3 or 4 RAM slots?

[mcjacksonnelson]

my machine is supposed to only have 3 RAM slots, but when i view my system profiler (see attached), it says there is a fourth, empty one. what is this and can i put more in it? thanks!

 

[bryphotoguy]

There are only three slots for RAM in the DA.

 

[mcjacksonnelson]

eh? not sure i understand. DA? what is that empty fourth one then?

 

[bryphotoguy]

There only three slots for RAM in your Mac. Maybe OS X is just reading something incorrectly. DA is Digital Audio. I assume that's what you're talking about because that's all I have to go off, what your Mac Specs in your profile says.

 

[mcjacksonnelson]

ah, yes you are correct sir. thanks.

 

[MikeM]

I don't know for certain, but it's possible that the Mac has solder points and logical controllers for a 4th DIMM slot but no installed socket. If that's the case, then it's a cost savings concept. When the system was made, MacOS couldn't see more then 1.5GB or RAM so the 4th slot could have been removed to prevent installing more RAM then it could see.

-MikeM

 

[harryb2448]

The fourth RAM slot was included in the models before the DA, the Gigabit Ethernet and Sawtooth. As bryphotoguy said, OS 9 could only recognize 1.5GB and three slots became the norm.

Maybe logic boards continued to have the fourth slot which was not connected but still show up in the System Profiler? The extra RAM was the major reason behind upgrading a Gigabit Ethernet rather than the DA/Quicksilver.

 

[bryphotoguy]

The fourth RAM slot was included in the models before the DA, the Gigabit Ethernet and Sawtooth. As bryphotoguy said, OS 9 could only recognize 1.5GB and three slots became the norm.

It was MikeM that said OS9 supported 1.5GB. I don't want to take credit for his post. What both of you are saying sounds right to me.

 

[harryb2448]

Apologies MikeM!

Must be that cat in the LC putting me off. Hide of the thing now if it was a dawg.............

 

[dtravis7]

What version of OSX do you have on that Digital Audio?

There is for sure 3 RAM slots on the DA and Quicksilver. The Yikes, Sawtooth and Gigabit had 4.

Here is my upgraded 667Mhz DA in 10.5.1. Shows that 4th slot. I have a feeling it's a carry over from the older G4 Powermacs. Probably the same memory controller.

 

[mcjacksonnelson]

im running 10.4.11. and am considering upgrading my processor so i can do up to 10.5. is that a very tough thing to do? i dont have a car, so this is my version of "getting under the hood" on the weekends.

 

[bryphotoguy]

http://www.macsales.com sells most of the processor upgrades for your Mac. They're one of my favorite Mac retailers.

 

[mcjacksonnelson]

awesome. thanks.

 

[harryb2448]

Second that. I installed a 1.3GHz Mercury Extreme from OWC, or macsales as the website is known, the service was tremendous. Apple Hardware Test had a bug with the first upgrade card, so OWC replaced it and air mail here to Australia no charge!

Run Leopard on my upgrade and it is very fast and rock steady.