. Your post seemed clear about.

I'm not sure what you mean by exorbitant pricing at Crucial.com - the memory that you need is only about $62 each
Here's a link for less at OWC, which is another good Mac support site, and about $47
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=89&type=Memory&TI=5300&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades
If you go to ramseeker.com - you can find PC-100 512MB for less than $40, and your Mac should also be OK with that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top