retail SL install on AMD with 8GB ram freaks out in OS
 

I have been running Snow Leopard on my AMD for quite some time now, and just recently upgraded the motherboard. (got a deal on craigslist for an asus m2n-sli deluxe that came with 4GB (2x2GB) ram already on it, for 30 bucks, so i figured id upgrade). so after adding my old memory, im at 8GB. yay me.

however, if i let snow leopard boot with all 8 GB, it boots into the operating system, i get a message saying something about how the ram is in the proper slots, (DUH apple... or it wouldnt work... lol) and the system RECOGNIZES all 8GB, and does use it, if i open like, lets say, preferences or about this mac, its instantly open. it flies. but the system freaks out. internet not available (i use a wireless USB dongle with 3rd party software, the 3rd party software refuses to open, WoW refuses to open, Photoshop crashes, etc etc).

I have found the sweet spot by limiting it to 6GB of ram in the boot list. but, i guess im greedy and would like to use all 8 GB. I cannot boot with -X86_64, because as soon as i select the snow drive, the system reboots. im guessing its because the SSE3 instructions differ between Intel and AMD chips, and this chip is missing a couple "irrelevant" instructions not needed by windows, particularly in the 64bit instructions. if im wrong please tell me haha.

anyone have any ideas about this issue? at 6GB its totally usable and stable, but its kind of a waste having another 2GB that is just sitting there not being used. my system is below

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2.8GHz
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe motherboard
8GB Corsair DDR2 800MHz (4x2GB)
1GB XFX Geforce GT240 GDDR5 (picked up by graphicsenabler)
22" widescreen LCD on HDMI port
19" CRT on VGA port (without it I get horrible user interface lag with QE/CI)
Netgear WG111v3 USB wireless
Snow Leopard 10.6.6 (with Legacy Kernel 10.6.0) (500GB WD Caviar Black sata)
Windows 7 64bit home (250GB WD Caviar Blue sata)

I had a similar issue in 10.5 with the same chipset. Slashack's fix addressed the problem. Since I have not dabbled with 10.6 10.7 on my AMD rig, I could not confirm if it would work for you.

Please see this thread and you may be able to use that information to lead you to a solution. Post back if you are able to solve your problem.

See: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...owtopic=127611

Thanks, I will check that whenever I hook the AMD up again. I came across a deal for a Powermac G5 2GHz Dual Core for 30 bucks, guy thought it was broken. So I've been using this, and the AMD is in the closet, waiting for me to decide to play a game.

That was great deal on that machine. You can max the ram out for cheap.

I have been waiting for a good deal on one of those for just the case.

i just checked the price on craigslist... for a broken one that doesnt start, its still over 100. which is RIDICULOUS.

to change subject a little bit, i put 800MHz DDR2 from my hackintosh into this, and its reading it, and it has a total of 4.5GB of memory. is there a chance of screwing it up or frying the memory? or is the memory just underclocking itself to run at 533MHz?

All memory banks always work only as fast as the slowest one installed. It'll just run at 533Mhz, it's fine.