DeathLace Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 My in-laws were over for the holidays, and were complaining about their Macbook running slow. It is old (late 2008 13" unibody model), but I know they can't afford to buy a new one, so I checked how much RAM it has, and thought, may as well try to upgrade the RAM from 2GB to 4GB, for $40. I showed them how easy it is (I've built computers for years) to swap out the RAM, as they thought it would be a big undertaking. I took it out, put it back in, and left it. This morning they went to turn it on (before I got the new RAM), and it just sits on the Mac version of the BSOD. It just sits on at the blue screen after the Mac startup chime happens. I said that I'll go get the new RAM, put it in, and try it first, and see if that'll fix it (big hope), obviously it didn't. They said they never turn off the mac/restart it, they just close the lid, so I don't know if this would have happened without me opening the RAM slots at all. Things I've tried: - Start in safe mode (doesn't attempt to, just sits at the BSOD) - Start in single user mode (doesn't attempt to, just sits at the BSOD) - Start in target disk mode (doesn't attempt to, just sits at the BSOD) - Hook it up to an external monitor (just sits at the BSOD) - I've reset the PRAM - I've reset the SMC It's running Leopard (10.5.5). I loaded it onto a USB (they don't have the original disk), and tried to start holding "C", to have it boot off of the USB stick, but it didn't do anything, just went to the BSOD. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Veteran Posted December 26, 2015 Veteran Share Posted December 26, 2015 Did you make sure that the RAM was reseated properly? It doesn't look like you replaced it from your post, only removed and replaced it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circaflex Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 (edited) Like Eric mentioned, I would reseat the ram to make sure that isnt the problem. Also, holding down C boots off the CD-Rom, you'll want to hold down option when booting to see a USB drive, and boot from it. Also, the unit was shut down and battery removed when you took the ram out the first time correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesseinsf Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 Well, since they never actually restarted it or turned it off you'll have to figure out a way to take the HDD out and back up everything. then you will need to reinstall the Mac OS. Now, you could also try to repair the disk using a Mac OK install disk and then Disk Utility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circaflex Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 36 minutes ago, jesseinsf said: Well, since they never actually restarted it or turned it off you'll have to figure out a way to take the HDD out and back up everything. then you will need to reinstall the Mac OS. Now, you could also try to repair the disk using a Mac OK install disk and then Disk Utility. What? To be honest, that doesn't make much sense to me. Going straight to a clean install isn't always the best solution, OP has yet to report back on a few things that were asked; but in no way should he go straight to a clean install. It could be something as simple as reseating the RAM again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesseinsf Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 3 hours ago, Circaflex said: What? To be honest, that doesn't make much sense to me. Going straight to a clean install isn't always the best solution, OP has yet to report back on a few things that were asked; but in no way should he go straight to a clean install. It could be something as simple as reseating the RAM again. That was just my personal preference. He can try my second option. and yes, resetting the RAM is another option. Now isn't there a setting to have a mac delete memory when rebooting instead of saving what was in memory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathLace Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 I know the RAM is installed properly as I get to the MAC boot Chime. When the RAM is removed, I get the single Beep signifying a hardware problem. This also happened before I removed any RAM the first time, I just opened it to show them where the RAM was and how you would take it out/replace it. I even went back to the original RAM to make sure it wasn't the new RAM causing the problem. I tried what @Circaflex suggested, but it just went to the blue screen again, ignoring to boot off the CD :(. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrynalyne Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 We should probably get past the notion of this being a bsod equivalent. The Apple equivalent is a kernel panic which is not happening. You are simply not loading past a certain point. I recommend an nvram reset. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathLace Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 Hey @adrynalyne, I've done a NVRAM (PRAM) reset already, it's the only startup shortcut that actually works. Unfortunately, it doesn't fix anything. P.S. I meant to call it "BSOD", just to bring some humour to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrynalyne Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 6 minutes ago, DeathLace said: Hey @adrynalyne, I've done a NVRAM (PRAM) reset already, it's the only startup shortcut that actually works. Unfortunately, it doesn't fix anything. P.S. I meant to call it "BSOD", just to bring some humour to it. SMC reset? https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathLace Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 @adrynalyne, done that too sadly :(. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrynalyne Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 (edited) 6 minutes ago, DeathLace said: @adrynalyne, done that too sadly :(. This? https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18789?locale=en_US edit: never mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeathLace Posted December 28, 2015 Author Share Posted December 28, 2015 Ended up with the display cable from the screen to the board being a little loose... sigh. Circaflex 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notuptome2004 Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 once you get it fixed if it is capable of running it i would try and get the latest OSX on there as it should run if it is a supported model if not the latest it will run so they got updated security and software compatibility Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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