upgrading ram isn’t working for me

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Level 1

8 points

upgrading ram isn’t working for me

Hey all,

I have a MBP mid 2009, 2.26ghz. It came stock with 2gb but was running really slow with latest Yosemite so I bought crucial ‘8 gig kit’ (2-4gb DDR3 PC3), 4 gb for each of the two slots. One of the 4 gb cards is working as long as I leave one of the original 2GB cards, bumping me up to a much quicker 6gb. It’s not a bad card, because the other 4gb card works when I swap them out. I’ve tried every scenario, swapping cards in each of the slots to see if it was some weird glitch, to no avail. 2x2 (original works….slowly), 4x2 works, 2x4 works, but 4x4 does not work, the Macbook Pro just beeps over and over. Side note, in the past when i clicked to check the memory, it said I had 2GB (and one slot was vacant). But when I opened up the computer for the first time in my life, both slots were being used by a 2 gb card in each. Weird. Again, both slots work, because I have a 2gb in one and a 4gb in the other. I want both slots with 4gb. Please advise. thanks!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2009), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 5, 2015 11:08 PM

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Answer 1

my ginger

Level 5

4,904 points

Mar 6, 2015 10:59 AM in response to stuffing

Does your MBP recognize both memory cards as installed? As for the 2 4gb memory sticks , do they both work as long as they are not used together. Where did you buy the memory from? Are they PC8500 DDR-3 1066MHZ. SO-DIM 204 pin? This is what is called for.

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Answer 2

stuffing Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 6, 2015 6:14 PM in response to my ginger

Yes, the MBP recognizes each 4gb cards (one at a time) when used in tandem with one of the old 2gb cards. Yes, they both work as long as not used together. I purchased Crucial 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3 - 12800) CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Notebook Memory Modules CT2KIT51264BF160B . 12800, as opposed to 8500, but is that really the reason it wouldn’t work? thanks for your time.

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Answer 3

Mar 6, 2015 6:19 PM in response to stuffing

That is definitively incorrect RAM for that model. You need RAM with specs as shown by my ginger above. The Crucial brand is highly recommended, but it needs to be the correct spec.

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Answer 4

my ginger

Level 5

4,904 points

Mar 6, 2015 6:23 PM in response to stuffing

Could be. Mac book memory is picky. I had a miss match memory on an older macbook. It would work as long as only one was in. here is from mac sales with the memory called for on 2008 thru 2010 macbook pro. http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/8566DDR3S8GP/

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Answer 5

stuffing Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 6, 2015 7:24 PM in response to my ginger

thanks to both of you. Very interesting that one of them works. reading: 6gb of ram. It’s noticeably faster as it is, but I’ll go ahead and buy the 8500 to hopefully have the full 8gb of ram. thanks again.

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Answer 6

stuffing Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 16, 2015 12:15 AM in response to my ginger

My Ginger and Steadman1:

To tie a bow, I got the ‘older’ version 8500 and they work perfectly and very fast. It’s like I have a new computer. The cpu recognizes each of the 4 gb cards. The 12800 version I sent back. This is the first time I have ever opened any computer and it was really simple. Thanks again for all your help.

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Answer 7

Mar 16, 2015 3:17 AM in response to stuffing

You are welcome.

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