Hardware1 hSeptember 23, 2026, 00:00

Raspberry Pi bootloader limits RAM upgrades, but bypass is easy

The Raspberry Pi Foundation added a RAM size check to its bootloader, blocking memory upgrades on Pi 4, Pi 5 and Compute Modules. The restriction is easily bypassed by downgrading the bootloader to the 2024-09-10 release. The change targets resellers who shipped modules with swapped RAM chips.

Hackaday Open source

Bootloader on Pi 4, Pi 5 and CM blocks RAM chips of a different size
Bypass: downgrade bootloader to the 2024-09-10 release via rpiboot
The check appeared between the September 10 and 23, 2024 releases
At least 15 GitHub reports of bought modules with swapped RAM

#RaspberryPi

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