Installing Ram on iBook G4

[garyb]

As my iBook is starting to run slow I guess it is time to upgrade the RAM.
It was ordered from Apple with 512mb, does this mean it will have one empty slot?
Is Crucial the best place to order it from?
Can anyone remenber the link telling me how to fit it?
Thanks

[trashcanmonkey]

Yo,
the ibook only has one slot for extra ram, the extra you ordered when you got the computer may be filling it already, it was on mine.
In my opinion Crucial is good, quality and fast delivery... Orca is good too, its a little cheaper.
Its very easy to fit, the slot is under the keyboard.
2 latches on the keyboard next to the esc and F12 keys, pull these back to remove the keyboard.
if you have an airport card fitted then you will be able to see it now..
Unplug the card an place it on the side.
Next under the card is the ram shield. there are about 3 little screws to remove and it should slide right out.
under the shield is the Ram slot, which may or maynot be filled. the ram port is fool proof so don't worry about putting it in the wrong way round!
do all of the above backwards..
Hope this helps!

[garyb]

Thanks for that

[CAL3H]

Hi mate,
bit of advice: easy way to find out how many banks of RAM you have in your machine:

Click the apple logo top left,
click about this mac,
click More Info
This will launch the system profiler.

In the left hand pane, look for memory - the mac lists the two banks then in the main window - you can find out exactly which, if any, is in the second bank.

The first G4 iBooks and before had both banks occupied however later on they did what the G4 powerbooks did and had some soldered in and one free.

The profiler as described above is the easiest way to find out.

Final tip - dont forget to reconnect your lead to your Airport Extreme card (if you are using one) when you have put the memory and covering plate back!

hope that helps!

[garyb]

Nice one
Thanks for that.

[BroadbandPlacey]

just a quick question rather than starting a new thread, will any

1GB SO-DIMM DDR PC2700

work in an iBook G4 or are they a bit fussy?

[CAL3H]

just a quick question rather than starting a new thread, will any

1GB SO-DIMM DDR PC2700

work in an iBook G4 or are they a bit fussy?

I wouldn't guarantee it mate - it depends on the density of the memory - do you know how many banks of how much memory are on the stick you have there?

When I had my iBook G4, crucial sent the wrong stick - it had less memory chips on it (obviously each was a larger amount) and the mac crashed like an early version of Windows 98 I sent the memory back and they sent one with smaller quantities of memory on each chip with more chips - i guess that would be less dense memory. I think the CL timing was different also (although I could be wrong there).

The specification that crucial specify for the G4 is as follows:
DDR PC2700 • CL=2.5 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR333 • 2.5V • 128Meg x 64

2.5 volt

Hope thats of some help.

BTW what speed G4 iBook is it you want to use it with ?

If you head to crucial.com/uk and select your machine though the memory selector it will tell you the full spec. of the 1GB of RAM they would ship to you.

Cheers,