I have a 12" Aluminum Powerbook with the identical problem. For 4 years it ran just fine with 256 mb internal, 1 Gb in the user-accessible slot. Then one day, the PB thinks the expansion slot is empty. Everyone on all of the forums says, "oh well... replace the motherboard." That strikes me as the standard Windows thing where, if anything is not working right, you reboot. Why replace the whole motherboard? What, specifically, is wrong with the board that causes this issue in so many systems? Why can it not be fixed? Who can afford to replace the whole board on a 5 year old system? I would really like to know what the specific failure mode is, and whether it can be fixed by a person with appropriate skills.
Thanks
JEH
[quote|jharlow]I have a 12" Aluminum Powerbook with the identical problem. For 4 years it ran just fine with 256 mb internal, 1 Gb in the user-accessible slot. Then one day, the PB thinks the expansion slot is empty. Everyone on all of the forums says, "oh well... replace the motherboard." That strikes me as the standard Windows thing where, if anything is not working right, you reboot. Why replace the whole motherboard? What, specifically, is wrong with the board that causes this issue in so many systems? Why can it not be fixed? Who can afford to replace the whole board on a 5 year old system? I would really like to know what the specific failure mode is, and whether it can be fixed by a person with appropriate skills.
Thanks
JEH[/quote]