Lower Memory Missing
Posted on Friday, September 16th, 2005 at 1:26 am under Mac Geekery.
It’s official. I am one of the many affected by the Lower Memory Slot Failure on Powerbooks. My wife’s iBook feels faster than my Powerbook. How sad. I’m on the phone talking to an Apple representative right now. The Tech support lady said they are not aware of this being an issue and asked where have I heard about a possible class action lawsuit. I mentioned editkid.com and it’s near 500 signatures. I also pointed her to the class action lawsuit petition put by Lawyers and Settlements. Hopefully this will get them to do something about it since so far they are denying anything wrong to anyone who calls (unless u are under warranty of course). I’m still on hold on the phone. Listening to some cheesy music. Man, they should get an updated playlist. The polite lady is back. She said they have no record of this being an issue caused by the system software update. They want to charge me $50 to troubleshoot over the phone. Since I keep persisting, she’s now going to transfer me to a product specialist who will most likely say the same thing she did. I think they read from the same TelePrompTer. Ah, the beauty of tech support. This must be a higher level tech support because there is no cheesy music while I’m on hold. Instead I get a repeated “Please wait”. Ok, talked some a tech support that’s higher in the food change and guess what, he said the same thing. Gee, how surprising.
It turns out I am out of luck because I have no Apple Care on my Powerbook. I bought Apple Care but I had no idea I needed to buy it and register before my original warranty expired. Dah. So now I am left with the dilemma of what to do. Do i sell my Powerbook? Will anyone buy it now? I mean it works fine, it’s just at half the RAM! Or do I just get a 1 gig chip and wait hoping Apple makes a recall? Decisions, decisions. It doesn’t help that I want to trade in my 15″ for a 12″ Powerbook or that new Intel inside Macs are imminent either.
Technorati Tags: apple, powerbook, lower-memory-missing
Sep 16th, 2005 at 2:39 am
Ooh, tough decision.
I’d try and sell it, personally, and go for the 12″ that you (and I!) want. Failing that, bite the bullet and get yourself a 1GB DIMM.
This is all easy for me to say as it’s your money and not mine!
Sep 16th, 2005 at 3:12 am
Mine just stopped working too, about three days ago - I have Applecare, which you can buy on eBay for $100 cheaper than what Apple charges. My laptop has other issues as well, my hinges make a cracking sound when you move the screen back and forth (apparently they are too tight). The other thing that really gets to me is that the turn around time is going to be like 3 weeks, unless of course I purchase Apple PRO care (an additional $200), which gets me a much faster return. Anyway, both these issues are really common, and are essentially inherent design failures - the logic board is so hot, that it is just a matter of time before various components start failing…..I used to have 2 gigs, now just one - and it is NOT enough - Tiger is a resource hog !!!. Anyway, keep calling them everyday, scream at them, threaten to sue, and keep making noise - someone should make a law requiring manufacturers to be held accountable for their own design flaws.
Sep 16th, 2005 at 3:24 am
I have almost just experienced the same problem. Mine hasn’t failed completely but causing kernal crashing.
There better be a recall.
It clearly is a known problem, even the mac service shop here in nz told me so. (only resellers here)
Sep 16th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
That’s a bummer. I was totally depressed when my 15″ PowerBook decided to eat DVD-R’s for lunch and my lid would not close. Fortunately I was still under warranty. That was the day I bought the extended AppleCare for two more years of protection. I hope they help you. Good luck!
Sep 17th, 2005 at 12:10 am
I was going to say you should use Onyx to clean up your machine to speed it up, but honestly, I’m not sure how much it will help you being somewhat RAM-less. Back in April, I bought an inexpensive 1GB card linked from PriceWatch.com to a place in Whittier, and had it next day. At the time, it was $150, but it’s probably less now and you’re strictly aCrucial man. But that 12 inch PB option sounds good too.. BTW, I owe you a call. Peace.
Sep 17th, 2005 at 2:42 pm
My entire memory bank failed and now my powerbook is dead… no Apple Care. so i’ll have to spend like $700 for a new Powerbook. consider yourself lucky my friend.. get the 1gb chip. What’s up with apple and these faulty powerbooks? Thank God I still have my trusty PM G5.
Oct 2nd, 2005 at 2:32 am
I had this issue with my powerbook and apple acted like I was some sort of idiot and way off base. So I took my laptop to the “genius” bar at an apple store with some screw drivers in my pocket and showed them how the ram would crash or not be recognized. They suggested my ram was bad(that I just purchased from them) so I humoured them despite trying 3 off brand sticks previous to this visit. So they refunded that apple stick and grabbed me a new stick and offered to install it for some ridiculous price I said no thanks and flipped my mac over and started removing the cover as they got rather nervous of me opening the back cover. Installed the new ram and showed them yet again crashing and memory not being recognized. Finally they agreed to send my mac in(luckily still under warranty).
Oct 2nd, 2005 at 11:20 pm
You are not alone. I have a 12″ Powerbook that I purchased in June of 2005. A month ago, it began freezing constantly. I sent it in to Apple Care to be fixed. Ten days later, I got my computer back, turned it on, and nothing happened. It froze the first time I turned it on after getting it back from being fixed! So, I sent it back. Now, almost everything has been replaced inside, and it works. Or so I thought. Now, I only have 384 MB of memory when you look at ‘About this Mac’. Every restart confirms a failure of the memory. I should have 256 MB in the 2nd memory slot, so I’m assuming it only thinks that half of it is actually there. Furthermore, the fan runs constantly now as a result, and, of course, it is running much slower. I’m pretty pissed. I hate my computer. I have been without a computer now for almost a month, and I am a student. This is not acceptable.
Oct 23rd, 2005 at 2:24 pm
That sounds familiar! My beloved 15″ Powerbook locked up hard back in March 2005, almost 14 months old then. I subsequently rebooted it and it started up without it’s normal chime. Then I noticed that I did not have access to quite as much RAM as I had a few days ago, and System Profiler claims that my botton RAM slot is empty.
The screen flickers when typing on the keyboard and the system boots up very slow (this was even recognized by the Apple Genius when taking the Powerbook to the Apple Store in New York). My lower slot is apparently not broken as the Apple Genius tested both chips and confirmed a problem with the logic board. I was told that this is a known issue and have found numerous threads on Apple’s discussion forums. A few case numbers with similar issues are: R3350484, R3312665, D3875055, 46975803, 47015502, 43237673. In some instances the lower slot failed a second time and it sounds to me as if Apple does not have a fix for this issue, but simply puts in a new logic board that has the same potential issue. I would truly appreciate if Apple could look into this issue and acknowledge it as a manufacturing problem. Though I have Apple Care until end of 2006 I don’t want to experience the same problem after a couple of months. MacFixIt.com also covered the issue in length for a while. I still haven’t got it fixed though: because I won’t get a replacement, and Apple Europe states that I could have to wait for SIX WEEKS to get my Powerbook back.
By the wayt, the RAM was purchased from Tekserve in New York, an authorized Apple reseller for more than twenty years, and installed by their experienced staff. The chip is listed as compatible with the Powerbook G4 15’’ on Apple’s website and meets Apple’s specifications.
Best,
Jurgen Proschinger
- Gryphon Entertainment -
Jan 3rd, 2006 at 1:17 pm
My 1GHz 12″ pb has the issue after “updating” to 10.4.
Bummer…
Feb 22nd, 2007 at 8:54 am
I have an Aluminium 1.33 G4 Powerbook, and had this happen to me this week.
Computer works, just minus the lower memory slot. (although I do experience the screen flashing with strong vibration applied to the casing)
I have noticed it happened a couple of days after I made an update, but am unsure if this really is the problem. There is an alternitive theory, that the lower memory slot can malfunction due to prolonged Powerbook “carrying”…
holding the computer with one hand / in the corners, can “flex” the structure and in turn afect the logic board inside.
My PB is well outside of warranty now, which is a real pain. Will there be a problem with not addressing this issue? Could I get by using a 1gb stick in the remaining slot? Anyone had experience with that?
Jun 1st, 2008 at 6:14 am
I am also having the same issue, and my PB G4 falls outside of Apple’s arbitrarily selected serial number range for free repair.
I signed the petition and signed up for the class action. I also blogged about it extensively:
http://shaniacimac.blogspot.com/2008/06/powerbook-lower-ram-slot-failure.html
http://shaniacimac.blogspot.com/2008/06/apple-censors-can-stop-me.html