[RAM Upgrade + Installation + Results] - DL4100 (Now maxed at 6GB of RAM)

My Cloud OS 3 Personal & Network Attached Storage My Cloud DL Series
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I’ve just upgraded the RAM on the DL4100 and everything is smooth sailing. Here’s something interesting…

UPDATE: 7/23/15 [Temps dropped even lower.]

  • Before the upgrade (stock w/ 2GB) the average operating temperature was: 38C/100F
  • After the upgrade (now total of 6GB) the average operating temperature is: 30C/86F

Call it what you will, but this is a fact that I’m pretty happy with. *shrug* I’ll take it…

>> FAQ’s:

Which one should I buy?

Well, anyone that meets the specs will do, however…

WD website recommends these two: (Specifically for the DL4100)

  1. Kingston - KVR13S9S8/4 Spec: 4GB 204Pin SODIMM PC3-10600

OR

  1. Hynix - HMT451S6BFR8A-PB Spec: 4GB 204Pin SODIMM PC3L-12800

-

 

>> Why Hynix?

I’ve ordered the Hynix one as it is faster and because I know the chip itself is Made in Korea, which I trust. (Some will say Made in China. I just wanted one that said, Made in Korea, just because…) -

The Hynix was also cheaper than the Kingston. I had a hunch of wanting to order something else being that I’m an outside the box kind of guy with technology, but I just went with what they had recommended and was able to purchase the Hynix for $23 shipped. Either way Hynix or Kingston you can’t go wrong… I’ve just went with Hynix as a personal choice between the two that’s all.

>> How do I install the RAM?

It’s extremely easy and the total installation took me literally under 1 minute. Yes, >60 seconds tops. As I do with any installation with computers in general, I wore latex gloves and made sure to de-static myself.

  1. Shut down your NAS via the WD Control Panel on your coputer (upper right “person icon” → 'shut down.") Wait for it to completely shut down.
  2. Once it’s shut down, unplug the power cable.
  3. Unscrew the (3) black phillips screws on the back. (1 screw on center-top and 2 on the bottom-left & right)
  4. With both hands (palms on the side of the NAS ← This is where the rubber gloves came into play so that my palms wouldn’t slide off the side of the walls of the NAS) slide the outter casing backward a smidge then,
  5. Lift straight upward to remove the outter casing. (You’ll see that the casing has little “guide divits” on the bottom and front.
  6. On the side fo the NAS you’ll see the RAM slot.
  7. Insert the RAM at a slight angle and gently push in until the RAM “clicks” into place.
  8. Put the casing back on, making sure to align the “guide divits” and put the (3) screws back in.
  9. Turn on the NAS and Violla…welcome to the 6GB Club.

>> Important Tips

Make sure the model number is 100% correct. Double-double check. Do not over look this and order the wrong one. The “L” after the PC3(L) means Low voltage, which is what you need. It operates at 1.35 volts…

Traditionally the other rams run at 1.5V…you don’t want 1.5V. Hence, why a lot of people are experiencing problems with errors after boot. I also liked the Hynix over the Kingston because the data transfer rate is 1600MHz, where as the Kingston was only 1333MHz.

>> Curious:

What are your temperatures?

  1. At idle?
  2. Under load?
  3. Max you’ve seen?

Any other fellow DL4100 owners with upgraded RAM out there?

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Please click the STAR if you’ve found this useful. Cheers!

7 Likes
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I gave you a star even though you did not say to remove the power before you removed the cover :smiley:

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QUick question:

I know that adding memory “improves performance”, but exactly WHAT is improved in the EX and DL series NAS by adding memory, and under what conditions is it needed . . . ,many files, many users, or?  How do I know I need to add memory?

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Ah yes! Indeed. I’ve added that part. LOL

Sometimes even the most obvious things are overlooked under the assumption that people would or SHOULD know these things. It reminds me of a frozen pizza box that says to remove the pizza from the box and plastic before putting it in the oven!

Good eye…thanks for your genorisity and contribution to thie WD Community. Many stars your way gramps!

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You can first log into the WD Control Panel to see your RAM usage along with the average processes your NAS has going on. This will determine if you really need a RAM upgrade or not.

  1. On the Home screen, on the bottom left you’ll see “Network Activity,” with a grey arrow in that box. Click on the grey arrow.
  2. You’ll then see a window that pops up titled, “Device Activity.”
  3. Here you’ll be able to see your CPU, Memory, Network and Process info.

Where it says Memory, if you see that peaking at or close to 70% a lot, I’d definitely upgrade. The rule of thumb that we’ve always used for our clients is that with any capacity related things that have to do with technology, the 70% rule has been a good indicator to upgrade or not. However, for me personally if I’m knocking at the door of 40-50% of reaching any capacity, I always upgrade without even thinking twice about it. 

RAM is mostly beneficial for programs that are installed on the NAS and if you have a lot of users accessing the NAS it will help with performance. Having the ability to have more “free space / bigger room to play,” will allow a smoother, organized and faster operation to complete tasks. Therefore, if you’re running a lot of applications and/or using it for example, an iTunes server etc…the extra memory will allow the NAS larger caching along with the ability to transcode media files smoother if you’re streaming…

Most light users will be fine with the onboard 2GB, however, for power users with a lot of programs installed and/or with a lot of users constantly accessing the NAS, more RAM = Better Performance.

Best of all, after my RAM upgrade I’ve been seeing lower temperatures at idle and when under load. Like I’ve mentioned in the OP, I’ll take it! Cooler = Happier Electronics & Longer life…especially a NAS that’s on 24/7.

Hope this helps!

2 Likes
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A kudo star for your reply.  Yes, I had seen this section of the dashboard, and your explanation made it more clearly understood.  So, right now I am a light user as I mostly am the only user, or my wife occasionally, but we mostly stream music or videos to tablets or WDTV.  I do have PLEX app on my DL2100 x2 4TB in a RAID setup.  This model only comes with 1GB ram, so I turned on PLEX, and idle memory jumped from 30% to near 40% with Plex on.  Streamed a video with PLEX, now at 50% then added a streamed video to my iPad via My CLoud app, which did not add but a few % more. 

Anyway, it doesn’t take much action to get near 50% memory use, Amazon sells the memory for around $25, so likely will get it soon…  Thanks!

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Thanks!

I love PLEX. Are you a paid user or on the free app? I’ve noticed that I can only play movies for 1 minute before it stops on the free version on my mobile device.

As for your RAM usage, it’s a good call to go ahead and upgrade. It’s also nice for it to be very inexpensive.

Cheers!

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Yep, I will upgrade soon.

I see you saw my recent comments about Plex.  I find it overblown, and finding stuff on it is not as easy as just perusing my folders/files.  I am not a torrent user.  I don’t grab every movie ever made.  I make my movie files from my DVDs/BDs for viewing on my tablet.  I don’t need the summaries of all the movies – I know what my movies are about!

And besides, my music playlists are useless with PLEX – seems I need to create new ones for Plex.  No thanks. Plex is great for those who need it, but I don’t.  Can’t seem to find something about it to love.

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Upgraded my RAM today.  Got the Kingston - KVR13S9S8/4 from Amazon for <$25.  Took a couple of try’s to get it installed correctly.  Make sure you press insertion until you get a definite click as “iunlock” instructs at the beginning of this thread.

As someone else in this thread, the system seems to be running significantly cooler with the addition of the additional RAM.  Whereas it had previously run consistently at 38C to 40C, immediately after installation it was running at about 36C and now, about 2 hours after installation, it’s running at 34C.  We’ll see if it goes lower over the next day or so.

1 Like
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My DL4100 seems to be running consistently cooler by about 4 or 5 degrees centigrade after upgrading RAM to 6GB.

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Fantastic! Good stuff…Thanks for reporting the temps.

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I’ve just got home from a weekend vacation and we have been streaming music like crazy from our boat. (Granted we had LTE coverage out on the water so it was effortless.) Back at the RV area we had 4G, but still managed to stream movies with very little hiccups. (Only in the very beginning it would buffer for about 15 seconds, but after that…flawless…)

We’ve used both PLEX and streamed directly from the WD app on our mobile devices by clicking on the movie/music file and letting the default player do its thing.

The whole time I was proud of the DL4100 back home…

When I did get back home, I’ve noticed that the cruising temperatures dropped even more. Now it’s at 31C/87F. Very cool…literally :smiley:

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Thanks again for your install guide.  (Too bad WD did not supply one I could find.)

Anyway< I have a DL2100  w/2 drives, @ 4TB each.  I ordered the correct memory for my model NAS according to WD recommendation.  Both are Kingston and I ordered the first (and fastest) one on list.  Amazon delivered it in 24 hrs to my mailbox! Cost: $22. free Prime shipping.  I now have 5GB memory instead of stock 1GB.

BTW, the Kingston is a 1.5V, and it is working fine and been playing a movie to laptop via PLEX.  Drive Temps are:  a steady 37C now, and before mem upgrade my usual idle temp was under 30C or a few degress less in an airconditioned house…  Fan speed is 1110rpm.  Memory usage is now 10%; before it was close to 50% when running movoe via PLEX.

I am good to go with this affordable upgrade.

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Just an update on my temperatures:

When I first installed my new RAM, my operating temperatures seemed to drop from an average of 39 to 40 to an average of 34 to 35.  I have since changed the vertical position of my unit (from the floor to about 5-1/2 feet above the floor on a rack shelf).  Operating temperatures are now a solid 38 C.

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Hello, is this the right for the DL4100?
or does not fit the?

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31C / 87F :+1:

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I don’t know, but this is the link with the official WD recommendations for memory upgrade:

http://support.wdc.com/KnowledgeBase/answer.aspx?ID=12943

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How can you make sure that the extra memory is recognized by the device (in my case it is a DL4100)? The memory usage just shows percentages and not totals. I am gleaning through the System Report files, but have not found exactly what I am looking for. The closest I have found so far is in the files “MyCloudDL4100\current_status\free_output” and “MyCloudDL4100\current_status\top_info.txt”. The latter file shows Mem: 6045296K used, 56340K free, which would be a total of 6101636K - not quite the full 6GB / 6291456K, but definitely more than the original 2GB / 2097152K. I’ll take that as confirmation that the memory is recognized, but it would be nice to just have a simple system summary report.

I used Hynix HMT451S6AFR8A-PB 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600MHz non-ECC Unbuffered CL11 204-Pin SoDimm 1.35V

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Simple summary:
See Home screen of Dashboard. Below Capacity graph, notice
Network Activity graph, and to the right, two buttons labeled CPU and RAM. Click on arrow directly to right of buttons, and you will see summary stats, one being Memory with your 6GB shown.

Looks like you used one of the memory cards recommended, so you should be good to go.

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I see the graph, but it only display %usage, not the total. I am 99.999% convinced that the memory is recognized. I just thought it would be nice to have it displayed in a simple report.

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