Raspberry Pi firmware bricks boot on non-original RAM

The Raspberry Pi Foundation added firmware code that locks the boot process when non-original memory chips are detected. The company says enough boards with surreptitiously replaced, often defective RAM are showing up to justify the step. Hackers suggest a warning instead of bricking, similar to rooted phones.

• Raspberry Pi firmware blocks boot on non-original RAM
• Workaround is flashing pre-2023 firmware, losing later fixes
• Jeff Geerling proposed a non-matching-memory status bit
• Similar case involved FTDI drivers rejecting counterfeit chips