Unstable after RAM upgrade

anyone have more input on this topic yet?? im having the same issues as well... bit of a bummer from apple

Hynix or Samsung

I had the same problem and have been following this forum and a few others for the last couple of months.
I purchased my MacBook Pro with 2Gb (hynix) of RAM. Then I upgraded to 4Gb from Crucial. Since I did that, I have had the same random freezes everyone else has been experiencing. From all of my checks and swapping around of memory (worked fine with 3Gb installed), I was convinced that it was a problem with the MacBook. I took it to an Apple service center and they kept it for 3 days and came back and said that all tests ran without fault. The same day I got it back, it froze again as it typically did at least once a day. From all of the feedback in the forum, it seems as though those persons using Samsung memory modules had no problems plus I found another forum where one person who sells and services MacBooks Pro said that they realized they (late 2008 model) had this problem from day 1. From his observations, he also concluded that Samsung memory was the only one that seemed to work without the random freeze.

I have since purchased 2 Samsung 2Gb RAM modules and replaced the crucial sticks. My Mac has been running all day without any freeze. I will monitor further but so far so good.
Just thought this may help out as I know how frustrating this problem can be.
I purchased the Samsung memory from OWC - http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Samsung/8566DSM3S2GB/

I have also posted this in the following forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1966105&start=45&tstart=0

Please note, I am fairly new to Mac, and only found this info after much searching on-line...

I also have had problems after upgrading to 4GB of RAM, I bought Kingston from Best Buy in Edmonton, AB. I have spent a great deal of time searching for a solution, and just thought I would share what I have found.
It seems to be an issue with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card and the way it accesses memory, and it seems to affect anything over 3GB of RAM. Now that being said, on Nvidia's website, with some searching there is a pdf document stating which RAM is compatible with this video card. I should mention that this issue also affects MacBook Pro users with the 9400/9600 graphics card. According to the pdf, my Kingston memory is not on the compatible list...I'll try to include this list:

The tables below list the SO-DIMMs that NVIDIA plans to support on their GeForce 9400M G platform.

Note: Using an SO-DIMM from this list does not imply reduced or simpler design validation on the part of the OEM. NVIDIA recommends customers to perform their full suite of memory interface design validation testing on their systems.
The information in the following tables is preliminary and will be updated as necessary. Table 1. DDR3 SODIMM
Manufacturer
Speed
Latency
Density
Part number

Elpida
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
2GB
EBJ21UE8BASA-DJ-E

Elpida
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
1GB
EBJ11UE6BASA-DJ-E

Elpida
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
2GB
EBJ21UE8BASA-AE-E

Elpida
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
1GB
EBJ11UE6BASA-AE-E

Elpida
DDR3-800
5-5-5
2GB
EBJ21UE8BASA-8A-E

Elpida
DDR3-800
5-5-5
1GB
EBJ11UE6BASA-8A-E

Hynix
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
2GB
HMT125S6AFP8C-H9N0

Hynix
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
1GB
HMT112S6AFP6C-H9N0

Hynix
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
2GB
HMT125S6AFP8C-G7N0

Hynix
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
1GB
HMT112S6AFP6C-G7N0

Hynix
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
512MB
HMT164S6AFP6C-G7N0

Hynix
DDR3-800
6-6-6
2GB
HYMT125S64ZNF8-S6

Hynix
DDR3-800
6-6-6
1GB
HYMP112S64CP6-S6

Micron
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
1GB
MT8JSF12864HY-1G4DZES

Micron
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
512MB
MT4JSF6464HY-1G4BZES

Micron
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
4GB
MT16JSS51264HY-1G1AZES

Micron
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
2GB
MT16JSF25664HY-1G1D1

Micron
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
1GB
MT8JSF12864HZ-1G1D1

Micron
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
512MB
MT4JSF6464HY-1G1B1

Nanya
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
2GB
NT2GC64B8HA1NS-CG

GeForce 9400M G Memory AVL
Manufacturer Speed Latency Density Part number

Nanya
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
1GB
NT1GC64BH8A1PS-CG

Nanya
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
2GB
NT2GC64B8A1NS-BE

Nanya
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
1GB
NT1GC54BH8A1PS-BE

Qimonda
DDR3-1333
8-8-8
2GB
IMSH2GS13A1F1CT-13G

Qimonda
DDR3-1333
8-8-8
1GB
IMSH1GS14A1F1CT-13G

Qimonda
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
2GB
IMSH2GS13A1F1CT10F

Qimonda
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
1GB
IMSH1GS14A1F1CT10F

Samsung
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
2GB
M471B5673DZ1-CH9

Samsung
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
1GB
M471B2874DZ1-CH9

Samsung
DDR3-1333
9-9-9
512MB
M471B6474DZ1-CH9

Samsung
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
2GB
M471B5673DZ1-CF8

Samsung
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
1GB
M471B2874DZ1-CF8

Samsung
DDR3-1066
7-7-7
512MB
M471B6474DZ1-CF8

Samsung
DDR3-800
6-6-6
2GB
M471B5673DZ1-CF7

Samsung
DDR3-800
6-6-6
1GB
M471B2874CZ1-CF7

Samsung
DDR3-800
6-6-6
1GB
M471B2874DZ1-CF7

Samsung
DDR3-800
6-6-6
512MB
M471B6474DZ1-CF7

Samsung
DDR3-800
6-6-6
512MB
M471B6474CZ1-CF7 March


The first part is the manufactrer name, next is type of memory, then latency, then density, then part number.

Another solution seems to be to edit the com.Apple.Boot.plist to set maxmem to 3456, which cuts available memory after rebooting to 3.5GB, on my MacBook, I got fair results with 3072, basically 3GB, it doesn't freeze as often, although I haven't played any movies, etc, for a few days, which always seemed to lead to my freezes. But the system seems much more stable for the moment.

Another solution which I am going to test when I get home and have access to my original RAM is to put one of the 1GB sodimms which came with my machine in the first slot, and one of my Kingston modules into the other slot, I've read that this solves the problem completely. Now I realize this leaves you with 3GB Ram, not the 4 I wanted, but further research showed me that the performance hit is not that significant from 3 to 4 GB, There are a couple of websites with testing results for different RAM configurations, and for my needs, the difference is minimal, I know that may not be acceptable to everyone. If I had bookmarked one of these pages, I would include the link.

Another solution seems to be a change to one of the Kext file, link is here: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=127611
but this is related to kext for MacOSX on a PC, and I don't know enough about dealing with kext files to feel comfortable doing things like this to my MB.

I don't know if anyone else will find this useful, but if it does, great. In the meantime, I will be able to test the 3GB RAM configuration on Friday, and will test out the MB with movies, etc and post how it goes... one test I read about is to use the program REMBER, and do multiple hard drive searches, etc while it is running, according to the website I found that on, it leads to the freezing fairly rapidly, so at least the problem can be reproducible for those who take their Mac Books or Mac Book Pros into an Apple Genius Bar or where ever so that they can see the freeze in action.

Cheers,
Dan

Hi again,
I did find one of the pages I had mentioned in the previous post about benchmarks for Memory testing on Mac Books.

http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/MacBook/Testing/Memory_Benchmarks

The only one that is way out for comparing 3GB to 4GB is the one labeled Memory Hog, but I don't foresee me using 21 step Photoshop alterations to pictures, the other benchmarks don't seem too far apart for what I need when I compare 3GB to 4GB. So if the 3GB configuration does the trick for me as far as having no more freezing issues, that is what I am going to use, maybe some time in the future I will upgrade to 4 GB of RAM through the Apple Store, as in my area there doesn't seem to be anyone who sells any of the RAM on the list I posted previously.

For what is worth: This is my first day using 4gb ram on my macbook. Apart from it taking way longer to wake up and failing doing so once, everything seems fine and so much faster. Hopefully it'll stay like this.

I'm a bit worried about the freezing after waking up. Has this happenned to anyone else? Instead of waking up, I got a black screen. Closing the macbook and opening it again did nothing. Just wondering. It has only happenned once and hopefully will stay like that.

Ciao Eppemela. Sono anch'io toscano, anch'io con un macbook pro 2.4 e anch'io con due banchi di Corsair che dopo 4 mesi mi frizzano il mac.

Visto che non ho trovato il modo di mandarti un PM mi puoi per favore dire dove hai comprato le tue e se ti funzionano perfettamente?

Grazie

Has anyone tried this mem module?:

M471B5673DZ1-CF8

It's a Samsung 2GB DDR3 mem stick, listed in that nVidia-compatible-mem-modules list brought here by Dan Straathof, so it should work.

It is quite available and cheap at eBay, but I wouldn't like to buy a pair just to find that it doesn't work correctly, producing freezes and other undesirable side effects. So, has anyone any experience on this mem?

Saluditos,

Ferrán.

Hi.
I'm thinking to give back my 4 GB Corsair RAM for 4 GB Apple Ram.
I hope to solve, but there's, for some reason, a possibility to have video problems again?
Can someone help me?
Maybe is better to buy Samsung Ram?
What about a fix? Nobody knows if Apple is working to fix (after 1 year) or not?

Thanks

If anyone is looking for the actual page with the memory compatibility list for the NVIDIA 9400M, it's here:

http://www.nvidia.com/docs/IO/60555/MemoryCompatibility_List_DA-04576-001v01.pdf

FerryA1 wrote:
JFYI, E-bay seller 1-800-4-memory is selling Micron mem modules, one of the modules listed by Dan STRAATHOF as compatible with nVidia graphic card, Micron MT16JSF25664HY-1G1D1, 89$.

http://cgi.ebay.es/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350247943773

Answering to myself (message in another thread http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10326659#10326659 ): I finally decided to buy one of these 1-800-4-memory 4GB mem sets. I ordered just one week ago and I have just received it, so deliver has been blazing fast, less than a week (I'm in Spain, mem has been sent from the USA by USPS Priority International Mail).

I've scared a little when I noticed the mem sticks were not the ones I ordered: offered sticks were the Micron ones I mentioned above, but I got Quimonda ones instead, so I feared they wouldn't work.

I have just installed them and I'm writing this comment on my 4GB-upgraded MacBook, so they seem to work well. I have tried to reproduce the sleep issue, and my MB wakes up with no problem after putting it to sleep, closing the lid, for several minutes. Of course, I'll keep an eye on it.

Saluditos,

Ferrán.

FerryA1 wrote:
I have just installed them and I'm writing this comment on my 4GB-upgraded MacBook, so they seem to work well. I have tried to reproduce the sleep issue, and my MB wakes up with no problem after putting it to sleep, closing the lid, for several minutes. Of course, I'll keep an eye on it.

I can confirm these mem sticks seem to work fine. I left the MB sleeping with the lid close overnight, like 8 hours or so: no problems waking it up.

Saluditos,

Ferrán.