09-03-2008, 05:48 PM

I'm having crazy kernel panics on my 1GHz iMac G4, every 15 mins or so. There was a power outage and it wouldn't boot up (stuck on gray screen) so the MacGenius wiped my hard drive and reloaded 10.3.5 (yeah I had 10.3.9 - old stuff). Before the MacGenius got to it, the Hardware extended test showed no memory failures, but now the Hardware test shows: memory error detected, 2 MEM/1/4: DIMM0/J22.

I can't get the software update to run, but the kernel panics happened when I had the latest updates (for the 10.3), so I don't think thats the issue (but another issue).

I have had the computer open before so I'm comfortable with crackin it open, but if I were to pull one of the ram cards, which one is DIMM0 ? Is there a way to tell?

Is the ram bad? Is this causing my kernel panics?

09-03-2008, 06:03 PM

how long have you had the new ram

Is the ram securely seated?

THere should be some tiny white lettering on the motherboard telling which bank is zero

take the zero ram out and run the mac to see if it is OK

put it back in and see if the panics re-appear

09-03-2008, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by louishen

how long have you had the new ram

Is the ram securely seated?

THere should be some tiny white lettering on the motherboard telling which bank is zero

take the zero ram out and run the mac to see if it is OK

put it back in and see if the panics re-appear

Ram is original, came with the machine maybe 3.5 yrs ago, or so. But when I first had the panics (before it refused to boot up and I took it to the GeniusBar) I had unseated the ram before, so I'll check it.

THANKS

09-04-2008, 01:15 PM

Well there were no markings to tell which RAM was which. Turns out, the DIMM0 is the one that is easily accessible by removing the base access panel per the User's Guide. I pulled it and HURRAY! No more kernel panics. Prob fixed - but tooo slow with just 512MB.

This RAM stick is the same size & specs as my iBook ram so I pulled that stick out (also 512 MB) and replaced the bad one. The iMac can only handle 2 512 sticks but I can get a new 1GB stick for my G4 iBook, and its only $8 different in price (on crucial dot com - recommended by Genius Bar dude).

Hey, btw the other iMac stick of RAM is also easy to access on this machine. You just have to pull the bottom off the machine with 4 larger bolts that require a T15 star tool (any1 who has a jeep, has these). These bolts are visible after you have the airport card / extra ram slot access panel off. The bottom of the machine comes off, no tricks. Good to clean the dust bunnies out! Whew, there were tons of em! This RAM stick is different shape/size and luckily mine was fine.

THANKS FOR THE HELP FOLKS!