RAM not working

[Christopher]

Hey, I just got a Crucial PC133 512MB stick for my iBook G3 today and to my dismay, it will not let the iBook boot, I tried it in my Pismo as well but to no avail. I have tried reseating it, cleaning contacts..... Is it deemed dead?

 

[John8520]

How many chips does it have? You need low density 512mb sticks for them to work in pismos or early ibooks.

 

[Christopher]

By, looking at it online, it is not low density. $53, not well spent... But I'm sure I can get a refund.

 

[equill]

... $53, not well spent... But I'm sure I can get a refund.

Not if you bought it through eBay. To replace a working 128MB card, I bought an 8-chip 512MB Crucial RAM SO-DIMM of the correct specification (according to Crucial's website) for a 14" iBook G3/600MHz last August. The new card wasn't seen by the iBook. ASP saw the RAM slot as empty. Apple's Hardware Test CD reported:

DIMM1/J12 Bad Memory

PC133-322, SDRAM

CL3:7.5, CL2:10.0 Cycle (ns)

00-0

Rev. 0000, 00 00, 00

ie, with no data in the last two lines, in contrast with the existing 128MB DIMM:

2C-0, 8LSDT1664LHG-13383

Rev. 0300, 02 01, 08.

I told the seller of this on the day that the card arrived, and asked for an RMA number. I returned the card by registered post, and it was delivered in Hong Kong four weeks after I sent it. The seller had the effrontery to post feedback claiming to have made a refund, which never appeared in my PayPal account, the only avenue for him to make a refund. Neither eBay nor PayPal would get off their behinds to do anything about the matter, which still stands the same eight months later. So I have neither RAM nor refund. Fraud at least, and scarcely distinguishable from theft at best.

Cross your fingers and wish very hard for your refund or replacement.

de

 

[Christopher]

Not if you bought it through eBay.

No, I got it from a computer shop that I am going to apply at.

 

[Cory5412]

Local shops are pretty great at making sure you've got what you need when it comes to ram, especially if you come back within their return period. I once had to go through three different sticks to find a ram upgrade that'd work in an old Athlon700 I had, and the people at the shop were helpful the whole way through.

I kind of miss well-stocked, well-staffed, small computer shops that carry a good mixture of used and new stuff. They pretty much don't exist in Arizona. There's the occasional unfriendly guy who starts a computer shop and sells off his old crap along with stuff he buys on eBay or whatever, overpricing the whole way. But nothing really good.

 

[LCGuy]

Indeed, Cory. There's one small computer shop near where I live which is where I buy all my gear from, and refer all my customers to. They've only been going for a couple of years, but they're a great shop, the people there are nice and know what they're talking about, and don't treat you like a drop-kick, and unlike 99% of our local computer shops (including our ONLY AASP :-/ ), they're not as dodgy as your typical dodgy cheesy used car salesman