# what kind of memtest to use ? [SOLVED]

## apiaio

I have 4 years old computer. Now it started to freeze randomly. One of my friends told me, that I should to test the memory using memtest. Portage offers 3 types: memtest86, memtest86+ and memtester. Which one should I to install for P4P800-VM motherboard?Last edited by apiaio on Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## loki99

 *Quote:*   

> Memtest86 was developed by Chris Brady. After Memtest86 remained at v3.0 for two years, Memtest86+ was created by Samuel Demeulemeester to add support for newer CPUs and chipsets. Both are now (as of 2009) being actively worked on.

 

 *Quote:*   

> memtester
> 
> A userspace utility for testing the memory subsystem for faults. It's portable and should compile and work on any 32- or 64-bit Unix-like system. (Yes, even weird, proprietary Unices.) 

 

Any of those should do the trick.  :Wink: 

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## apiaio

Thanks. *Quote:*   

> localhost # memtester 1024
> 
> memtester version 4.0.7 (32-bit)
> 
> Copyright (C) 2006 Charles Cazabon.
> ...

 Is it OK?

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## loki99

I wouldn't know, because I never used memtester. Memtest is a little bit more verbose but you should run it at least for a couple of hours to get a useful result.

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## John R. Graham

 *loki99 wrote:*   

> ...Any of those should do the trick. 

 Except that memtester can only test memory that it can allocate.  If your kernel is sitting on a bad spot, then it won't be found.  You can use memtest86 from (I believe) any of the Gentoo install media--and that's actually a good idea:  memtest86 can run stand-alone and knows how to relocate itself so that it can test all memory, even the memory it's initially loaded into.

- John

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## loki99

 *john_r_graham wrote:*   

>  *loki99 wrote:*   ...Any of those should do the trick.  Except that memtester can only test memory that it can allocate.  If your kernel is sitting on a bad spot, then it won't be found.  You can use memtest86 from (I believe) any of the Gentoo install media--and that's actually a good idea:  memtest86 can run stand-alone and knows how to relocate itself so that it can test all memory, even the memory it's initially loaded into.
> 
> - John

 

Thanks for pointing that out. As I said, I never used it before (until right now and it actually managed to kill my x-server)!   :Razz: 

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## timeBandit

Also, when you install memtest or memtest86+ from Portage, the ebuilds add it to the Grub menu.  Just reboot, choose the memory test from the menu and off you go.

(Edit: Almost...keep reading.)

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## John R. Graham

Heh.  Didn't know that.  Thanks, timeBandit.    :Very Happy: 

- John

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## timeBandit

 *john_r_graham wrote:*   

> Heh.  Didn't know that.  Thanks, timeBandit.    

 Ermm ... oops.   :Embarassed: 

I was a little confused: they install memtest[+] to /boot then print an example bootloader config. The change must be made by hand but it's trivial.

Sorry about that, I have to stop trusting these things to memory....  :Razz:   :Smile: 

```
pkg_postinst() {

   einfo

   einfo "memtest.bin has been installed in /boot/memtest86/"

   einfo "You may wish to update your bootloader configs"

   einfo "by adding these lines:"

   einfo " - For grub: (replace '?' with correct numbers for your boot partition)"

   einfo "    > root (hd?,?)"

   einfo "    > title=Memtest86"

   einfo "    > kernel /boot/memtest86/memtest.bin"

   einfo " - For lilo:"

   einfo "    > image  = /boot/memtest86/memtest.bin"

   einfo "    > label  = Memtest86"

   einfo

}
```

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## apiaio

Thanks for the answers. I was trying almost everything what was recommended above.

- when using command memtester 1024 process was killed

- using memtester 512several loops iterated through without errors

- the same result whed used live CD

- I installed memtest86, added into lilo.conf, rebooted and started memoty test. I could see many error messages.

Because I have installed two 512MB DDR in DIMM socket I think that one of them has been broken. I will need to purchase the new one.

My questions:

-how to safely find out which one is broken?

-it is possible to install DDR2 instead of DDR1 into my motherboard P4P800-VM?

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## John R. Graham

 *apiaio wrote:*   

> ...My questions:
> 
> -how to safely find out which one is broken?...

 Unless your motherboard manual states that the memory needs to be installed in pairs, just pull one (making sure that the other one is in the slot that needs to be populated first), run the memory test, then swap in the other, and run the memory test.

- John

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## apiaio

 *Quote:*   

> Unless your motherboard manual states that the memory needs to be installed in pairs, just pull one (making sure that the other one is in the slot that needs to be populated first), run the memory test, then swap in the other, and run the memory test
> 
> 

 Manual says *Quote:*   

> The motherboard comes with four Double Data Rate (DDR) Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets.

 Does it means that the memory needs to be installed in pairs? When trying to test only one memory, both seem to be broken.

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## monsm

 *john_r_graham wrote:*   

>  *apiaio wrote:*   ...My questions:
> 
> -how to safely find out which one is broken?... Unless your motherboard manual states that the memory needs to be installed in pairs, just pull one (making sure that the other one is in the slot that needs to be populated first), run the memory test, then swap in the other, and run the memory test.
> 
> - John

 

Thats right.  You might also want to look up some technical specs to see what the recommended timing settings are for your memory.  They need to be set in the bios.  I think its 3 different settings (delay etc, don't remember what they where).  Last time I had problems it turned out to be just these settings that was wrong...

Mons

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## jcat

At the risk of repeating myself, just thought I'd let you know that I've come across memory related issues that memtest didn't spot (even after 2 day runs).

I've seen this twice.  I couldn't tell you what the cause was, but replacing the RAM fixed it on both occasions.

Just FYI  :Smile: 

Cheers,

jcat

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## apiaio

Conclusion.

Because everything seemed to be very strange, I had borrowed memory module from onother computer and memtest86 gave errors again.

Googling around I have found out, that memtest86 is not supported anymore. Uninstalled it and installed memtest86+.  No errors.

I thing that:

- as john_r_graham wrote *Quote:*   

> Except that memtester can only test memory that it can allocate. If your kernel is sitting on a bad spot...

 metester won't test your entire memory 

- memtest86 doesn't work correctly 

My problems persists. Does exist any software in portage which can test hardware, e.g. temperature of CPU ?

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## Fog_Watch

I'm in the same boat and man the bilge really stinks.

I have a Proliant DL380 G3 with a serious spontaneous reboot issue.  memtest86 reports the memory as absolutely cactus.  It couldn't remember where the front door is.  Whereas 6 passes of memtest86+ reports not one error.  I'm wondering if I should shove broccoli into the motherboard and see if that makes it a bit more robust.  You know, eat your greens.

Fog_Watch.

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