Decided to upgrade the RAM in my laptop while out shopping for other electronics. Two Kingston 2GB sticks – nothing special, but better than the stock 2×512MB in the machine.

First mistake was grabbing 2 x 2GB sticks, apparently 1st gen Intel MacBooks will only take 2GB maximum. Traded those for a pair of 1GB’s and thought everything would be easy. Swapped in the new sticks and pressed power and … nothing. The CD drive flexed and the ’sleep’ light flashed every half-second and that was it. No chime, no firmware screen, just black. After a while of searching – from my phone, no less, eventually found this post from three years ago that held the secret. The Apple KB article didn’t mention violence.

  1. Open the battery, ground off on the metal in the case
  2. Unscrew the 3 captive screws on the L-shaped plate.
  3. Lever the original RAM out. This may take a surprising amount of force.
  4. Handle by the edges (very important, by the way, for those who haven’t handled computer parts before)
  5. Place the new RAM in, notch to the left, and push in gently until it stops.
  6. Then… this was the uncomfortable part for me. Keep pushing harder than you feel you ought to, and the RAM will move another half millimeter. Really. Lean into it.
  7. Tuck the levers away to the right, replace the L-shaped bracket and tuck in the shielding pads if they poke out, angle your battery back in and lock in place.
  8. Pray to Eris
  9. Press Power and it ought to boot.