Upgrade my memory on IMac G4 17"

AJDONN, Welcome to the discussion area!

You could install a 1 GB PC2700 200-pin SO-DIMM in the user accessible slot.

DealRam.com and RamSeeker.com list current RAM prices from Mac knowledgeable vendors with lifetime warranties.

Your iMac is a USB 2.0 iMac G4.

The 1024MB (1GB) RAM chip you seek is essentially the same hardware upgrade
chip used in the last models of the G4 iBook. I have the iBook G4 1.33 12" and
put a 1GB Samsung RAM chip inside. The same chip will work in my iMac G4 1.25.

The company I bought mine through, who shipped to my post office box (preferred)
has a variety of parts; not all of them show under "apple memory" but are correct.
Mine was the official Samsung/Apple chip part, last one shown here:
http://www.oempcworld.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=PC270 0-SODIMM

(I tried hiding the URL, but it didn't work for some reason. Sorry if I broke forum rules in posting this!)

Well, there may be a problem in one or another areas; either the actual RAM capacity
of the original installed part in the non-user accessible slot is not fully working, or
the lower RAM slot you were able to access beneath the metal plate in the bottom
may have a pin or other defect that could be affecting the ability of the machine to read
the full capacity of the new 1GB chip you just installed.

For a time, this may not be a problem; but errors can occur in bizarre ways when you
start using a machine with memory errors. Sometimes, you can also get data errors
if the chips corrupt dataflow to and from the hard disk drive as it goes through the bus.

Under a load, when the computer starts stressing and uses hard drive free space in
as virtual memory, addition to the physical chip RAM the computer has in it, a RAM
defect may cause a phenomena known as a 'kernal panic' which may be a real problem
should this be related to some logicboard connection where the chip plugs into the board.

You may need to see if the Apple Hardware Test (a bootable test on an original iMac
disc which came with the computer) shows error messages and write them down for
reference. This may come in handy when talking to a repair shop about estimates or
before taking it in for a tech to further troubleshoot this mystery. If you no longer have
this bootable AHT disc - (it may be on a bootable partition of the original OS X installer
disc #1, not a physically separate CD or DVD; & requiring different boot method than a
startup with disc in the optical drive and holding the C key down) - ask the shop to do it.