#1 ·
I’ve been dragging this old rig around with a Core 2 Duo dual-core and 8GB of RAM (four 2GB sticks) for ages now. I haven't pulled the trigger on an upgrade yet because, honestly, it still runs perfectly fine.
So, I decided to grab some 4x4GB High Density modules from Amazon (supposedly compatible only with certain chips, but let's see), thinking everything would be smooth sailing. My motherboard has an Intel APU chipset (GA-MA78GM-S2H, rev.1.1, BIOS F5) and it's rated to support these modules.
I popped them in, hit the power, and after the initial memory check, it displays 16GB, 800MHz, 128-bit, and then—nothing. Just dead. Total silence. When I pull two of the modules out, macOS boots up just fine, but I'm stuck at 8GB. If I swap those two out for the other pair, it works perfectly again.
In both scenarios where I have half the RAM installed, the memory tests pass without a hitch.
But the second I try to run all four modules together? It dies. It hangs right after reporting the total memory capacity. This machine has been running on four 2GB sticks for nearly seven years without a single hiccup until now.
Does anyone have any bright ideas? I'm trying to avoid a BIOS flash if possible, mostly because I can't find a working floppy drive, and this stubborn BIOS refuses to accept anything other than a floppy disk.
I actually tested this on a buddy's computer—he's got a similar setup with an Intel APU, but it's an ASUS board. He was getting constant Blue Screens of Death because his original setup only had two slots filled (2x2GB), and the other two slots probably had oxidized contacts or something. One time the memory test passed, the next time it failed, so I just gave up on that one.
Can anyone give me a logical explanation for why this GA-MA78GM board is acting like this?
So, I decided to grab some 4x4GB High Density modules from Amazon (supposedly compatible only with certain chips, but let's see), thinking everything would be smooth sailing. My motherboard has an Intel APU chipset (GA-MA78GM-S2H, rev.1.1, BIOS F5) and it's rated to support these modules.
I popped them in, hit the power, and after the initial memory check, it displays 16GB, 800MHz, 128-bit, and then—nothing. Just dead. Total silence. When I pull two of the modules out, macOS boots up just fine, but I'm stuck at 8GB. If I swap those two out for the other pair, it works perfectly again.
In both scenarios where I have half the RAM installed, the memory tests pass without a hitch.
But the second I try to run all four modules together? It dies. It hangs right after reporting the total memory capacity. This machine has been running on four 2GB sticks for nearly seven years without a single hiccup until now.
Does anyone have any bright ideas? I'm trying to avoid a BIOS flash if possible, mostly because I can't find a working floppy drive, and this stubborn BIOS refuses to accept anything other than a floppy disk.
I actually tested this on a buddy's computer—he's got a similar setup with an Intel APU, but it's an ASUS board. He was getting constant Blue Screens of Death because his original setup only had two slots filled (2x2GB), and the other two slots probably had oxidized contacts or something. One time the memory test passed, the next time it failed, so I just gave up on that one.
Can anyone give me a logical explanation for why this GA-MA78GM board is acting like this?