Q: I bought the wrong chip.
This is more of a hypothetical question. I ask because I am curious.
My Mid-2010 Mac Mini worked cheerfully on 2GB of RAM until I got to Yosemite. Since then the computer has been getting slower and slower. When my HP LaserJet P1102w refused to print any more PDFs, I decided to "look under the hood." Activity Monitor reported that I was using 2.94GB of Virtual Memory. No wonder the Mini was slow. I went to the store for more RAM. Somewhere along the way, I got confused about the model year of the Mini. I asked the sales clerk for 8GB for a Mid-2011 Mini. He sold me what I thought was two 4GB modules. When I got back to the Mini, I opened the package and found one 8GB module. Not wanting to spend any more time on the project than I had already, I removed the two original 1GB modules from the Mini and installed the 8GB one. It worked. The Mini did everything I wanted except to print a PDF. Quickly I determined that I had asked for the wrong modules. I went back to the store and exchanged the one wrong 8GB module for two 4GB modules. And the Mini is running again.
The questions I have are:
1) Could I have continued to run the Mini on only one 8GB module?
2) Could I have installed a second 8GB module?
BTW, the HP continues to refuse to print PDFs.
Mac mini (Mid 2010), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)
Posted on Jan 9, 2015 1:55 PM