Could you try again but undef $ram between the opens?

use strict;
use warnings;

my $ram;

open RAM, '>', \$ram;
seek RAM, 10, 0;
print RAM ' ';
warn length $ram;;
undef $ram;

open RAM, '>', \$ram;
binmode RAM, ':raw' or warn $!;
seek RAM, 10, 0;
print RAM ' ';
warn length $ram;;
undef $ram;

open RAM, '>:raw', \$ram;
seek RAM, 10, 0;
print RAM ' ';
warn length $ram;

warn `$^X -v`;
__END__
C:\test>junk
11 at C:\test\junk.pl line 9.
Use of uninitialized value in open at C:\test\junk.pl line 12.
11 at C:\test\junk.pl line 16.
Use of uninitialized value in length at C:\test\junk.pl line 22.
0 at C:\test\junk.pl line 22.

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