Raspberry Pi locks RAM upgrades

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Background

Information about the product/service history to provide the necessary context surrounding the incident

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Incident

A user attempted to upgrade the RAM of their CM5 from 2GB to 4GB, the system recognized 2GB of the newly installed 4GB RAM.

Raspberry Pi's response

We buy RAM in large quantities on very competitive commercial terms. However, there may be occasions where some parts become available cheaper from third parties. These are likely to be in small volumes and completely untested by us. If labour is cheap enough then there may be a minor financial gain in buying a part with say a 2GB part, swapping it for an 8GB part of dubious origin, and reselling it as an 8GB device. However, this brings an element of risk to the user - the board hasn't been tested by us - and is a potential support burden for us, with customers complaining of unreliable devices. We therefore remove the commercial incentive by locking devices to their original RAM size. And for improved compatibility with a variety of suppliers, we now also program in some other device attributes, meaning that switching parts of the same size may not work. I don't see RAM being swapped between authorised devices of different sizes as a likely use case, but don't waste your time trying - it won't work.

If you're getting 8 flashes having swapped a CPU then you've messed it up somehow.

That concludes this topic.

Consumer response

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A board that was meant for tinkering now can only be tinkered the way manufacturer allows you to.