Raspberry Pi memory swaps may fail because of bootloader checks

Raspberry Pi users may be unable to replace or upgrade memory chips on some boards, according to a report by TechRadar. Phil Elwell, identified by the publication as Raspberry Pi’s senior principal software engineer, gave a repair technician a blunt warning on the company’s official forum: “don’t waste your time trying — it won’t work.”

The technician tried upgrading a Compute Module 5 from 2GB to 4GB, first with a spare chip and then with a chip taken from a working 4GB module. Both attempts were detected as 2GB, despite adjustments to the board’s memory-size resistor and tests with flash chips carrying older firmware.

TechRadar reports that Raspberry Pi has used checks to tie boards to the memory capacity they shipped with for two years. The checks can also prevent some same-part replacements. The publication says a check appeared in the 2024-09-23 bootloader, published on GitHub on September 25, 2024, but its release notes did not mention memory checks. The first official confirmation came in a forum reply nearly 21 months later.

TechRadar also cites YouTuber Jeff Geerling, who said an older bootloader, v2024.09.10-2712, lacks the check. Using it would cut a Pi off from future firmware upgrades, including fixes and security patches. The report says Raspberry Pi’s stated rationale includes limiting shortages of lower-memory models and avoiding support complaints about unofficial modifications.