Memtest

Post by **corpse** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 1:47 am

Why is this file a bootable image? Can't you just download it and ru it from the computer?

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:32 pm

Memtest is ran off of a unix enviroment, and it needs to have full reign on the ram, if it was through windows it wouldent have this.. thus the tests would not be 100%...

Download the small image, put it on a floppy and boot it. simple as that

Post by **R00k** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:53 pm

A related question... I ran memtest on my machine after I got it built, but the results seemed inconclusive to me - or more precisely I probably didn't know exactly how to read them.

I'm not sure how many iterations it wound up running through before I stopped, but it was going for probably a couple hours.

So it listed a few problems, but I wasn't ever sure exactly what they meant. Is there some sort of key or guide that helps you read the results in a way that you could use to pinpoint problems?

Or is it just a diagnostic in the sense of "If there are any errors, then you have bad memory or memory slots?"

Post by **R00k** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 8:38 pm

Mmmmkay...... I just ran memtest again with some very poor looking results.

Keep in mind the last time I ran this was right after I built my computer. I got a lot of errors, but at the time I was running dual-channel with 2 x 1Ghz sticks, and was still trying to find ram timings that would allow my system to run stable.

So now, I've got only a single 1Ghz stick in, running at default timings for the mobo. No dual-channel, no agressive timings.

I got 111 errors, and that is only running one single pass of all the tests.

When changing the error reporting mode to find bad ram patterns, this is what it shows:

BADRAM = 0x1000e790, 0x1000e790

Both of those are exactly the same. It started running a second pass of the tests before I could stop it, so that second one may be from the second pass. Either way, both of them being the same makes it seem like a bad block of memory on my stick, does it not?

Do you guys know anything about the test, who can tell me if my guesses are correct?

I'm about to try running this again with the stick in a different slot, and then maybe try running it with my other stick instead of this one.

I knew I should have gone with my tried-and-true Corsair RAM instead of OCZ.

Post by **R00k** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:12 pm

Well. I put my stick in a different slot and ran the test again, with pretty much the same results as before, so it can't be a single slot that's bad.

Then, I swapped sticks and ran the test on my other 1gb stick. I got TONS more errors than the other stick - I'm talking 3500 errors without even letting the 3rd test finish.

I put it in a different slot as well, with the same results.

It sounds to me like OCZ has given me some shitty RAM. Keep in mind that these were two matched sticks that were supposed to have been tested in dual-channel mode and running at 2-3-2-5 timings (which is what I'm running at now by default).

I'm calling the shop I bought it from tomorrow to see if I can get my money back and just get Corsair.

Post by **R00k** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:18 pm

Well I wondered if memtest86 was meant to run on newer hardware like this or not - if it would still be accurate - but a lot of people still recommend it even on newer platforms and such.

Where would I go about finding out if I can trust the results or not?

Post by **R00k** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:32 pm

Got this off the Memtest86 site:

Frequently memory vendors question if Memtest86 supports their particular memory type or a chipset. Memtest86 is designed to work with all memory types and all chipsets. Only support for ECC requires knowledge of the chipset.

All valid memory errors should be corrected. It is possible that a particular error will never show up in normal operation. However, operating with marginal memory is risky and can result in data loss and even disk corruption. Even if there is no overt indication of problems you cannot assume that your system is unaffected. Sometimes intermittent errors can cause problems that do not show up for a long time. You can be sure that Murphy will get you if you know about a memory error and ignore it.

Sounds exactly like what happened to me (see my bad HDD thread).

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 10:26 pm

i ran memtest for 48 hours straight when i clocked my ram up a lil, 0 errors..

if you get errors, something is wrong.

Post by **R00k** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 10:47 pm

I emailed an OCZ support guy and gave him the whole story.

I'll see what he recommends, but at this point I can't imagine anything short of an RMA.

Post by **AmIdYfReAk** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:12 pm

indeed,

i got DDR 533 cas 2.5 at DDR 500 CAS 2.0 With no errors

Post by **R00k** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:19 pm

Thanks. Not knowing much about memtest, I just assumed that an error here and there was normal with aggressive settings.

Post by **^misantropia^** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:27 am

memtest essentially writes data to memory, then reads it back. If what was read wasn't what was written, your RAM is malfunctioning.

Post by **R00k** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:12 am

Yea, that's kinda what I figured from looking at the program and the names of the tests. It seems to have the most errors during the test that writes a random number sequence.

I guess it could MAYBE be a problem with the mobo or processor, but after doing the stick/slot swaps that I did, I'm fairly certain the memory has something wrong with it.

I'm hoping OCZ support can give me some good news, but I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to recover the data from my HDD.

Post by **R00k** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:08 am

I posted the full saga on the OCZ support boards:
http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18977

Post by **corpse** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:21 am

Not quite on topic, but close.

How do I burn an iso file using Nero. I have previouly used Easy Cd for iso files.

When I try, I get an image file as a result.

This is trying to burn the memtest iso to cd.

Post by **R00k** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:28 am

I think you can just go File->Open in Nero, then change the file type to *.iso. I know you can do that with .bin/.cue files.

Post by **Grudge** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:34 pm

There is also an "official" OCZ memory support thread at the Anandtech forums, maybe you can find something interesting there:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview ... erthread=y

Post by **R00k** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:51 pm

Cool, thanks. :icon14:

Post by **R00k** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:18 pm

lol, this is almost creepy. I posted my problem last night, and just this morning a new guy registered and posted an almost identical problem.
http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19000

Anyway, I got a response from one of the support staff and it looks like I'm going to RMA it. Their customer service is impressive from everything I've seen so far.

Post by **DiscoDave** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 4:35 pm

corpse wrote:Not quite on topic, but close.

How do I burn an iso file using Nero. I have previouly used Easy Cd for iso files.

When I try, I get an image file as a result.

This is trying to burn the memtest iso to cd.

Recorder > Burn image. Or use wht has been previously suggested