Pi 5 RAM Swaps Have Been Firmware-Locked Since 2024. Here's What That Actually Means
Raspberry Pi enthusiasts have been quietly upgrading the RAM on Pi 5 boards for a while now. The process involved swapping out the LPDDR4X memory package, and for the technically adventurous, it worked. It stopped working two years ago. The restriction is not new: Pi 5 bootloader EEPROM releases dated 2024-09-23 and later refuse to bring up memory that does not match what the board was…
Since 2024, Raspberry Pi boards with Pi 5 processors have had their RAM upgrade capabilities restricted by firmware. This limitation prevents boards from booting when they are fitted with non-factory-provisioned memory chips. The restriction was documented publicly in September 2026, two years after it was first implemented. The firmware checks the memory configuration against an approved list and rejects chips that are not on that list.
This change was not mentioned in the rpi-eeprom changelog, but was reported by a user whose Pi 5 failed to boot after a RAM swap on firmware releases from 2024-09-23 onward. The firmware update introduced memory performance tuning, banklow configuration, and manufacturing test updates. Raspberry Pi may have implemented this change for stability, supply chain, revenue protection, and part-specific memory tuning reasons.
The bootloader now knows which memory part is fitted, not just its size. For users with working RAM upgrades, the immediate risk is that a future firmware update may break the setup. To check the current EEPROM version and firmware release status, use the command 'sudo rpi-eeprom-update'.
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