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Raspberry Pi locks RAM upgrades

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Contents5
  1. Background
  2. Incident
  3. Raspberry Pi's response
  4. Consumer response
  5. References

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Short summary of the incident using references.[1] Usually 2-3 sentences that summarize the contents or the article. When writing the article, insert text in the space below this box, and then delete this tip box (and the other tip boxes below). In the visual editor, just click on a box and press backspace to delete it. In the source editor, simply delete the double curly brackets, and the text inside them.


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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[2].

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

Summary and key issues of prevailing sentiment from the consumers and commentators that can be documented via articles, emails to support, reviews and forum posts.


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

References

  1. ref goes here
  2. in_sympathy (2026-06-25). "CM5 RAM upgrade". Raspberry Pi Forums. Retrieved 2025-06-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)