Raspberry Pi 5 EEPROM update now blocks manual RAM upgrades ("SDRAM mismatch" Error)

A heads-up for anyone doing hardware mods or custom upgrades on the Raspberry Pi 5: As of the pieeprom-2024-09-23.bin update, the Raspberry Pi 5 now performs a hard RAM capacity check during boot: 2.41 Expected configuration 8 Gbit (0x07) 2.44 Actual configuration 32 Gbit (0x05) 2.48 USB-OTG disconnect 2.51 BOOT ERROR: code 9 - 'SDRAM mismatch' If the EEPROM detects a RAM capacity that differs from the original factory configuration (written in OTP memory on the SoC), it throws Error Code 9 and refuses to boot. Instead of letting skilled users repurpose loose RAM chips or upgrade their existing hardware to mitigate these insane market prices, they went out of their way to implement an artificial software wall. It takes serious hardware skills and specialized equipment to desolder and upgrade BGA-packaged, soldered RAM on a board like this. Preventing power users who manage to do this from actually using their modified hardware. What technical or security justification is there for artificial bootloader locks on custom RAM, other than forcing customers to buy higher-margin, overpriced models? Imagine buying a desktop PC and not being able to swap the RAM or the SSD in it... To make matters worse, any attempts on my side to bring this up or post about it on the official Raspberry Pi forums are getting deleted almost instantly. At this rate, what’s next - serialized power supply checks on boot to block 3rd-party power bricks? What are your thoughts on this move? Is there any legitimate stability or technical reason for hard-coding RAM limits in the EEPROM, or is this strictly anti-Right to Repair driven by corporate greed?