Mac Mini RAM Problem

Hi to all!!
That's my (new) problem:
after an incredible reanimation of my "dead" Mac Mini (it wasn't turn on at all except the white LED at the front), now the system can't read the total amount of installed RAM Memory.
This Mini has installed 512MB in 2 banks of 256MB each. I'm sure of this because I opened the Mini and I seen this 2 banks. But:
- in Mac OS X, system recognizes only 256MB (and, in System Profiler, Bank #1 results empty)
- in Windows, system recognizes only 224MB and Intel Video Card see 32MB of video memory instead of 64MB
Other details:
- Apple Hardware Test DOESN'T reveals any problem!
- Windows memory diagnostics (from Windows Vista install DVD) also DOESN'T reveal any problem
- MemTest86 and another RAM tester reveals, at the opposite, RAM problems in several sectors.
This Mini has been previously repaired from an Apple Center for the same problem, and they have replaced both RAM banks. It's possible that, again, RAM banks has became faulty?? And, over all, that 2 faulty RAM banks DOESN'T cause any Kernel Panic or Windows 's BSOD???
If it can be usefully... also the built-in Wireless Card has stopped its work, in Windows and in Mac OS X: WiFi card is seen from the System but any WiFi Network is found....
Please help me!!
Thanks to all!

Your best bet is to get the RAM replaced by high quality to spec RAM*:
http://www.macmaps.com/badram.html
If the same RAM tests fail again, then you can likely suspect the RAM slots themselves were never repaired.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Similar Messages

My mac Mini has problem rendering images and video

THE PROBLEM:
My mac mini has problem rendering JPEG image. There are strips on the images. Other images such as GIF, PNG, TIFF, and BMP are displayed nicely.
The images shown in the links below illustrate the problem:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terencewong/71481156/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/terencewong/73360989/
(Please note that this image is grabbed from my faulty Mac Mini and saved into TIFF. For uploading purpose, I converted it into JPEG on ANOTHER computer.)
For movies, AVI can be playback without problem. But when it is converted to MPEG, it looks like an untunned TV channel.
FIXES TRIED:
I did erase and install 3 to 4 times using both the install disc and my Tiger Family Pack. All ended up with strips on the JPEG images and the generated MPEG movies.
I've also tried to flash the firmware to 113-xxxxx-124 using ATI's october 2005 universal ROM update, however, the ROM Revision shown in System Profiler is still 113-xxxxx-116 no matter how many time I reboot the system.
INVESTIGATION:
Yesterday, I did some research and got to know that JPEG and MPEG are using DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) for decompression. And the ATI Radeon 9200 chip provide such a transform on hardware basis, which free the CPU from doing something else. Feel free to point out my inaccuracy.
HARDWARE SPECIFICATION:
I bought the Mac Mini in the last Februray.
The system Boot ROM version is: 4.8.9f1
Display card is ATI Radeon 9200
Chipset Model: ATY,RV280
Revision ID: 0x0001
ROM Revision: 113-xxxxx-116
A POSSIBLE CONCLUSION:
I suspect that it is this part of the chip (the DCT) that is faulty.
Anyone know how to fix this problem?
Many thanks!

Assuming that your display is tightly connected, thus the problem is not caused by something as simple as that, the fact that a full erase and install has not removed the problem would, I think, point to this being a hardware issue, and given that everyone's mini (with the possible exception of some of the latest ones) has the same video chipset as yours, and do not suffer the problem that you appear to, it seems very likely that your mini has a fault which is in need of repair.
If you have an Apple Store nearby, I would take it there to have it checked out - at the very least they should be able to replicate your problem using an in-store display, and if not, thusly suggest it's something external to the mini and concerning your display or something very unusual in the immediate environment of the mini. If you don't have an Apple Store in reach, I'd take the system to an Apple authorized service provider since at the present time it is under warranty.

Mac Mini Mail Problem

Hi - I recently bought a Mac Mini so that I could have a desktop and a laptop (I'd been using the Titanium G4 as both) and I have been having trouble with the email on the Mini. Right off, I should say that the G4 had 768MB of RAM whereas my Mini only has 512MB. But the Mini is 1.5 GHz versus just 800 MHz for the G4. (I clearly don't know which of those matters more in a situation like this.)
Anyway, whenever someone sends me a large file now, it takes a dog's age to get it on the Mini. And while it's clearly downloading it in the background, it seems to ignore if I delete other emails, etc. For example, I might read 10 emails and delete them, and notice that I have wait for some attachment to download, and minimize mail in the interim. When I open it again, those same emails that I deleted are in my inbox again. Occasionally, I have gone to mac.com to delete files, and eventually my mail app notices this and deletes them as well, but clearly large files are causing a problem when they're sent to me.
It's not a bandwidth issue, as my G4 handled large attachments way better with the same Internet connection, and continues to do so while wirelessly connected to it. My guess is it's the RAM, but I really don't know. Do I need to go out and double the RAM on the Mini to make this stop?

Please follow these directions to delete the Mail "sandbox" folders. In OS X 10.9 there are two sandboxes, while in 10.8 there is only one. If you're running a version older than 10.8, this comment isn't applicable.
Back up all data.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu.* A Finder window should open with a folder named "com.apple.mail" selected. If it does, move the selected folder — not just its contents — to the Desktop. Leave the Finder window open for now.
Log out and log back in. Launch Mail and test. If the problem is resolved, you may have to recreate some of your Mail settings. You can then delete the folder you moved and close the Finder window. If you still have the problem, quit Mail again and put the folder back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place. Repeat with this line:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.MailServiceAgent
Caution: If you change any of the contents of the sandbox, but leave the folder itself in place, Mail may crash or not launch at all. Deleting the whole sandbox will cause it to be rebuilt automatically.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Mac mini ram error

I have an intel mac mini originally with 512mb ram and wanted to increase to 2gb, i purchased crucials ram, and since have a blank gray screen with a flashing icon of a folder with a "?" any ideas? I have reopened it up to check everything is ok, and it all appears connected

Memory problems are indicated with flashing lights and beeps, since your Mini did neither, I don't think the memory installation was bad, rather the seating of the drive tray. You get the flashing ? sign when the machine can't access an operating system - generally due to Hard drive failure or corruption. Since I have no idea how much experience you've had with opening and upgrading the Mini, I'm going to suggest that the drive tray is not seated properly into it's tab on the mainboard. It is, of course, possible that you had a coincidental drive failure, but much more likely that the drive trays are not seated properly into the aforementioned slot.

Mac Mini Ram Upgrade Help!

Hey Apple Users
Just bought my first Mac computer about 7 months ago, The minimac. Now this little monster is fast still for only 1gb of ram, and i'm running all high end Adobe softwear that requires 2 gb or more on regular computers, but she started to lag alittle using Adobe Premiere Pro cs4, so i decided to buy 4 gb of ram from ebay(brand New). I got the ram took my mini apart, did everything proper, destaticed myself etc and installed the 2 ram chips. after i went to boot up I got 1 Beep and a light every 10 secs maybe? So first thing i thought the ram was defective, So i tested the ram with my 1 gb in one slot and a 2 gb in the other and she booted fine and showed 3 gb ram. I tested the other 2 gb as well and worked fine. Don't understand why they wouldn't work together. So i said *** i'll just use 3gb instead and have a back up if the other 2 gb fails. Now after 2 hours of using my computer she froze solid, so i restarted and then i got a grey screen, 3 lights/3beeps. This means ram not recongized as far as i'v learned I may be wrong, so now i'm back with just my 1 gb in my comp running fine. Any ideas what could be the problem here?

Well, i'm In university for Graphic Design and they gave me this Minimac, brand new as a part of my Tuition. I started school in September so it's a few months old. Is there away I could figure information like this out by using About this Mac, under finder?
Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: Macmini3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MM31.0081.B06
SMC Version (system): 1.35f0
Serial Number (system): YM9310G219X
Hardware UUID: 19690D00-9F52-5936-8C1F-770F821426FB
System Version: Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L31a)
Memory Slots:
ECC: Disabled
BANK 0/DIMM0:
Size: 1 GB
Type: DDR3
Speed: 1067 MHz
Status: OK
Manufacturer: 0x80CE
Part Number: 0x4D34373142323837334548312D4346382020
Serial Number: 0x82C2001F
BANK 1/DIMM0:
Size: Empty
Type: Empty
Speed: Empty
Status: Empty
Manufacturer: Empty
Part Number: Empty
Serial Number: Empty
I don't know if any of this helps?

Upgrading Mac Mini Ram

i have a 1.66 ghz core due mac mini with 512 mb of ram. i want to upgrade to 2gb.
does the mac mini have 2 slots for ram and if so, what kind does it take?
is it still hard to open, do you still have to do it with a sharpened putty knife or have they changed that with the core duo's

Hello,
****, im no pro and i dont want to mess anything up
trying this. i also dont wanna pay through the roof
for mac ram
I can appreciate that.
any suggestions?
I would first find out if you have any Apple Authorized Service Providers in your area that are not actually owned by Apple.
Then, ask them if they will install memory modules that you supply. If so, then see what they would charge for the service.
If they say no, ask them how much they charge for their memory.
A lot of Mac Mini CoreSolo and Duo owners have complained of problems resulting from servicing the machines themselves. There are so many parts that you have to move and remove, that you need to be exactly sure of what you are doing when you put it back together.
So, if you are not comfortable doing it yourself, see if you can buy cheaper memory elsewhere and pay an Authorized Service Provider to install it. Many of them will do it if you pay for their time.
As for buying 3rd-party memory, I buy mine here:
http://www.macsales.com
I hope this helps.
Let us know if you have other questions.
P.S., if you'd like, go ahead and click the "Helpful" or "Solved" buttons on any of the posts / replies above if you feel they were helpful or adequately answered your question.

OSX 10.9 and Mac Mini Ram

My late 2009 Mac Mini Intel Duo Core 2.53 has slowed dramatically under 10.9.1.
What else is new, with 4 GB base Ram, it's probably Memory Challenged.
I'm thinking about expanding the Memory, and am starting to see 16 Gig options along woth the more common 8 Gig updates.
What's the Maximum Ram my Late 2009 Mini-Server can take to expand itls current 2X2 Gig DDR3 1067 chips....can I get it up to a safe, reliable 16 Gig or is a 2X4 expansion max?

I visited my local Apple store and checked out their latest offerings and spoe to them about my Mini Issues under Mavericks.
I was told downgrading OSX to an earlier release might be a solution, but I'd have to wipe my HD to install everything clean.
Since it's a dual HD System, I'm guessing I could move all the data, pix,music to one drive...and wipe the other///or since my "secondar drive" is basically just for back-up, wipe it, lay a new System OSX on it and use it as a newboot drive.
If I need to, that's a decent option.
Expanding Ram: Cheap enough, it's always nice to have a little extra headroom.
BUT the Mini's at the Apple Store were running Mavericks just fine with no delays, no problem. And when I checked their available Ram, they were running with 4GB just fine.
So I am still not sure my issues are all Ram-Related.
It's a 4+ year old System, seems to be working OK now, and as long as I don't run more than 2-3 full Apps, may still have some life left. I blew out a some logs and other files, found an attached external drive wasnt working right, unplouuged it, did some Disk Utility Permission/Verify runs on the Mini's Intyrenal Droves and the Icon Bouncing, Beach Balls have stopped. Hopefully it'll last. Ram is cheap enojugh, I might upgrade to 8 Gigs at some point too just to increase the headroom a bit.
Help/Advice Appreciated

Mac Mini RAM upgrade: failure after one week

my system:
Model Name:          Mac mini
Model Identifier:          Macmini5,2
Processor Name:          Intel Core i5
Processor Speed:          2.5 GHz
Number of Processors:          1
Total Number of Cores:          2
L2 Cache (per Core):          256 KB
L3 Cache:          3 MB
Memory:          4 GB
After severe performance problems with Aperture, I decided to go for an RAM upgrade to 2x4GB. Went to my (non-Apple) dealer, got me two DDR3 1333Mhz Samsung bricks and put them in. Worked like a chime. Startup went fine, RAM types shown in the Activity Monitor with plenty of free RAM and great performance... for a change.
After a week however my Mac froze. A restart gave me two beeps and a flashing light in front. Manual tells me 'wrong RAM type'. Same situation after replacing only one of the bricks.
A bit weird after a week of juicy operation?
Getting back the old RAM installed resulted in a working Mac - but with the limited memory obviously.
Will go back to the dealer and have the RAM replaced next week.
Ever heard about RAM failing after a well?
/thanks!

UPDATE:
right, I went back to my dealer and got the RAM sticks replaced. the miniMac booted up at the store and is now working fine again. Let's see for how long.
Size:          4 GB
Type:          DDR3
Speed:          1333 MHz
Status:          OK
Manufacturer:          0x80CE
Part Number:          0x4D34373142353237334348302D4348392020
Serial Number:          0x005001B9
I had checked the serial number and RAM chip IDs with the Samsung tool from their homepage. Looked just fine.
To my limited knowledge about Silicon production it would not be too easy to produce fake RAM sticks that
- are accepted by the HW check
- show the capacity as specified
- .. but fail after few days (haha!)
I will update you about the latest with this story.

2010 mac mini RAM error

I have a 2010 mac mini and it is displaying that I only have 1gb of ram, but it should display that I have 2gb. Please help!!

Do a proper shut down from the apple menu
Then flip the mini upside down and open the bottom cover
check and see if there are 2 ram DIMMs installed
if there are, I would take them out and swap their positions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5uvIBpTSaQ
Then do a pram zap by holding down these keys on power on:
COMMAND OPTION P R

New Mac Mini USB problem

I have a brand new Mac Mini (December, 2011, 10.7.2) as well as an older Mac Mini (circa 2005, 10.6.4).
I bought a new GearHead USB wireless mouse to go with the new mini.
The mouse works fine on the old Mini (and also on a Windows PC).
On the new Mini, the mouse works until the Mini hibernates or powers down. On wake-up, the mouse doesn't work until I unplug and replug the USB transmitter. This is the case on all USB ports on the Mini, as well as on the keyboard and monitor USB ports. It doesn't matter which port I use or which port I unplug and replug into - I always need to unplug and replug the transmitter to get it to work after power- or hibernate-cycle.
Note that I have also tried a Logitech USB wireless mouse and an Apple Bluetooth mouse and they both work fine on both the new Mini and the old Mini.
The problem is only occurs between the Gearhead brand USB mouse and New Mac Mini (10.7.2).
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Thank you for any help you can provide.

Hello,
I assume that the problem is that the mini is powering down the USB port and not refreshing it after power cycle,
To me it seems like when the usb is powered down the trnasmitter loses the signal with the mouse, i think your mini is perfectly fine, even though the mouse works fine on the old mini I think its how the transmitter handshakes with the new mouse on the new mac mini. Do you have a new mouse of the same brand that you can test and see if it has the same issue...
If so then it forsure the transmitter... not the mini... else take your mini in for health check.
good luck, let me know how u go...

Question about Mac Mini RAM Slots?

My dad is thinking about buying the 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo Mac Mini (MA607LL/A), and I was going to upgrade the RAM for him with a stick of 512 RAM from Crucial.
1. I can't find out online if the factory default Mac Mini ships with 2 sticks of 256 already in each slot, or if it ships with 1 stick of 512. Can someone please confirm this for me? I'm guessing it ships with two sticks of 256, one in each slot, but I'm looking for a confirmation on this.
2. Also, if I replace a stick of 256 with a new 512 stick, how much of a performance hit will he get if the ram isn't identical in pairs? We could just replace each stick with 512 if it's really worth it, but if the performance gain is minimal, then it may not be worth it.
Any help is appreciated, thanks.

hello mike,
Your best bet is to go the whole way, and put 2X 1G ram sticks in the machine. This will future-proof the machine, and also give the bset performance per buck. OsX really likes a lot of RAM.
As far as taking a performance hit by having mis-matched ram, i dont think its going to make a whole lot of difference. The performance decrease is very minimal. the same is true for macbook's FYI.
Cheers, hope it helps
Bryza

Mac mini Overscan problem

Hello, i just purchased a Mac mini and have connected it with DVI to HDMI onto my Panasonic plasma TV. The problem with this was if i turn overscan on the display is too big and is extended over the sides and some area isn't visble to me. If i turn overscan off there are black areas which is not covered around the sides of the screen. I have never had this with my PC connecting to this TV with HDMI DVI. But for some reason this problem is happneing to me right now...is there a Mac special software that can adjust the screen size so i can stretch the display around to manipulate it to a full screen size without anything being cut out or under cut in my display?

When you connected the PC and had no trouble with overscan, is there a way to capture the details of the timing involved? Because if you apply the same settings from the mini, there is no reason the TV shouldn't react to timing in the same way, meaning no overscan.

Mac Mini Audio Problem

Hi,
My Mac mini is only sending sound to one side of the headphone. I can get sound on the right but no sound on the left. I'm wondering if the sound card might need replacing ???
Any help would be appreciated.

Actually I'm trying to hook it up to my stereo so I was trouble shooting with the headset as I only get sound from one speaker. The Bose rep suggested I try a head phone to make sure the problem is coming from the mac mini. Is it possible to hook up to a stereo via a usb?(USB to Stereo input cables?) Also do you think that would help? I've tried new head phone to stereo cables between the two and same problem....

Mac Mini RAM issue

Hi all,
I've recently replaced my MBP with a late 2012 Mac Mini (2.5GHz i5). I migrated a Time Machine backup of the MBP straight on to the Mac Mini after unboxing and this worked a treat.
The Mac Mini has 4GB of RAM but seems to use half of it just sitting idle with no apps running. Is this normal? I had 4GB in the MBP but never experienced this kind of issue. For instance, I'm typing this into Firefox whilst listening to a podcast in iTunes and there's only 1.3GB of RAM free.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Thanks lllaass.
That makes sense but it's obvious to me that 4GB isn't going to be enough for anything more than light use, particularly if I open the likes of Photoshop. I've been using Memory Clean in an attempt to free up RAM when required but it never really makes available more than 2GB of the 4GB total.
I'm going to upgrade the Mac Mini gradually, starting with a RAM increase to 8GB (and possibly 16GB) and then an SSD replacement.

Mac Mini Burn Problem

Hello,
I have been trying to burn a CD using my Mac Mini, which has a built in SuperDrive, but cannot complete large capacity burns. It can burn 14MB worth of photos/videos, but cannot complete a video CD burn, made with Toast 7, or an hour and five minute in length Audio burn with iTunes. It is reporting the following errors, in order:
The drive reported an error:
Sense Key = MEDIUM ERROR
Sense Code = 0x0C
WRITE ERROR
and then:
The drive reported an error:
Sense Key = ILLEGAL REQUEST
Sense Code = 0x30, 0x05
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Thanks Very Much,
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I have DVD-RW discs from TDK, that I can burn no problem in my Mac mini, but cannot get the Power Mac to recognize when I'm trying to access files on them, keeps asking to initialize, even though the optical drive isn't a rewritable. I would like to replace the drive with a rewritable, what brand/model would work in OS 9?
In the past Pioneer drives have been a safe bet and are even bootable. However, check [Jeff's January 2010 post about re-branded Pioneer drives|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10839236#10839236] that are no longer really Pioneer manufactured.
You could start by looking at what's on www.macsales.com. I know you're in Oz but OWC is a good place for reference for Mac compatibility.

Mac Mini RAM Problem

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