memory allocation failed

[MikeM]

When I run CheckIt with all 2 G (4x512) of memory installed I get the
error message "memory allocation Failed". If I remove 512 M it gives
the same message but if I leave only the original 1 G installed there
is no error message. It makes no difference which of the 512 DIMMs I
use. Does this mean something in my system has problems with more than
1 G of memory? The maximum for the motherboard is 4 G.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Paul]

When I run CheckIt with all 2 G (4x512) of memory installed I get the
error message "memory allocation Failed". If I remove 512 M it gives
the same message but if I leave only the original 1 G installed there
is no error message. It makes no difference which of the 512 DIMMs I
use. Does this mean something in my system has problems with more than
1 G of memory? The maximum for the motherboard is 4 G.

Thanks
Mike

I have no idea what a "CheckIt" is, but consider for a moment,
that your physical memory is backed up by swapping to the disk.
Could it be, that the size of the swap area is not big enough
to keep "CheckIt" happy ? Perhaps there is some magic formula
it is using, to calculate what a good size would be, and that
is why it is failing for you. (Apologies if the terminology
is not quite right... But you get the idea.)

Paul

 

[MikeM]

That's what I wanted to know. I mainly wanted to make sure it was not
referring to a faulty DIMM.

CheckIt is a diagnostic program in Norton System Works 2006 that tests
the hardware.I have never used it before and don't know how accurate
it is.

Thanks Mike

 

[Ken]

When I run CheckIt with all 2 G (4x512) of memory installed I get the
error message "memory allocation Failed". If I remove 512 M it gives
the same message but if I leave only the original 1 G installed there
is no error message. It makes no difference which of the 512 DIMMs I
use. Does this mean something in my system has problems with more than
1 G of memory? The maximum for the motherboard is 4 G.

Thanks
Mike

You might want to read the mother board manual closely to see if there
are certain combinations that are acceptable and others that are not.
Often a manual will specify that certain sizes or types of memory must
be in certain slots in order to work properly.

 

[Mike]

Try moving the last two 512MB DIMMs to bank one.

Mike

 

[skotl]

Donwload memtest 86 from http://www.memtest86.com/ and create a
bootable CD. This will check the DIMMs and tell you if there is a RAM
fault.

Cheers

 

[Paul]

That's what I wanted to know. I mainly wanted to make sure it was not
referring to a faulty DIMM.

CheckIt is a diagnostic program in Norton System Works 2006 that tests
the hardware.I have never used it before and don't know how accurate
it is.

Thanks Mike

Just on a whim (cause I'd never heard of CheckIt), I tried
the Symantec site and found this:

************************************************************
"Error: 'Cannot allocate memory' while running CheckIt Diagnostics"
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...2007450cf?OpenDocument&src=bar_sch_nam&seg=ag

"Situation:

While running the Memory Test in CheckIt Diagnostics, you see
the message "Cannot allocate memory." You may also see the
message "Failed to test."

Solution:

In reported cases, this problem can happen when Memory Test was
run on computers with more than 1 GB of installed memory (RAM).
This problem was fixed by a recent patch.

To download and install a patch to fix this problem ... "

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/linked_files/nsw/CheckIt_7.1.0.83_TO_7.1.1.5_1190G_Patch_English.exe

************************************************************

For memory testing, I would recommend memtest86+ (which is free
from memtest.org). Because it runs without an OS, it can actually
test the entire memory. The executable actually moves itself out
of the way, and tests underneath. That is unlike other utilities,
that run from Windows, and leave 100MB+ untested.

Paul

 

[MikeM]

I installed the patch and it work, no more errors.

Thanks
Mike

 

[MikeM]

I tried Memtest 86 a while ago and it ran for about an hour with no
result before I stopped it. Approximately how long should it take to
finish a test on 2 G DDRAM on a 2 G XP machine?

Thanks
Mike

 

[Paul]

I tried Memtest 86 a while ago and it ran for about an hour with no
result before I stopped it. Approximately how long should it take to
finish a test on 2 G DDRAM on a 2 G XP machine?

Thanks
Mike

A "pass" consists of a complete trip through the 10 or so
tests they have. I would let the tool run until two complete
passes have been done. (Check the pass counter on the screen.)

The main benefit of memtest86+ is checking for "stuck-at" faults.
It doesn't seem to be too good at detecting speed faults that
only seem to show up under Prime95 or gaming situation. So
the test is not conclusive as a system stability test.

Since memtest86+ is self booting, it means your Windows install
won't get corrupted by bad RAM. (The registry could get corrupted
and written back to disk.) By using memtest86+ and finding
no errors, it reduces the chances that when you do boot into
Windows, there will be trouble. So it screens your system
for any really unstable operation (but doesn't guarantee that
the system is totally stable).

Memtest will run forever, if given the chance. Quitting
it should cause the system to reboot, and if you have
removed the floppy, then the next thing you should see,
is your Windows desktop. The purpose of that, is so you
can leave the computer running overnight, with memtest
running on it.

Paul