New Powerbook problems - RAM/logic board

n0den0de
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have one of the 1st delivered new 15" Powerbooks. Immediatly on receipt I installed a 2nd 1GB stick of Crucial RAM. It has worked great until a few days ago when the battery life indicator decided that after charging all day (showed 100%) that the battery was empty when I unplugged it... I rebooted the machine and everything was normal, except a little slow.



Today I finally had the time to look into why things were slow. I did all of the usual mainenance but nothing worked. Looking at the system profiler I realized it only showed 1GB of RAM installed. The details showed the lower slot empty (the lower one is the closest to the logic board). I pulled both sticks, swapped positions same result. I installed just one in the upper slot, it showed OK; swapped with the 2nd stick, OK as well. So neither stick is bad but the lower DIMM slot is not functional.



I have read in older posts elsewhere about a similar logic board problems with older models...anyone else having problems?



Also, my system works OK, but slow, and I am at a time when I cannot do without my system for even a couple of days, anyone know how long it will take to get it fixed?



Thanks for the input.



James

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    ibook911ibook911 Posts: 607member
    James, are you going to send it in? If so, call them and get the pick-up box coming. You'd probably get it back the same week, if it went out on a Monday, for example. Of course, you never know for sure, but Apple is very quick on the notebook repairs.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    wilcowilco Posts: 985member
    I bought a 15" 1.5 Ghz PowerBook a couple of weeks ago from MacMall. As part of their promotion, they threw in additional RAM.



    Right out of the box, the thing would crash 8-9 times a day. I ran the hardware test, which didn't find any problems. Reformatted the drive, reinstalled OSX, etc. Problems persisted.



    Took it back to their outlet in Santa Monica, and they swapped out the RAM. The problems continued. Swapped the RAM again, but now one of the slots wasn't recognizing the RAM. At that point, MacMall decided that the logic board needed to be replaced. Even though the computer was less than a couple of weeks old, they refused to replace it. I had to send it back to MacMall in TN so they could assess the situation. That was a week ago.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    n0den0de Posts: 6member
    At this point I really cannot without it for a full week. so I might just have to make due. I guess I could carry my mini + 19" lcd everywhere but then I would really look like a geek



    James
  • Reply 4 of 6
    fallenfromthetreefallenfromthetree Posts: 338member
    I know that most people have no trouble at all with their purchases.

    Unfortunately, these kind of reports seem to indicate that the best way to insure your system is trouble free is to purchase your system at the nearest Apple Store and insist that they boot up and test your system

    before you leave the store.



    Then, if you are installing 3rd party RAM, I would try to do so

    before your 14 day no questions return policy has expired.



    You should always make sure that your RAM cards are firmly seated, but also be very careful not to use so much pressure that you risk

    cracking the logic board.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    n0den0de Posts: 6member
    All good points, but given the posts I have now found on Apple's own support>forum none of the above really apply. Most users complaining about this problem don't have an issue until months down the line, quite a few were units which had problems with the BTO RAM. I only counted 1 on their board which occured in under 2 weeks, there were easily 100 that happened between 8 and 14 months.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    n0den0de Posts: 6member
    Out of curiosity, what is the firmware version number for anyone else out there with a 1.67 G4 15"? It is under System Profiler, Hardware section (1st section w/arrow next to it.
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