EddieJB

Q: powermac 8600 keeps freezing up, not enough RAM

How do I free up more RAM from the harddrive?

PowerMac, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier

Posted on Mar 18, 2014 3:32 PM

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Q: powermac 8600 keeps freezing up, not enough RAM

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  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Mar 18, 2014 3:35 PM in response to EddieJB
    Level 10 (270,928 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 18, 2014 3:35 PM in response to EddieJB

    There is no RAM on a hard drive. RAM refers to the installed memory. Free up memory by not running so many applications or install more RAM in the computer.

     

    If you need storage space on the hard drive, then delete files you no longer need or buy a larger hard drive.

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Mar 18, 2014 5:32 PM in response to EddieJB
    Level 8 (35,141 points)
    iPad
    Mar 18, 2014 5:32 PM in response to EddieJB

    Make sure the RAM is paired properly. Although the official word was that not pairing would only cause a little performance hit, I found several Macs of that generation and architecture that would crash or not start at all in the presence of unpaired RAM.

     

    You have eight slots in two banks of four. It he banks are A and B, and slots in each bank are numbered 1 through 4, you wnat this type of arrangement (sizes shown are just for an example):

     

    A1: 32MB          B1: 32MB

    A2: 32 MB         B2: 32MB

    A3: 16MB          B3:16MB

    A4: empty          B4: empty   

     

    It's also recommended to "cascade" the RAM modules by size; the largest modules go in the lower-numbered slots like I show in the example

  • by Appaloosa mac man,

    Appaloosa mac man Appaloosa mac man Mar 22, 2014 8:04 AM in response to EddieJB
    Level 5 (4,330 points)
    Mar 22, 2014 8:04 AM in response to EddieJB

    One more thing to consider.  What OS are you running.  Are you managing your memory allocation properly with the control panel?

  • by EddieJB,

    EddieJB EddieJB Mar 22, 2014 2:29 PM in response to Appaloosa mac man
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2014 2:29 PM in response to Appaloosa mac man

    Thanks.  I think you are on to something.  Unft I don't know what opperating system its running ( my brother has the computer and he is 7 hours away).  ITs the original OS that came with the computer back in 1997.  What simple steps in the control pannel gets me to reallocating memory?

    Ed

  • by EddieJB,

    EddieJB EddieJB Mar 22, 2014 2:30 PM in response to Allan Jones
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2014 2:30 PM in response to Allan Jones

    I did successfully install 128MB or additional RAM.  It helped a little.

    ed

    thanks

  • by Appaloosa mac man,

    Appaloosa mac man Appaloosa mac man Mar 22, 2014 3:57 PM in response to EddieJB
    Level 5 (4,330 points)
    Mar 22, 2014 3:57 PM in response to EddieJB

    Eddie,

     

    The original OS was 7.5.5 or 7.6.1.  The machine would benefit greatly from OS 8.1.  That was my all-time favorite OS on Legacy Macs.

     

    Go to the Apple in the top menu.  Select "About This Mac."  That should bring up a window that shows the information about memory allocation.  If the OS is hogging a lot of memory, report back.  If it is only taking a small percentage, then the OS is not the issue.

     

    Go back to the Apple.  Scroll down to control panels.  Select Memory and see what it says.