powerbook and airport scanner. at DVinfo.net

Alfred Tomaszewski · June 5th, 2004, 11:24 PM

my friend has a powerbook g4 and put some third party ram in it before she went on a trip to Boston. The ram was installed right because when she went to "about this mac" it said that the new ram was installed (it said 512mb instead of the original factory installed 256mb). Both air ports refused a hand search on this (she brought it as a carry on). It worked when she got to Boston, but when she returned home from the airport the laptop wouldnt even turn on. She broght it to an apple store and they got the computer to turn on but wouldnt touch it because she had third party ram in it. The computer kept freezing and the "about this mac" only showed the original 256mb of ram. She didnt tell the store that it had been through an air port scanner twice and they blammed the ram and the hard drive, and told her to take the 3rd party ram out and send it to apple because the hard drive was messed up. My question is could the air port scanner have caused any of these problems?

Jeff Donald · June 6th, 2004, 05:03 AM

Very, very unlikely. I had an original 400 Ti PowerBook that was stolen recently, but it had probably been through airport scanners at least 50 times (post 9/11) with no ill effects.

Alfred Tomaszewski · June 6th, 2004, 06:24 AM

so it was probably just bad ram?

Jeff Donald · June 6th, 2004, 07:19 AM

Bad ram, or a little rough handling on the recent trip, or a defect in manufacture that has become apparent. Not all defects show up on the initial power up. It's almost impossible to know until a qualified technician has a look inside.

Ray Echevers · June 6th, 2004, 03:28 PM

Tell her to use proven third party ram.
Try www.crucial.com not any of the generic stuff.

Mark Sloan · June 9th, 2004, 02:23 PM

The newer versions of OSX are said to be much pickier about RAM. I was at the Apple store the other day to get an iPod fixed and this guy's 3rd party RAM worked fine for 3 months but was now causing the problems... (It could simply be how strict OSX is about timing to get better performance or something)

Jeff Donald · June 9th, 2004, 04:23 PM

There is a key board command to disable the ram test at start-up, just hold down the mouse. The computer will start without performing the test.

June 5th, 2004, 11:24 PM	#1
Alfred Tomaszewski Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Shelby Twp., MI Posts: 112	powerbook and airport scanner. my friend has a powerbook g4 and put some third party ram in it before she went on a trip to Boston. The ram was installed right because when she went to "about this mac" it said that the new ram was installed (it said 512mb instead of the original factory installed 256mb). Both air ports refused a hand search on this (she brought it as a carry on). It worked when she got to Boston, but when she returned home from the airport the laptop wouldnt even turn on. She broght it to an apple store and they got the computer to turn on but wouldnt touch it because she had third party ram in it. The computer kept freezing and the "about this mac" only showed the original 256mb of ram. She didnt tell the store that it had been through an air port scanner twice and they blammed the ram and the hard drive, and told her to take the 3rd party ram out and send it to apple because the hard drive was messed up. My question is could the air port scanner have caused any of these problems? __________________ Alfred Tomaszewski (Scrambled Visual Entertainment) Scrambled Visual

June 6th, 2004, 05:03 AM	#2
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Very, very unlikely. I had an original 400 Ti PowerBook that was stolen recently, but it had probably been through airport scanners at least 50 times (post 9/11) with no ill effects. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 6th, 2004, 06:24 AM	#3
Alfred Tomaszewski Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Shelby Twp., MI Posts: 112	so it was probably just bad ram? __________________ Alfred Tomaszewski (Scrambled Visual Entertainment) Scrambled Visual

June 6th, 2004, 07:19 AM	#4
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	Bad ram, or a little rough handling on the recent trip, or a defect in manufacture that has become apparent. Not all defects show up on the initial power up. It's almost impossible to know until a qualified technician has a look inside. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 6th, 2004, 03:28 PM	#5
Ray Echevers Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Somerville, MA Posts: 148	Tell her to use proven third party ram. Try www.crucial.com not any of the generic stuff. __________________ Sony VX-1000 G5 1.8 dual 91 Turbo MR2

June 9th, 2004, 02:23 PM	#6
Mark Sloan Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Venice, CA Posts: 346	The newer versions of OSX are said to be much pickier about RAM. I was at the Apple store the other day to get an iPod fixed and this guy's 3rd party RAM worked fine for 3 months but was now causing the problems... (It could simply be how strict OSX is about timing to get better performance or something)

June 9th, 2004, 04:23 PM	#7
Jeff Donald Warden Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 8,287	There is a key board command to disable the ram test at start-up, just hold down the mouse. The computer will start without performing the test. __________________ Jeff Donald Carpe Diem Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Where to Buy? From the best in the business: DVinfo.net sponsors