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iMac will only boot in safe mode after ram upgrade

I have a mid 2010 iMac 3.06GHz intel core i3 running Lion 10.7.5. I upgraded my ram from two 2gb chips to two 8Gb chips and now the computer will not boot unless in safe mode. If not in safe mode it will just get stuck on the grey screen with the apple. In safe mode I can check that both chips are recognized (it shows 16 gb of ram in 'about this Mac'). I have used the right specs on the new chips (new ones are g.skill ddr3-1333 pc3-10600/10666 8192MB CL9-9-9 So-Dimm). I have run disk verify (appears to be ok) and repaired permissions. Also reset pram. Any ideas? Much appreciated.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Jan 14, 2013 8:42 PM

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20 replies

Jan 14, 2013 9:13 PM in response to lindswah007

I'm just hoping that it will. Here are some other things to try:


Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)


Reinstall OS X:


Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive


Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.


Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.


When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Jan 14, 2013 9:23 PM in response to lindswah007

Is this your model:


http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-i3-3.06-21-inch-alumi num-mid-2010-specs.html


Take a look at this:


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3011


Note sure if this could have anything to do with your problem, but, according to note #2, your model will accept 2 or 4 GB RAM modules in each slot. You added 8 GB modules.


Additionally, there was a problem with late 2009/mid 2010 iMacs having problems with 16 GB of third party RAM; less than 16 GB was fine if using third party RAM or 16 GB using OEM RAM was fine as well. There were several threads regarding this problem; here is one of them:


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2567907


Most of the problems were with 27", but there were also 21" models involved. This may or may not have anything to do with your problem.

Jan 14, 2013 9:41 PM in response to lindswah007

Well, with four 4 GB, you're still at a total of 16 GB of third party RAM, but it's worth a shot. What's the brand you bought? iMacs are very particular, I only buy from either OWC (macsales.com) or Crucial. Both have lifetime warranties on their RAM.


I do a fair amount of video editing/rendering and graphics/photo editing and have been running my 2010 with a total of 12 GB RAM (2 x 2 GB OEM and 2 x 4 GB OWC RAM) because of the problems mentioned; it could use more (video rendering will take its' time no matter what), but I'm pleased in general. But, if you have 2 x 4 in there already, might as well try two more for a total of 16 - just make sure you can return it for a refund if needed.

Jan 14, 2013 9:52 PM in response to babowa

I bought G.Skill ram that is branded as Mac ram. It was from a shop that was actually reccomended by a person working at the Mac Store (I am from Australia). I could try using the original two 2GB chips that came with my mac along with two new 4GB chips for a total of 12GB (as you are doing). I can take the two 8GB chips back to the store for a refund.

iMac will only boot in safe mode after ram upgrade

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