Power pc G5 2004 dual 1.8 memory slot repair or re soldering help .

Hi I have a problem with my motherboard with slots one & two . I ran apple asd and the test told me its got a bad slot in them it also booted to 1 gig of ram for some reason . My last motherboard did about the same thing . I have a apple dual 1.8 processor a 2004 model . Its got 4 dims slots in if it helps you understand what Im talking about . well slots one and two are bad , but it I reboot it osx will see the ram as 2 gig of it . So Im thinking its got a problem with some lose solder joints in slot 1&2 . Can I resolder those joints . I understand it got lead free solder in it thats why it not making contact very well after some time of use .I was told that lead solder is better for them . I hate to take it apart again just to repair the bad solder joint . If you know of anyone on this board that repaired the memory slot on the main motherboard let me know.

Replacing the solder is a lot (emphasis on "a lot") more difficult than reflowing the solder.
If you are asking here on how to do something that you intend to sell, then I dare say that your technical skills may be inadequate for the venture.
Needless to say, solder application by hand would require a high degree of skill.
It is not the lead free solder, per se, that is the issue.
It is the lead free solder of the era and the character that allows a brittleness to develop over time. This when combined with constant expansion and contraction causes the fractures in the solder and BGA that create the connection issues.
When it comes down to a "nothing to lose" proposition, a DIY repair (or attempt) for self use using the described methods is more than adequate.
One pro company that does reflows (Golytronic) does just that, reflow. They don't replace the solder.
They also use commercial ovens, and even then, things don't always work out.......
BTW, the multi heating cycle of the solder is that which helps to give "elasticity" to the solder.....
Just so that you understand me, I dare say that I have overly simplified a fairly technical process.
I DO NOT endorse this information for commercial purposes.

Similar Messages

About the PowerBook G4 Memory Slot Repair Extension

I was reading in the forum that many people have problems with the lower slot memory.
I am among these people too and as many of them my computer is a little bit older than those that are inside the program
my computer was bougth on may 2004 serial number W8418....
Since I think there are many people with the same problem, is there any way to ask to APPLE to extend the"slot repair extension program" also to the computers bought on 2004?
thanks in advance for your help

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
This is an oft discussed issue. You can try to sign the petition here:
http://lowermemoryslot.editkid.com/
Although given how long this issue has been going, I don't know if the person managing the petition is planning on submitting their petition anytime soon.
Your other option is sending Apple feedback here:
http://www.apple.com/contact/feedback.html
And contacting Apple corporate directly:
Apple
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
Don't expect any reaction. You can try zapping your PRAM and resetting your power manager, and possibly even replacing your clock battery which an authorized service technician can do. Also getting a new logic board either from AppleCare, or one of these resources may help:
http://www.dttservice.com/
http://www.powerbookresq.com/
http://www.microdocusa.com/
http://www.macspecialist.com/
http://www.techrestore.com/
Resetting the power manager is described here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
and the PRAM should only be done after verifying your clock battery is less than 4 years old (yours is, but others may not be). Here's how to reset the PRAM:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

Dual G5 2.0 Power Mac (June 2004) referb - booting problem

Hi all - my dual G5 2.0 Power Mac (June 2004) decided to rev its fans and boot no more. When I push the power button in front, the white light comes on while pushing it, then goes off, yet I hear the fans starting, the hard drive spinning etc. The key board isn't getting power (the caps light doesn't go on) and after a few minutes the fans rev like a jet engine...starting slow then gaining speed. I can't open the DVD from the key board (have tried all usb ports). Have also looked through this discussion area and tried many of the solutions provided (reset the PMU, unplug, try different outlets etc.) Any help would be appreciated. I do have Applecare but they are closed for the night.
Thanks for you help
Dual G5 2.0 (June 2004) referb from Apple Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Your OS is not loading and the fans default into a speed up mode.
Power up and hold down the mouse button, the cd tray will spit. Insert Tiger/install disk and power boot holding c. (note: use a wired keyboard/mouse directly to the machine and nothing else for now)
In the Installer, select Disk Utility from the menu>Repair disk/permissions. note any errors you see.
If you can't access the drive, it might be dead. I hope you backed up files.
All you need to do is get a new drive and reinstall Tiger etc.
If you can get a 6 pin firewire 400 cable to each Mac and t boot the problem Mac. the hard drive should appear on the other which you can recover files.
If the OS is fried you can do a archive and install too.

I have a Power Mac G4 (2004) and want to transfer all my files to a new MacBook Pro 15.4". Can this be done thru firewire cable or do I have to transfer to an external Firewire 800 hard drive first?

I have a Power Mac G4 (2004) and want to transfer all my files to a new MacBook Pro 15.4". Can this be done thru firewire cable or do I have to transfer to an external Firewire 800 hard drive first?

Do it with a Firewire cable (buy a 800/400 adapter if you need it) - the USB transfer takes a much longer time.
Start up your old PowerMac G4 holding down the "T" key, for target disk mode.
On your new MacBook Pro open "Migration Assistant" in your utilities folder.
Connect the 2 computers by firewire cable and follow the prompts in Migration Assistant.

3d card options for June 2004 Dual 2.0mhz G5: Redux

Hi! Back in March, I posted an inquiry in this archived thread and got some good responses...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=893370&tstart=0
Except that the recommended card I have since then waited and waited to order, without any sign of it ever being released! Is there now a better answer to this question, or perhaps does someone know anything else about this card's shipping delay? Original inquiry was:
Hi; I have a June 2004 Dual 2.0mhz G5, and I'd really like to upgrade its graphics card, to get the most I can out of the now-aging machine. I really have little idea what my options are, so I'm throwing myself on the expertise and advice of any here who may have a thought.
Currently it's got a Chipset Model: GeForce FX 5200 (64mb) on the 8x AGP bus. I know I have PCI slots, but my hunch is that I will get better options for the DVI out if I stick with AGP. I don't even know if a standard-issue AGP card for the PC will work. I don't know whether to try for ATI or nVidia (ATI looks like it only has 'special edition' cards for the Macs and I don't know that I trust the drivers). So I guess I'm looking for subjective, biased advice from someone who knows the lay of the land. I'd like to get as much RAM in the new card as I can. I use it for gaming, though I do some 3d work with program s such as SketchUp or ZBrush.
Sorry this is so vague. Any advice is appreciated, though.
Thanks,
Heath

Hm; if no word on that card [the ATI X800], does anyone have a recommended alternative?
- Heath

3d card options for June 2004 Dual 2.0mhz G5?

Hi; I have a June 2004 Dual 2.0mhz G5, and I'd really like to upgrade its graphics card, to get the most I can out of the now-aging machine. I really have little idea what my options are, so I'm throwing myself on the expertise and advice of any here who may have a thought.
Currently it's got a Chipset Model: GeForce FX 5200 (64mb) on the 8x AGP bus. I know I have PCI slots, but my hunch is that I will get better options for the DVI out if I stick with AGP. I don't even know if a standard-issue AGP card for the PC will work. I don't know whether to try for ATI or nVidia (ATI looks like it only has 'special edition' cards for the Macs and I don't know that I trust the drivers). So I guess I'm looking for subjective, biased advice from someone who knows the lay of the land. I'd like to get as much RAM in the new card as I can. I use it for gaming, though I do some 3d work with program s such as SketchUp or ZBrush.
Sorry this is so vague. Any advice is appreciated, though.
Thanks,
- Heath

Heath, not vague at all. AGP is your best option by far. That said I'll be honest and tell you that you're going to have a hard time finding one of the better cards. I'll rank the options from lowest to best.
1 Radeon 9800
2. nvidea 6800
3. Radeon X800 - the best
you need a mac specific card. I would stay away from flashed pc cards because of possible compatibility issues.
I would keep an eye on http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/video/hardware/ for cards. Be very careful if you decide to go the ebay route...many sellers are selling flashed pc cards.

Best graphics card for power mac g4 500 dual

I recently acquired a power mac g4 500 dual core processor, and i'm looking for an upgrade for the graphics card. I currently have the stock ATI rage 128 pro, and it doesn't seem to cut it very well, especially since I installed 10.5 leopard on it (hacked through open-firmware). I've been doing some research, and I've had a hard time finding the best upgrade. I'm not looking to really play any games or do anything graphics intensive, I just want all the basic tasks to be quicker. I'm looking for something that supports Quartz extreme, and possibly core image. Thanks.
-Aaron

Hi-
Leopard needs Core Image. The best card is the Radeon 9800 Pro Mac edition.

Power Supply for G4 Dual 1.42 MDD

I am needing a new power supply for my Dual 1.42 G4 MDD and need to know what models I can replace mine with.
Thanks

Hello! Try looking HERE. Tom

Powerbook Lower Memory Slot Issue, what are my options?

Hi there,
I have a Powerbook G4 1.5ghz that I purchased in October of 2004. I had no problems with it until after upgrading the RAM to 2 x 512mb chips and then installing Tiger which resulted in me later notcing the missing RAM and learning about the lower memory slot failure issue.
I find that sometimes if I remove the RAM and try and power it up and then replace the RAM again that the lower slot ocassionaly does come back. Trouble is though that the machine will either crash or I loose the other RAM slot when I have to shut it down. It seems to be so intermittent this way and I'm tired of constantly removing the RAM to fiddle about with it.
My serial number begins W8441, so it isn't covered by the returns programe. I would call Apple Support, but I am put off by a £35 charge just to have them discuss and diagnose the problem.
I'm in the UK and as I don't have Applecare and I'm not elgiable for the returns programe can anyone tell me what they charge for a logic board replacment? Looking at what they charge in the US, it's not cheap.
I use my Powebook for Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, After Effects mainly and I had been alright with 1gig when it was working.
I'm really trying to decide what the best thing to do is....
- Do I pay for the logic board replacement, which I'm not really sure I can afford right now, or to be without my machine... especially as I have read that it can just fail again.
- Should I just buy a 1gig stick for the upper slot and try and sell my old RAM, as that would be cheaper than getting the logic board replaced?
It's a real shame that Apple doesn't seem to want to ackowledge that this effects other users as I'd been so impressed with everything about Apple up until now.
Thanks for any advice.

(Browse down for findings and questions).
The notorious lower-memory-slot-bug has hit my finally too... I never believed it until now (and I've immediately signed the petition).
I am outside warranty and I never bought Applecare either.
Also my powerbook, a very dear machine to me, is a less common type to have this problem: a 1 GHz G4 15" FireWire 800 OS 10.3.9 type. Funny enough my older powerbook ( a G3 Bronze) is still running strong with no problems whatsoever.
My G4 15" also has the "white spots" problem and a dead superdrive... I cannot believe how many hardware problems I'm having with this machine in comparison to all my older macs - even my sluggish powerMac 7200/90 never gave me this many headaches...
Alright, I'll stop complaining for now.
I've been able to browse the internet on this and found the following statements:
The lower memory slot gets "fried" because of a OS 10.3.9 upgrade,
or possibly due to overheating when the powerbook is put on the users' lap,
or possibly due to picking the powerbook up by the corners so the metal gets bent.
+ I have only seen one case where someone's UPPER memory slot was defective.
The solution to this problem (replacing the logic board) didn't seem to be definate in many cases so I'm reluctant to try this myself (and I have very little money). The alternative (replacing the upper slot memory with a bigger type of RAM) seems a bit scary to me,
because I wonder:
-will the upper memory slot RAM get "fried" eventually as well after a while?
-do you need to have something installed in the lower slot or is it possible to just install one RAM card only?
-are there more people with a 1 GHz PB that have this problem? It seems it's mostly people with a 1,67 GHz that have been bitten by this bug and maybe that's why Apple decided to give the majority a free repair. I am not sure whether that is a common policy, I am part of the minority it seems.
As a solutions someone posted on a board that we should all buy KTA-PBG4333/1G RAM, but here in Dutch stores it is said this memory is only compatible with 17" powerbooks....
Does anyone know if it is suitable for 15" as well??
G4 Powerbook Mac OS X (10.3.9) 1 GHz G4 Powerbook FW800

Re: Memory slots on MSI 970 main board

It's 2x8gb Dual channel PC Memory Kit. by PNY. It's basically 2 sticks of 8GB that comes in one package.
DDR3 PC3-12800

Both possible, but the change to GEN2 worked perfectly. The system is happily running 2-WAY SLI with two TITAN X cards, feeding an ACER 4k2k G-sync Monitor. And I mean flawlessly. I would say I'm more inclined to believe that it is a BIOS problem. ...

Do I have a bad memory slot and what to do about it.

About 3 weeks ago when I came down to my computer, intel imac purchased may 2006, in the morning the screen was black and power button was lit, keyboard did not work and the computer would not wake up from sleep. Rebooted and the power light would come one, no chime or screen power up, and the keyboard would not respond (ie caps lock key would light up). Tried multiple reboots and pulling everything connected out but nothing worked. Next on the torubleshooting list was to remove the ram. With both chips removed, 1gb and 512mb, I would get the flashing powerlight when starting up. I placed back in the 512 chip which is in the slot furthest from the front and the same symptons of just a solid power light with nothing else was exhibited. Removed the chip and placed the 1gb chip back into the slot closest to the front of the computer, everything worked fine. Startup was normal etc. Next, I removed the 1gb chip and put it into the slot towards the back and it would not work, next, moved the 512 chip to the front and all is well. Therefore, I think I have a bad memory slot given the torubleshooting procedures. Is this a correct assumption?
Here are my questions:
1. Are there any software solutions that will tell if the memory slot is indeed bad?
2. Does this sound like a hardware issue or is there an update to the core system that would fix this problem?
3. In order to get this repaired, would I take the imac to the apple store?
4. The computer was purchased in May 2006, if I purchased an applecare protection plan, would that cover the repairs or does it need to be purchased within 90 days of the computer?
Thanks in advance.

I think that sounds like a firmware update gone bad. Apple page I found says: "In the rare case that your computer displays a black screen after start up, you will need to restore your computers firmware back to factory condition before you can apply firmware update."
Dont know, but sounds like it.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303364
may be worth a try.

Using 4 memory slots wile overclocking?

Anyone ever run into any problems overclocking wile having all 4 memory slots full in duel channel? I have heard it can't be done

Nope.
I have four sticks of Kingmax PC4000 ram, and they all run in dual-channel perfectly. They system runs quite stable at 245Mhz, but at 250Mhz (which is what the memory's rated at) it will reboot every now and then in games. I can't confirm whether it's the ram or not (probably not) but I hardly think it's an issue with 4 DIMMs being used.

Memory slots on Lenovo G560

How many RAM memory slots has G560? I have 3GB of ram, 2 modules,first of 2GB and second 1GB. But when I run CPU-Z program it shows me 2 more free slots for ram. I couldnt find in user manual any information about memory slots and my laptop is under warranty yet so I dont want to open it to check,but I want to know how many slots are really there. Does anybody know?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

standard memory: 2 gb (removable) or 4 gb (removable)
maximum memory: 4 gb using a 32-bit operating system / 8 gb using a 64-bit operating system
expansion: 2 sockets
cpu & chipset: intel core i3 intel hm55
mfgr's system p/n's: 0679-xxx

Memory Slot Utility "memory modules are installed in the recommended slots"

I've got two Mac Pros that give me this message. Every time I boot them up the Memory Slot Utility gives me the message that my memory modules are installed in the recommended slots.
This started after I installed an additional 8GB of RAM, bringing them up to 16GB. 8x2GB sticks.
I checked the login items and it's not there, so what else could I be missing?

I have this problem too on a Mac Pro Quad Early 2009.
Has 2x4GB + 2x1GB Runs fine with 10GB, but everytime I log in the memory utility pops up as if I have a problem.
How do I stop it annoying me?

Memory slots in PowerBook G4

I have a PowerBook G4 15" 1.25 GHz purchased almost three years ago. Mac OS running is 10.4.8. The Powerbook comes with 256MB RAM. Today I decided to install 1GB. When I opened the compartment on the bottom of the computer, I noticed both upper and lower slots populated with a 256MB memory module in each slot. The last time I checked 256 + 256 = 512MB. System Profiler keeps reporting 256MB both under the Hardware and Memory categories. While both slots are filled, System Profiler keeps reporting the lower slot EMPTY.
It turns out that the 1GB module I got must be defective because no matter which slot I put it in, my Mac won't recognize it or my Mac won't turn on. That a small area of gold has been rubbed off the underside of the pins of my 1GB module may indicate that the module is defective.
Upgrade aside, why isn't my Mac reporting 512MB with both 256MB modules in each slot?
Thanks.

Hi
You may want to repost in the PowerBook forum as you may get better help.
However, lower memory slot failure doesn't seem to be uncommon in some of the Aluminium PowerBooks. Apple offered a repair program although it didn't seem to cover the 1.25GHz model:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303173
The following link contains some more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_G4
It mentions the following:
Presently, Apple has started a Repair Extension Program for PowerBooks affected by the issue, for up to 2 years from the original date of purchase, even if the computer is out of warranty. However this repair program does not include the G4 PowerBook 1.25 Ghz model, which are affected by the same problem.
Hopefully someone in the PowerBook forum will be able to offer some more advice. It could be a different problem entirely though I guess. Have you tried swapping the 256MB DIMMs over just to make sure the problem is with the slot itself?

Power pc G5 2004 dual 1.8 memory slot repair or re soldering help .

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for