Raspberry Pi's RAM lock was built to stop scalpers, but it's blocking repairs too

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Winners & losers: Raspberry Pi has confirmed that its firmware prevents users from changing a board's factory RAM configuration, a restriction that blocks not only unofficial memory upgrades but also some attempts to replace failed RAM chips with equivalent parts. The company says the measure is meant to stop resellers from passing off untested, modified boards as factory configurations, but it also limits a capability long used by Raspberry Pi repair and maker communities.

The issue came up on the Raspberry Pi forums after a user replaced the RAM on a Compute Module 5 but couldn't get the board to recognize the new 4 GB chip. PhilE, a Raspberry Pi engineer and forum moderator, said the company has been "locking devices to their original RAM size" for some time.

The firmware does more...

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