MacBook Pro Upgrade Gone Wrong!

Ringiho

Ringiho

Ringiho

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Basingstoke, Hants
Afternoon guys,

I recently decided to upgrade my MacBook Pro to 8GB RAM and chuck in an SSD. Sadly everything has gone wrong and I'm fresh out of things to try and get it working again.

I swapped out the original RAM with 2x 4GB Crucial DIMMs, chucked in the SSD and booted a Lion install DVD to get going. The laptop kept crashing randomly while booting, assuming I'd done a dodgy burn I've tried a few more with no luck.

I removed the old RAM and re-tried, didn't boot from the DVD but booted into OS X from the original DVD.

I am now at the stage that with the original RAM & HDD the laptop doesn't boot into OS X. Running memtest+ shows 8GB RAM installed even though there is only 4GB. It promptly crashes when trying to access the RAM that doesn't exist but running it with the full 8GB proves to be fine.

I've just put the original HDD & RAM back in, OS X doesn't boot. Windows 7 boots and stays up for about 2 minutes before crashing, the Recovery Partition also fails to boot.

Any ideas? :confused:
 
Just done that, laptop is on a grey screen with the Apple logo. I'll leave it for a bit!

Edit: Nope, just sits at that screen now :(
 
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I'll try that shortly, just got it into safe mode now. Mac Rumours suggest doing a permissions verification so just running that: http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_doesn't_boot

I couldn't get it into the recovery mode earlier, just crashes. It's sure its got 8GB RAM still though, even though its only got 4GB installed. I've also taken this chance to make a USB Recovery disk for Lion!

Edit:

CMD + R doesn't do anything, it doesn't want to boot off of the USB recovery disk either :(

CMD + V gets this:

20120619_160646.jpg
 
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Silly question, what model is it? Guessing a 13" from the reflection of the keyboard, but what year?

You've zapped the PRAM, but have you done the SMC?
 
Its a 13" Late or Mid 2010 (can't remember which!), I've done the SMC as well. Guess I can try it again?

Trying to find my recovery disks but struggling at the moment :(

Edit: Scratch that! Just found them, not everything is going wrong quite yet :p

Edit2: Right, well the hardware test has crashed after 9 seconds on memory. That is with a mix of new and old RAM, guess its time to try one stick at a time.

Edit3:
Original DIMM1 - boots, crashes test. New DIMM1 - beeps, no display.
Original DIMM2 - boots, crashes test. New DIMM2 - quick test passes.

Booting OS X install DVD crashes after about 2 mins but don't get anything other than a loading screen.

Moar EDITS!:

Just noticed the RAM I bought from OcUK isn't what Crucial recommend for this model :-/
 
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Another silly question, did you disconnect the battery before removing the RAM?

Get the RAM sent back as incompatible and get the right stuff from Crucial.
 
magicroundabout said:
i ran the crucial men selector before buying mine for my pro. Wouldn't have thought it made a difference but it appears it does!!

can you send them back?
Click to expand...

Yeah I was surprised as well, you would have thought RAM was RAM really! Well I bought it from OcUK so I'll ask nicely and see what the outcome is :)

Doug said:
Another silly question, did you disconnect the battery before removing the RAM?

Get the RAM sent back as incompatible and get the right stuff from Crucial.
Click to expand...

I didn't disconnect the battery, I was using the iFixit guides and it was an optional step.

Last night, with one stick of 4GB RAM it completed the extended Apple Hardware Test. The laptop is damn sure that it has 2x 4GB DIMMs installed even though it doesn't. Looks like it need a 'reset' of some sort, disconnect the battery maybe?
 
Some good news! I've refitted the original RAM and done a PRAM & SMC reset. MacBook is now installing Snow Leopard! Hooray!

OcUK have also agreed to take back the RAM I ordered so I can order the correct stuff (Thanks for Bailey for that!)

Edit: spoke too soon, crashed during the install :(

Edit452214521: Still picking up 8GB when it isn't installed. I expect it is crashing when trying to access the RAM that doesn't exist.
 
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My thinking is that with the battery still connected there's the chance of a discharge through the RAM modules while you're manoeuvring them in and out of the sockets.

It's an optional step, but a sensible one.

Pulling the battery for a few minutes might be an idea, as it should properly reset the SMC and get those RAM modules properly identified.

I've just done mine (got the low voltage kit from Crucial (ordered monday night, shipped yesterday, arrived today :)) and was sure to disconnect the battery before touching anything. Everything went smoothly :)
 
It's also not very difficult to disconnect the battery connector from the logic board housing so highly recommended before you go touching components.

I'd suggest installing original memory and doing SMC reset.

What memory did you buy from OC'ers? Just out of interest so I can confirm the spec.
 
Doug said:
My thinking is that with the battery still connected there's the chance of a discharge through the RAM modules while you're manoeuvring them in and out of the sockets.

It's an optional step, but a sensible one.

Pulling the battery for a few minutes might be an idea, as it should properly reset the SMC and get those RAM modules properly identified.

I've just done mine (got the low voltage kit from Crucial (ordered monday night, shipped yesterday, arrived today :)) and was sure to disconnect the battery before touching anything. Everything went smoothly :)
Click to expand...

I've RMA'd the ones that I bought from OCUK and have ordered the correct set from Crucial! I did unplug the battery for a good 10 minutes yesterday and it still isn't working :(

Pazz said:
It's also not very difficult to disconnect the battery connector from the logic board housing so highly recommended before you go touching components.

I'd suggest installing original memory and doing SMC reset.

What memory did you buy from OC'ers? Just out of interest so I can confirm the spec.
Click to expand...

I've tried an SMC & PRAM reset with the original RAM installed, no change at all. This one really has me stumped.

Looks like waiting for the RAM from Crucial might be the best thing at the moment. At least if it detects 4GB DIMMs, they'll actually be 4GB DIMMs ;)
 
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