Memtest86 help

  • Thread starter Thread starter obiwanzamora
  • Start date Start date
O

obiwanzamora

Hi,

I don't know if anyone is familiar with memtest86 but i have been running it
on some memory i have aquired, trying to determine if it is faulty or not.
The test has reported two errors. Is it normal for there to be a couple of
errors or should it be totally error free?

Thanks
 
obiwanzamora said:
Hi,

I don't know if anyone is familiar with memtest86 but i have been running it
on some memory i have aquired, trying to determine if it is faulty or not.
The test has reported two errors. Is it normal for there to be a couple of
errors or should it be totally error free?
Click to expand...

"Normal" is no errors, ever -- it should be totally error free.

-- Bob Day
http://bobday.vze.com
 
obiwanzamora said:
Hi,

I don't know if anyone is familiar with memtest86 but i have been running it
on some memory i have aquired, trying to determine if it is faulty or not.
The test has reported two errors. Is it normal for there to be a couple of
errors or should it be totally error free?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Should be error free. That said, I had a bad motherboard once result in
errors being reported on any RAM I put in that board, so there's always
the slim chance that there's a motherboard fault and not a DRAM fault.

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/
 
software testing of memory is sketchy at best. 2 errors are probably a false
positive. if you have more than one module then pull one and use the machine
for awhile. To truly know, the module should be hardware checked.
 
Hi,

I don't know if anyone is familiar with memtest86 but i have been running it
on some memory i have aquired, trying to determine if it is faulty or not.
The test has reported two errors. Is it normal for there to be a couple of
errors or should it be totally error free?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Is it repeatable? If so, you have a problem. You can't count on your system
remaining stable if it can't remember 100% of what is written to memory.
One bad bit can wreak havoc.

Brad H
 
JAD said:
software testing of memory is sketchy at best. 2 errors are probably a false
positive.
Click to expand...

There's no such thing as a false positive with memtest86. If memtest86
sees an error, it's not necessarily a faulty dram -- could be the dram needs
reseating -- could be edgy bios settings, for example. But there is very
definitely a problem that needs to be solved.

-- Bob Day
http://bobday.vze.com


if you have more than one module then pull one and use the machine
 
JAD said:
uh huh...you wrote the software? whats gnu with you?
Click to expand...

OK, since you brought up the idea, you explain it --
just how could there be a "false positive" ?

-- Bob Day
 
that is to say that the USER does everything exactly the way it should be
done

F/P could be created by a ....power fluctuation...therefore a problem is
found but its a power problem not memory.
 
There's no such thing as a false positive with memtest86.
Click to expand...

Wrong.
Post absolute evidence of your statement please with at least 30 links
as proof including software memory testers against professional
hardware memory testers including all mother board brand makes and ram
makes and methods used and handling of the RAM when installed.
 
software testing of memory is sketchy at best. 2 errors are probably a false
positive. if you have more than one module then pull one and use the machine
for awhile. To truly know, the module should be hardware checked.
Click to expand...

Right on :)
 
OK, since you brought up the idea, you explain it --
just how could there be a "false positive" ?
Click to expand...

Crappy free memory software downloaded and run.Says everything
is,"Alright".Pro goes round and changes/checks ram sticks.Finds faulty
ram stick."Mem-test said is was alright" says the client.Hmmmm for
umpteenth effing time.

I fix,I get paid and warn client not to waste their time with ill
thought-out free software downloads :)
 
Shep© said:
Wrong.
Post absolute evidence of your statement please with at least 30 links
as proof including software memory testers against professional
hardware memory testers including all mother board brand makes and ram
makes and methods used and handling of the RAM when installed.
Click to expand...

Post a similar level of evidence for your arguement about these software
testers being flawed. Anecdotal stories are just that, stories, no
better than fiction.

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/
 
Shep© said:
Crappy free memory software downloaded and run.Says everything
is,"Alright".Pro goes round and changes/checks ram sticks.Finds faulty
ram stick."Mem-test said is was alright" says the client.Hmmmm for
umpteenth effing time.
Click to expand...

That would be a false negative, not a false positive.

-- Bob Day
 
JAD said:
that is to say that the USER does everything exactly the way it should be
done

F/P could be created by a ....power fluctuation...therefore a problem is
found but its a power problem not memory.
Click to expand...

Try again. A power fluctuation is very unlikely to cause just
a memory error. If it did, it would cause a lot more that just
the two the OP experienced. Actually, I can think of three
ways a false positive might occur in the OP's case, but they
are all so remote as not to be worth considering.

-- Bob Day
 
JAD said:
news:aHmUe.979$e96.371@trndny09...
Click to expand...
software testing of memory is sketchy at best.
2 errors are probably a false positive.
Click to expand...
uh huh...you wrote the software? whats gnu with you?
Click to expand...

I had several false positives with MemTest ver. 2.x (2.5?). I believe
the author admitted there being a bug in it, and when I tried ver. 3.x
on the same hardware, it detected no errors, and Gold Memory also
passed it.

Aren't false negatives a lot more common with memory diagnostics?

www.realworldtech.com published reviews of memory diagnostics. Gold
Memory beat MemTest86, but both were considered very good. One of the
worst was DocMem, given out at www.simmtester.com, and I've found that
it misses many errors found by the other tests.
 
Back
Top