powermac g5 not recognising memory

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powermac g5 not recognising memory

hi, i have just bought my first second hand mac, its a powermac g5 with leopard (10.5.8) and i have noticed its freezing (spinning beachball) after waking from sleep, it is a 1.8 with 2gb of ram (4x256 and 2x512) so i decided to have a look on cruical to see what extra memory if any could be added and it said it could take up to 8gb, i had 1gb (2x512) of kingston ram hanging around from my old pc and so decided to put that in seeing it was the same, however when i went to install it i noticed that one of the memory cards was not slotted in properly, so i am hoping this will help with the freezing even thouigh it was registering it there, anyway i put the new memory in and started the mac and checked in the settings and it still showed as 2gb and the two slots were showing as empty, so i moved the memory around into different slots and it showed this in the settings but still showing the two slots that i put the new memory in as empty, can any one help as i am completely new to macs and am a bit lost now.

cheers

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Oct 23, 2011 7:06 AM

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Answer 1

wattywatts Author

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Oct 23, 2011 7:11 AM in response to wattywatts

just to add i have installed them in pairs and i do not have a install disk to check hardware etc.

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Answer 2

Oct 23, 2011 10:01 AM in response to wattywatts

Well, first obvious point usually made, pairs are arranged as follows:

4-3-2-1-1-2-3-4

reading top to bottom, or vice versa.

Also, Macs can be pretty picky about RAM modules, especially with respect to density and certain speed indications, even if the nominal type (i.e., PC3200) is correct.

The original manual for your machine can be found here:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/PowerMacG5_UserGuide.pdf

Detailed memory specs can be found at page 47.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

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Oct 23, 2011 10:13 AM in response to wattywatts

It does seem the PC RAM must be High density, which won't work in a Mac even if the other specs are right.

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Answer 4

wattywatts Author

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Oct 23, 2011 11:57 AM in response to old comm guy

ok many thanks both, is there anyway to tell which ram will be suitable as i could possibly swap these two sticks for others in other machines in the house, they are in the right slots ie.4321 btw.

thanks again

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Answer 5

BDAqua

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Oct 23, 2011 12:34 PM in response to wattywatts

It uses RAM like this...

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/3200DDR2GBP/

Also, make sure it's not ECC RAM.

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Answer 6

wattywatts Author

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Oct 23, 2011 12:41 PM in response to BDAqua

hmm thanks again for your reply, the ram i installed seems to have the same specs, maybe i will just try some others at random, dont think i will spend any money on this as its still freezing after waking from sleep, i think i was expecting too much from one of these after all i had heard lol

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Answer 7

BDAqua

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Oct 23, 2011 1:35 PM in response to wattywatts

Freezing while waking from sleep is usually a PCI card, USB, or Firewire problem.

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Answer 8

wattywatts Author

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Oct 23, 2011 1:44 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks, the only card is the graphics card, and the only usbs are keyboard and mouse, no firewires.

Cheers

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Answer 9

BDAqua

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Oct 23, 2011 2:08 PM in response to wattywatts

Well good, once we get the RAM thing straightened out, hopefully we can fix that freeze problem.

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Answer 10

wattywatts Author

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Oct 23, 2011 2:35 PM in response to BDAqua

Lol. Thank you for your time I do appreciate it, however I think I am at a loss with the ram, I have just tried another stick and that didn't work either, but that was just 1x1gb do I don't know whether that should have worked or if they have to be in pairs only. While searching the Internet though I did come across something that suggested the machine wouldn't recognise more than 2gb? Unfortunately the only other ram I have is ddr2. The ones I tried installing are Kingston kvr400x64c3a/512 and one of the ones already in there are Kingston kta-g5400/1g. If that helps at all. Thanks again

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Answer 11

BDAqua

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Oct 23, 2011 3:31 PM in response to wattywatts

G5s require Pairs of RAM.

If you don't know the model, find the Serial# & use it on one of these sites, but don't post the Serial# here...

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

How to find the serial number of your Apple hardware product...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1349

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Answer 12

wattywatts Author

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Oct 23, 2011 3:57 PM in response to BDAqua

this is the info i got from those sites, there doesnt seem to be any known problems

thanks

Name: PowerMac G5 (2003)

Model: g5

Group1: PowerMac

Group2: G5

Generation: 1

ModelCode: g5

Machine Model: PowerMac7,2

Model introduced: 2003

Production year: 2003

Production week: 40 (October)

Production number: 2732 (within this week)

introduced test: GOED

CPU speed: 1.8GHz

Family name: Become a pro user to see this information. (sorry)

Factory: YM (China (Hon Hai = Foxconn) Configured in Czech Republic?)

Uitbreidingen: Uitbreidingsmogelijkheden van dit apparaat

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Answer 13

BDAqua

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Oct 23, 2011 4:11 PM in response to wattywatts

OK RAM MUST be installed in matching pairs, as each stick is really half a stick so they could effectively double the Bus speed that way to 900 MHz.

More info on your model...

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/stats/powermac_g5_1.8.html

As OCG pointed out, the rAm must be installed in opposing pairs, 1 with 1, 2 with 2, 3 with 3, etc.

Max RAM is 8GB. 🙂

4-3-2-1*1-2-3-4

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Answer 14

Oct 23, 2011 5:18 PM in response to wattywatts

The "spinning ball" is something far different from freezing. If the machine freezes, nothing can "spin" or otherwise move at all.

The spinning ball is the computer telling you that it's doing something but it has no idea how long it's going to take, minutes, hours, days or longer So it's not "frozen".

As already noted, the memory has to be in pairs: 1+1, or 2+1+1+2, or 3+2+1+1+2+3, etc… Each pair must consist of two matching (identical) RAM modules, as from the same batch, etc.

…they are in the right slots ie.4321 btw…

That would be very wrong!

Incidentally, I never, ever let my Macs sleep. It causes nothing but grief. The monitors, yes; but the hard drives and CPU NEVER.

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Answer 15

wattywatts Author

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Oct 23, 2011 11:53 PM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

Ok thanks, the ram is in pairs as said, I only typed 4321 as I was typing on my phone and it was easier sorry I thought it would give the same idea. I really don't know what else I can do now, after typing in the model number of the new ram into google along with g5 I came across someone who already has this ram in theirs so it should be acceptable in the mac.

As for the freezing bit, sorry you are right it is the spinning ball, but it just spins continually and I have to hold the power button to shut down.

Thanks

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