Does RAM just go bad after FIVE YEARS?
I'm still using my ancient Rev A Titanium Powerbook (400 MHz). That's right. It's 5 years old.
And it works great. It feels just as fast as the 2 year-old Windows machines we have in the office.
Shortly after I bought the machine I upgraded it from the original 128MB RAM (!) to 640.
All of a sudden, last night, my PowerBook started hanging. No KP message. Just hang, with a frozen screen and no response from the keyboard or trackpad.
After 5 years!
Eventually (and after panic ordering a MacBook) I decided to try the RAM, so I removed my original Apple 128MB stick.
Well, believe it or not, that did the trick.
So what I want to know is, how can ram just fail one day, for no reason? Is there any way to keep this from happening again?
And it works great. It feels just as fast as the 2 year-old Windows machines we have in the office.
Shortly after I bought the machine I upgraded it from the original 128MB RAM (!) to 640.
All of a sudden, last night, my PowerBook started hanging. No KP message. Just hang, with a frozen screen and no response from the keyboard or trackpad.
After 5 years!
Eventually (and after panic ordering a MacBook) I decided to try the RAM, so I removed my original Apple 128MB stick.
Well, believe it or not, that did the trick.
So what I want to know is, how can ram just fail one day, for no reason? Is there any way to keep this from happening again?
Comments
No, I'm not kidding. Random chance hits from cosmic rays *destroy* RAM. The right hit on the right spot, and *fzzt*.
Another module went bad on me after it and the computer itself had been passed on to an eBay buyer. Fortunately for that guy, the warranty was still honored. I don't remember exactly how old that RAM was, but probably less than a year, as this happened during a phase of particularly fast buying/upgrading/eBaying I went through (it was either the Titanium PB I had owned for 9 months, or the one I'd owned for only 4 months, before eBaying it).
I haven't held on to many computers for as long as five years to have much experience there, but from the failures I have had, I'm wondering now about the wisdom of purchasing bargain-priced RAM.
Originally posted by me
I had the 1GB module I bought for my new 15" MBP go bad just a few days after installing it. Hopefully the replacement will arrive this week.
Follow up: I came home from work yesterday, happy to find my replacement RAM waiting for me. I opened up my computer, reached into the box that was shipped to me... huh? What's this? Two RAM modules?
Well, my bad 1 GB RAM module had indeed been replaced by another fresh, new 1 GB of RAM... in the form of two completely-useless-to-me 512 MB modules!
Ah, the joys of doing yet another cross-ship replacement.
good luck
Originally posted by tonton
So what I want to know is, how can ram just fail one day, for no reason? Is there any way to keep this from happening again?
Welcome to the world of solid state digital electronics. Working one moment, dead the next. No warning, no nothing. That's the way it is.
Really. There is no wear with solid state electronics so there is no set time limit or method to predict when they will fail. But eventually they will fail. It could be today, tomorrow or next century. No one knows. But certain things like static discharge can damage ICs making them fail sooner than later. That is why you should ground yourself when handling RAM and other components.
Originally posted by tonton
And my bright side is that I have a new MacBook, too, and the bad RAM sttick was the catalyst that finally made me go out and bite the bullet.
Hey Tonton!
I just now replaced my 5.5 year old Titanium 400MHz with a MacBook too (2.0Ghz white)! Even though the old PB was working pretty dang well for email and websurfing, iChat, iTunes, Office, and the occasional product with CS2 (thankfully i had 768MB RAM), the 45 minutes of battery life and no-longer-working DVD drive made me anxious to spring for a new model.
Add that to the ability to run Parallels Desktop for occasional windows access, and all the fun things I will be able to do with the increased processing power and features (take part in video and audio iChats, use the macbook for live-updating GPS maps and driving directions, audio recording and mixing, and get on the internet through my bluetooth phone from anywhere without plugging in a bluetooth dongle) and I'm a prety happy man, even though I do miss the aluminum stylings and feel of that first G4 keyboard.
-natec
Sorry this is a little out of place here mods but a quick question...
What software is available for GPS on a mac? I have the kit but couldn't find any software available!
What's the secret?
Originally posted by Maybejames
Natec,
Sorry this is a little out of place here mods but a quick question...
What software is available for GPS on a mac? I have the kit but couldn't find any software available!
What's the secret?
Hi Maybejames,
I am not aware of any Universal Binary software for GPS/Driving Directions for the mac at this time. There was some older software called Route 66, but reviews on Amazon.com and elsewhere were pretty bad for it.
I'm installing Parallels, and hoping that I can run Street Atlas or Microsoft Streets and Trips using it in virtualization...I haven't searched anywhere to see if it can be done with a USB-connected GPS, but I'm hopeful...if it won't work in virtualization, i wouldn't see why it wouldn't work fully booted into windows in BootCamp (and since GPS use in a car probably means you won't be using many/any other programs at the same time, the reboot might not be so bad?).
According to this link: http://www.macvroom.com/Garmin-Annou...t-for-Mac-OS-X
http://www.garmin.com/pressroom/corporate/011006.html
Garmin is planning on releasing their nRoute software for Mac (turn-by-turn, voice prompts, detailed maps, etc.) by the end of 2006.
Edit: one more link--
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...m/836005339731
-natec
Originally posted by Kickaha
Cosmic rays.
No, I'm not kidding. Random chance hits from cosmic rays *destroy* RAM. The right hit on the right spot, and *fzzt*.
I believe some computer cases contain shielding in the paint to help prevent possible damage caused by solar flares or whatever cosmic forces can zap ram.
http://www.lbl.gov/abc/cosmic/SKliew...ent/Design.htm
summary for the click-lazy: it takes 2m of solid iron to block cosmic rays.
Originally posted by Kickaha
summary for the click-lazy: it takes 2m of solid iron to block cosmic rays.
And even with that, all of those damned neutrinos keep pouring through!
Originally posted by Kickaha
They may advertise it as such, and they may even charge for it, but it's snake oil:
http://www.lbl.gov/abc/cosmic/SKliew...ent/Design.htm
summary for the click-lazy: it takes 2m of solid iron to block cosmic rays.
2m? I guess I need to cross-off the Mac mini from my list of purchases.
I used to always use ECC ram in my home built super systems, primarily due to my own silliness and curiosity as to whether it would ever be useful. Over the course of about 7 years I only had one ram error that I remember. I always wondered whether or not that error was cosmic-oriented.
And, as you say, EEC helps with that.
So the bottom line is: YES! RAM *can* just 'go bad' from various forces, including spaaaaaaace raaaaaaaaays.... NO! It's not that common.
I've seen more 'bad RAM' be because it wasn't seated properly in the socket (thermal expansion/contraction over time is a bitch), than actually go bad.
I've got a 10 year old computer here that just passed a mem test on its 11 year old RAM.
Anecdotal evidence FOREVAH!