Memory Upgrade

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Morning folks, something I'd like to pass on to maybe help someone else.

My system cam with two 4g modules in memory slot position 1 & 3, I added a 8g to position 2, what started happening was apps not working right, games locking up, rebooting automatically etc, so after doing some reading I pulled the two 4g out and put the 8g in position 1 and things worked great, so I put the two 4g in position 2 & 4 and for the past few days now everything still is working great. Being a mac newbie I didn't think that would matter but it did on my system. Hope this may help someone.

2017 Retina 5K 27", 3.4ghz intel i5
 
M

MBAmtloin

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are we enjoying the OSX world?
last year i ran a 2GB and installed a 8GB on the other slot on a mac mini 2012 and everything ran smooth, but that was Mojave, CS4 and itunes all feeding a samsung TV through an HDMI, when the "experts" harped against that RAM set up.
 
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KennyC
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I guess with just two slots you probably won't have an issue. What I did read was putting the larger module in position 1 makes apps run more efficient but I haven't tried to time it either.
 
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Kenny, what you originally did should have worked. Maybe one of the three got dislodged slightly when you put in the new, then all was made good when you moved it. Who knows? But theoretically, it doesn't matter much where the memory is installed. I've had mixed chipsets in just about all my Macs that let me do it.
 
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Jake, I would have thought the same but only having a mac for about a year now I'm still real green. I'm glad it worked though, I really didn't want to purchase another 8g just to have a matched pair.
 
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Just an update, issue of error rebooting back after a few weeks. I contacted OWC and they are sending me a replacement module and hopefully that should fix any further issues. Will report after new module is in for a while.
 
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When I added the 8gb module to the pair of 4gb things after a week or so started rebooting and issues with those free g5 games from the app store shutting down automatically. When I removed the 8gb and just used the pair of 4gb things were fine and when I just installed the single 8gb it seemed to work fine too. Of course I didn't live it like that for a real long time but I would think if the module was bad it should show up unless the were incompatible together but I've never seen that in win boxes.

Now my question is does it make sense that the 8gb working alone seemed to work fine that if it was bad it should show those same signs? Now I don't know if the games were actually the problem from the beginning either. Anyone ever experience or see something like this behavior?
 
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Could be the socket it went in was dusty/dirty/broken. That can create issues, no matter the size. Macs work with mixed products just fine. So if the two 4's work alone, and the 8 works alone but the three don't play together, it's most likely the socket that is the issue.

Try cleaning out the sockets with a blast of air, nothing else, to see if there is any dust in there. Also try moving the 4s and 8 around to different sockets to see if you can isolate the one causing trouble.
 
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Thanks Jake, right now the replacement module is in the same slot and appears to working ok. I was thinking of putting the questionable 8 module in the last empty slot to see what happens. I haven't sent it back yet so I thought it might be a good test.

I did try moving things around before to and issues came back.

To be honest I'm leaning to the free versions of those G5 games are causing the issue because that's when I have a problem it seems.
 
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Yep, give it a go. Can't hurt to try!
 

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You could try running the free RAM test and see if that brings up anything.
That would at least tell you if there is a problem with the RAM or connector itself.
 
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krs thanks for input. Are you using one on your mac that you recommend? I've become leary of just downloading apps.

When I open system information, memory under hardware status reads OK for all memory installed if that really tells much.

Right now I'm running mac with both 8g modules and both 4g modules for testing to see what happens if anything. Everything seems fine for now so I'll see.
 
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krs


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The Mac does a basic memory test when you first boot up.

But that doesn't find intermittent problems which you seem to have.

I use a program called Rember - maybe there are better ones, I haven't used Rember for quite a while (since I don't have RAM problems)

I would just run it overnight with many, many cycles to see if anything gets picked up.
 
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Thanks krs for the info and suggestion. Will look for that.
 
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When I try to run rember after downloading from kellycomputing.net I get a notice "rember.app" cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified and only options are move to trash or cancel. Getting late will see tomorrow but thanks for the help.
 

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When I try to run rember after downloading from kellycomputing.net I get a notice "rember.app" cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified and only options are move to trash or cancel. Getting late will see tomorrow but thanks for the help.

I assume you downloaded the app from the developer's website. That is your best bet to not get any malware.

Then....
You need to go to Preferences>Security&Privacy>General tab... and change the setting to allow apps downloaded from anywhere.
After you run the memory test, you should probably change the setting back to what it was.

I think once you allow the app to open that way, it will continue to do that in the future even if you set the security back to where it was.
 
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That message is from Gatekeeper, a security protocol from Apple. If you got the app from a trusted source (the developer site is the most trusted) then you can right click on the app, select Open and get a slightly different pop up box from Gatekeeper where you can opt to open the app despite Gatekeeper's warning. Once you allow the app to open, Gatekeeper will not ask again unless you reinstall it again.
 

krs


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........then you can right click on the app, select Open and get a slightly different pop up box from Gatekeeper where you can opt to open the app despite Gatekeeper's warning.

That is an easier way than what I posted, however last time I tried that in El Capitan it didn't work for me.
If it works-great, if not there is a fallback position.
 
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That is an easier way than what I posted, however last time I tried that in El Capitan it didn't work for me.
If it works-great, if not there is a fallback position.
Yes, I've noticed the same inconsistent behaviour with the right-click trick. It's a bit hit-and-miss - dunno why. I've found that persistence often triumphs, though: i.e. click away from the app's icon to de-select it, then go back in with the right-click. Sometimes it can take 2 or 3 goes before it'll work.
 
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Thanks folks and yes I now always go to developer site when downloading. Thanks for the tip about gatekeeper Jake. With all modules full things today seem as they should be but I'm still gonna try rember and will post.
 

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