Black screen late 2008 Macbook Pro - could it be caused by RAM?

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I have heard of problems caused by some types of Kensington RAM, especially low-end RAM, but I don't know if this is one of them. However, if the problem is gone with original Apple RAM and only there with the Kensington RAM, that does sound like the Kensington RAM may be the problem.

RAM usually has a lifetime warranty, so you should be able to return the Kensington RAM and see if you could purchase different RAM, possibly even a different brand. That would be the logical thing to try, especially if the Kensington RAM you bought was the least expensive option.

Good luck!

The screen distortion picture you posted does look more like a graphics chip issue to me. However, I am at a loss as to why it only occurs with the Kensington RAM. Since it does not occur with original Apple RAM and Apple has given the Mac a clean bill of health, I would be inclined to try to return the Kensington RAM and try another brand.

Incidentally, you can check out the health of your new Seagate drive with S.M.A.R.T. Utility:

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/32454

You can download the demo and run it several times for free. I don't think your drive is the problem, but you can verify that it isn't. S.M.A.R.T. Utility should show zero errors. My nearly 2 year old Fujitsu drive still shows zero errors.

Did you get a case number when you sent in your Mac? If not, you might ask for one. This just documents that the first occurrence of the problem happened under warranty. Problems can be intermittent, and it is possible that the problem will recur in the future. If it happens to recur after your warranty has run out, you would still have a shot at getting it fixed at no charge since it originally occurred under warranty and was not fixed. If you have just the one-year warranty, you might want to consider upgrading to 3 year Applecare before the 1 year warranty runs out.

In the meantime, try different RAM and hopefully all will be well.

Good luck!

Since you are under warranty, you should not have to pay anything. And if you can document with your case number that the problem originally occurred under warranty and was not fixed, Apple (at least in the US) will honor the warranty until the problem is fixed, even if the warranty expires in the meantime. So don't lose your case number.

Good luck, and Happy Computing!

That is truly an odd situation, and has to be very disappointing to anyone who wants to run 4 GB of RAM. I hope Apple can come up with a fix for this. My older MBP has no trouble with 4 GB of RAM, and it surprises me that a newer one would.

Thanks for the stars, although I think you deserve them since you solved your problem yourself in the end.

Happy Computing!