lindswah007
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: iMac will only boot in safe mode after ram upgrade

I have a mid 2010 iMac 3.06GHz intel core i3 running Lion 10.7.5. I upgraded my ram from two 2gb chips to two 8Gb chips and now the computer will not boot unless in safe mode. If not in safe mode it will just get stuck on the grey screen with the apple. In safe mode I can check that both chips are recognized (it shows 16 gb of ram in 'about this Mac'). I have used the right specs on the new chips (new ones are g.skill ddr3-1333 pc3-10600/10666 8192MB CL9-9-9 So-Dimm). I have run disk verify (appears to be ok) and repaired permissions. Also reset pram. Any ideas? Much appreciated.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Jan 14, 2013 8:42 PM

by babowa,Solvedanswer
babowa babowa
Level 7 (32,049 points)
iPad
A:

Well, with four 4 GB, you're still at a total of 16 GB of third party RAM, but it's worth a shot. What's the brand you bought? iMacs are very particular, I only buy from either OWC (macsales.com) or Crucial. Both have lifetime warranties on their RAM.

 

I do a fair amount of video editing/rendering and graphics/photo editing and have been running my 2010 with a total of 12 GB RAM (2 x 2 GB OEM and 2 x 4 GB OWC RAM) because of the problems mentioned; it could use more (video rendering will take its' time no matter what), but I'm pleased in general. But, if you have 2 x 4 in there already, might as well try two more for a total of 16 - just make sure you can return it for a refund if needed.

Posted on Jan 14, 2013 9:41 PM

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lindswah007

Q: iMac will only boot in safe mode after ram upgrade

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 14, 2013 8:46 PM in response to lindswah007
    Level 10 (271,101 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 14, 2013 8:46 PM in response to lindswah007

    Will it boot to the Recovery HD or to the Snow Leopard installer DVD?

  • by lindswah007,

    lindswah007 lindswah007 Jan 14, 2013 8:48 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2013 8:48 PM in response to Kappy

    Have not tried the sl installer DVD, but pressing option key on restart the HD shows up and the recovery disk. I tried booting to both and still just gets to the apple and no further. Did this answer your question?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 14, 2013 8:55 PM in response to lindswah007
    Level 10 (271,101 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 14, 2013 8:55 PM in response to lindswah007

    You could have a problem with the OS installation. I'd like to know what happens when you boot from the Snow Leopard disc. If that works then you know it's not some hardware issue.

     

    Here's an article that may help you: Tackling Macs that always boot to Safe Mode | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews.

  • by lindswah007,

    lindswah007 lindswah007 Jan 14, 2013 8:58 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2013 8:58 PM in response to Kappy

    Ok, thanks I'll give it a go. I just insert the disk and hold down c at start up, right?

  • by lindswah007,

    lindswah007 lindswah007 Jan 14, 2013 9:01 PM in response to lindswah007
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2013 9:01 PM in response to lindswah007

    Oh, and just to clarify the iMac does not automatically go to safe mode without me holding the shift key as in the article. It's just that the only way I can get it to boot is by holding shift and starting it in safe mode.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 14, 2013 9:02 PM in response to lindswah007
    Level 10 (271,101 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 14, 2013 9:02 PM in response to lindswah007

    Booting From An OS X Installer Disc

     

      1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.

      2. Restart the computer.

      3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.

      4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo

          appears.

      5. Wait for installer to finish loading.

  • by lindswah007,

    lindswah007 lindswah007 Jan 14, 2013 9:11 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2013 9:11 PM in response to Kappy

    When I boot from the installer disk I get the apple and the spinning wheel (I did not get the spinning wheel before) but it seems to be taking a very long time to boot. I have waited for about 5 minutes. This should still work even though I had lthe lion upgrade installed, right?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 14, 2013 9:13 PM in response to lindswah007
    Level 10 (271,101 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 14, 2013 9:13 PM in response to lindswah007

    I'm just hoping that it will. Here are some other things to try:

     

    Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

    Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

     

    Reinstall OS X:

     

    Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive

     

    Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

     

    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.

     

    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list.  In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive.  If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.

     

    Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.

     

    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Jan 14, 2013 9:14 PM in response to lindswah007
    Level 10 (271,101 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 14, 2013 9:14 PM in response to lindswah007

    I hope these will bring a solution. If not we'll have to pick up with it later because it's now after midnight.

  • by lindswah007,

    lindswah007 lindswah007 Jan 14, 2013 9:18 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2013 9:18 PM in response to Kappy

    Oh dear, thanks for the help. Get some sleep. The update is that the iMac DID back up from the snow leopard disk in the end! What should I do now? Reinstall snow leopard?

  • by babowa,Helpful

    babowa babowa Jan 14, 2013 9:23 PM in response to lindswah007
    Level 7 (32,049 points)
    iPad
    Jan 14, 2013 9:23 PM in response to lindswah007

    Is this your model:

     

    http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-i3-3.06-21-inch-alumi num-mid-2010-specs.html

     

    Take a look at this:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3011

     

    Note sure if this could have anything to do with your problem, but, according to note #2, your model will accept 2 or 4 GB RAM modules in each slot. You added 8 GB modules.

     

    Additionally, there was a problem with late 2009/mid 2010 iMacs having problems with 16 GB of third party RAM; less than 16 GB was fine if using third party RAM or 16 GB using OEM RAM was fine as well. There were several threads regarding this problem; here is one of them:

     

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2567907

     

    Most of the problems were with 27", but there were also 21" models involved. This may or may not have anything to do with your problem.

  • by lindswah007,

    lindswah007 lindswah007 Jan 14, 2013 9:26 PM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2013 9:26 PM in response to babowa

    Adah, this might be it. I will take the ram back tomorrow and swap for two 4Gb chips. Do you think four 4GB chips will work or is this overkill. I am an artist and do a lot of image work in photoshop.

  • by babowa,Solvedanswer

    babowa babowa Jan 14, 2013 9:41 PM in response to lindswah007
    Level 7 (32,049 points)
    iPad
    Jan 14, 2013 9:41 PM in response to lindswah007

    Well, with four 4 GB, you're still at a total of 16 GB of third party RAM, but it's worth a shot. What's the brand you bought? iMacs are very particular, I only buy from either OWC (macsales.com) or Crucial. Both have lifetime warranties on their RAM.

     

    I do a fair amount of video editing/rendering and graphics/photo editing and have been running my 2010 with a total of 12 GB RAM (2 x 2 GB OEM and 2 x 4 GB OWC RAM) because of the problems mentioned; it could use more (video rendering will take its' time no matter what), but I'm pleased in general. But, if you have 2 x 4 in there already, might as well try two more for a total of 16 - just make sure you can return it for a refund if needed.

  • by lindswah007,

    lindswah007 lindswah007 Jan 14, 2013 9:52 PM in response to babowa
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 14, 2013 9:52 PM in response to babowa

    I bought G.Skill ram that is branded as Mac ram. It was from a shop that was actually reccomended by a person working at the Mac Store (I am from Australia). I could try using the original two 2GB chips that came with my mac along with two new 4GB chips for a total of 12GB (as you are doing). I can take the two 8GB chips back to the store for a refund.

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