Bad Riser Card = send to shop?

Hey everyone,
I'm the (otherwise very happy) owner of a 2007 8-Core Mac Pro getting ECC errors from a specific DIMM on what I believe to be a bad riser card. I gave away the stock 1 GB RAM and am using 4x2GB sticks from TransIntl.com and installed on my machine since Day 1
When I spoke to someone at AppleCare, they told me that I had to send my machine in to an Apple Store (or Apple Authorized Service Center) since the riser card, at least according to the info she had in front of her, isn't a user-replaceable part. This was tough for me to believe, but I didn't want to argue unnecessarily.
So my question is: does Apple really not send replacement riser cards out to users? On a PowerMac G4 years ago, I was sent a replacement SuperDrive when mine went bad. I'd consider a riser card - especially on the beautifully designed Mac Pros - to be eminently easier to replace, so this doesn't make sense to me.
Since this is the first time I'm posting about this issue here on Apple Discussions: yes, I'm fairly certain my riser card is bad. I've done all the tests for this - swapped the RAM modules, swapped the riser cards between slots - and the same DIMM on the same card reports ECC errors after awhile (my machine is on 24/7).
Curious to hear experiences or opinions...

Once you replace the RAM yourself, you expose yourself to the possibility that the warranty won't be honored if you damage something in the process. Read the RAM installation instructions for your model in the Do-It-Yourself page of Apple's support website. All the disclaimers are there. If you sold the DIMM, unfortunately you have further eliminated any chance of discovering if the problem was the Transintl module or the riser card, unless you try yet another RAM card that is new from a renowned vendor. You are better off letting an authorized service center do the installation, because that way, they can document it for Apple that it was done by them. Regardless of what Apple says here, this is a user to user forum, and we can't really discuss policy. You'd best just take it up with Apple if you find two highly renouned vendors aren't able to give you a working RAM card in your machine*:
http://www.macmaps.com/badram.html
And in the future, never sell elements you replace yourself until you are certain the replacement part works.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.
Message was edited by: a brody

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Do i have a bad batch of ram or a bad riser card?

I recently took my mac pro 3.1 up to 16 gigs of ram in 8 2gb dimms. I had the dimm in riser b slot go bad and I replaced it. It took a few days to get a new dimm so took the dimm out slot 4 and put it into slot 2 and removed dimm 3 as well so that i had 12 gb to work with. When I put the replace ment dimm and the dimm out of slot 3 back in the dimm in slot 2 gave me a red LED. I moved it to slot 4 to try reseeting it but it still shows bad in slot 4. do you think I got a bad batch of ram or that my riser is killing the ram that I have? I dont want to have to keep replacing the tam if my mac is killing the ram.

I have a hard time following
DIMMs are always treated in pairs, and returned as such, no one replaces a single DIMM.
8 x 2GB with 4 on each Riser is fine.
You should have returned both A3 and A4 (you don't metion which Riser so I'll just use A).
There should be method to madness.
Try one set at a time. Or half. Or all on one Riser
Try swapping Riser A and B.
Apple Hardware Test is of help with Risers and 'mechanical' errors. To test software based errors.
Having a DIMM or set show as HALF their rated capacity is also a common problem with FBDIMMs, which should always be kept cool as possible and monitored, including increase of the system fans by 300-400 rpm.
As I said, Crucial, MacSales, Ramjet, Trans, they all want you to return the matching sets.
I don't think your Risers are killing your RAM. but maybe choice and handling and vendor.

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I have a Mac Pro 1,1 and have been experiencing some RAM problems. First, I had RAM sticks fail on the entire top riser card. I replaced all of it and have been fine up until now. Now, when I start up my machine, one pair of 2 GB sticks will register as 1 GB each. But if I restart, this sometimes goes away and the full capacity comes back to 2 GB each. How can I figure out if this is a Riser Card problem or a RAM issue? It's hard to believe the new RAM I just recieved a few months ago already went bad!
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Sometimes new RAM instantly fails.
Sometimes your computer case is too warm
Sometimes running SmcFancontrol 2.3+ @ 900 rpm as new default works to get more air flow
These are you are sure Mac Pro certified DIMMs.
Contact the seller.
Don't continue to use RAM that is 'sometimes' that is not ever normal (I have seen people with EVGA SR2 though that have RAM not show up but they are also playing with voltage and timing and experimenting more).

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franci75
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Update:
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I figured that it couldn't hurt to run the Apple Hardware Test -did that and restarted again. Was able to open Mail (AirPort was on) but then the AirPort connection disappeared and the pointer froze, but there was no kernel panic screen. I had to force quit -restarted again. This time I was able to use Mail, downloaded a song on iTunes, and was on the internet for about 45mins before the connection disappeared and the pointer froze again. I could force quit the app but with a frozen pointer I ended up having to force quit again.
I waited a while and then booted up again (without problem) but this time I was told that there was no Airport card present! Shut down and reran the Hardware Test (which said that AirPort 'Passed'). When I restarted AirPort was briefly there but disappeared when I opened AirPort Utility and at this point the pointer also froze. I did force quit to get out of the app and then there was a kernel panic. Is this now pretty conclusive that the AirPort card is the problem?
I would appreciate any feedback -I've had a very frustrating week with this.
Thanks.

MOVED: Riser Card for K8D Master-FT (Rackmount)

This topic has been moved to Server/workstation.
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http://www.mypccase.com/2u64rica.html
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Hello,
I need to get a new dimm riser card as one of mine seems to be faulty, can these be bought from apple?
I don't see anything on the apple online store, if i phone them could i order one? or go into town to the apple store & buy one? if not where is a recomended place to go please?
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Dimm riser A / Dimm 3
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Hi, thanks for the quick reply, i should have mentioned i live in the UK. Those 2 site are in America, does that matter or should i find a site in uk?
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Apple memory riser card for mac pro early 2008 820-2178 922-8492
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Model Identifier:          MacPro3,1
Processor Name:          Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed:          3 GHz
Number of Processors:          2
Total Number of Cores:          8
L2 Cache (per Processor):          12 MB
Memory:          12 GB
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deal with reliable place like DVWarehouse which has 1,1 part number but $70
Apple Memory Riser card for Mac Pro First Generation 922-7695 - NEW - $78
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Mac Pro Memory Riser

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webweave,
Welcome to the Apple discussions!
Generally, as discussed above, having 2 mount points for the same disk in the volumes folder won't prevent a successful backup. But in your case (#15!), that's a problem. More often than not, they are being created by Time Machine because you already have one or more instances of the Time Capsule disk mounted on your desktop. Ejecting the TC disk when it is not needed is the best way to avoid creating multiple mount points.
If you have any further questions, please post them in a new thread. You can refer back to this discussion with a link if necessary.
Cheers!

Bad Riser Card = send to shop?

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