Why isn't my MacBook waking up?
August 7, 2012 5:58 AM   Subscribe

Upgraded MacBook Pro RAM, now having trouble getting it to boot up. It will not turn back on after being in sleep mode overnight, otherwise it has no issues turning back on after sleep mode.

I upgraded to 8GB of RAM a few weeks ago. It runs fine on the new RAM, it'll go to sleep and wake up without any issues, unless it's in sleep mode overnight. When I go to bed, I just close the MacBook and it'll go into sleep mode. This is where I'm having trouble: in the mornings it refuses to turn on. It'll just have a black screen and the little light indicating sleep mode doesn't work. I'll then have to turn it off manually by pressing the power button for a while, I'll turn it on, and it'll beep three times (indicating that there's something wrong with my RAM). I open it up (what a pain! At this point I just don't screw the cover back on), take the top RAM module out (the bottom one is fine, as it turns out), put it back in, turn the MacBook back on, works like a charm. It'll also be in sleep mode while I'm at work (which is around 10 hours, longer than how long it's in sleep mode overnight) and when I come back home it never has trouble waking up from sleep mode. It only happens overnight. What's the deal?

The other thing is, I can't get the top RAM module to "click". The bottom RAM module definitely clicks when I put it in, but the top one doesn't. Could this be a part of the problem?

This is a mid 2009 MacBook Pro with an expired warranty, still running Snow Leopard.
posted by carmel to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)
 
You may not be putting the RAM module in properly. I realize that might sound ridiculous given how many times you've done it, but when I upgraded my own MBP to 8GB I had to put in the top RAM module three times because it wasn't actually 'in' as much as I thought it was. I definitely remember mine clicking, although I have an early-2011 model. It might be different.

If you haven't already, I'd triple-check to ensure you're putting it in right, then try it with just one module in. If everything works fine, try it with just the other. That should tell you if there's a problem with one of the modules.

I'm afraid I can't offer any more advice than that, but hopefully someone else will know what the deal is with your specific issue with it sleeping overnight. Good luck!
posted by anaximander at 6:10 AM on August 7, 2012 [2 favorites]


Seconding that the RAM isn't seated properly. I had a ton of trouble with this; there's a trick to it even if there's nothing wrong with the seating in the Macbook.
posted by immlass at 9:07 AM on August 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Well then, anybody has any tips on making sure it sits properly? I can get the bottom one to click but not the top one. I push fairly hard but still no click. Any tips?
posted by carmel at 9:14 AM on August 7, 2012


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