memtest86 reporting memory error

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> Shep©

If this is a new system and you have bought good equipment why did you
run a software,"Memory" tester?

Why wouldn't I? I would seriously question the competency of any system
builder who doesn't perform burn-in testing on assembled hardware before
shipping it. I don't test my own systems as thoroughly as a system I'm
planning on selling since I'll tend to notice any weirdness once I'm up
and running, but I do test some of the basics.

Also, not all of the system was new, as I indicated in my original post,
I scavenged the RAM, hard drives, and a sound card from my old system
(as well as some USB peripherals), but all of the hardware was
known-good since most of it has been operating nonstop for 18 months.

Have you built many systems?

More then I can count.

Have you bought the correct type of devices for your system/mother
board?

Yes indeed.

Have you researched any known incompatibilities for the mother board?
Yes.

Have you correctly set the BIOS parameters for the devices you are
using?

I left most things at defaults, unless specifically instructed.

Have you correctly positioned your PCI devices for the motherboard.

Indeed. Only two PCI slots, and only one PCI card, and the only advice
in the documentation anywhere was to place the sound card as far away
from the video card, CPU, etc, as possible to avoid possible distortion.
I followed that advice.

The above is just a starter.

Indeed.

 

[JAD]

In message <[email protected]> "JAD"


So, was I having problems with the machine? As it turns out, a number
of problems fixed themselves when I managed to tweak things enough that
memtest86+ stopped reporting errors.

Among them:

-The system would go to a black screen after shutting down rather then
rebooting when requested.
-The system would not come out of Standby.
-DLL errors whenever launching certain network-related applications
(dig, host, psservice, and a few others)
-Lockups when attempting to ipconfig/release (but /renew was fine if I
didn't /release first)
-Bluescreen when attempting to launch a recovery console from boot CD.
-Bluescreen when attempting to boot a known-good BartPE CD.

All of these issues disappeared once I fixed the memory issue. When I
reverted to my previous settings, the issues returned, so yes, they were
memory related, and yes, memtest86+ did point me in the right direction
since I was initially assuming a driver incompatibility.

So in regards to the 'memory' error, the only thing that was 'wrong' with
the memory was the timings settings in the bIOS, and this you had to figure
out yourself, as memtest86 just said there was an error.

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> "JAD"

So in regards to the 'memory' error, the only thing that was 'wrong' with
the memory was the timings settings in the bIOS, and this you had to figure
out yourself, as memtest86 just said there was an error.

However, without the ability to test focusing on RAM alone, I'd never be
able to confirm if the settings were entirely correct or not, whether
the instability I was seeing was RAM related, or due to another driver.

Now, memtest86 did not magically fix anything, but it doesn't claim to
do so, so that's not a surprise. It's a diagnostic tool, it did it's
job, reported and error, and allowed me to confirm when I'd fixed the
error.

Oh yeah, and I'm at 100% stability since then

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <uoh1f.97770$oW2.30746@pd7tw1no> "Homer J. Simpson"

I would suggest using manual memory settings.

I'd like to go on record by saying thanks to everyone for their input,
it's much appreciated!

 

[dannysdailys]

DevilsPGDwrote

I would suggest using manual memory settings

I'd like to go on record by saying thanks to everyone for thei
input
it's much appreciated![/quote:fce34f7082

Even though I didn't see this post set in time to answer you, you'r
welcome. Yes, I would have told you your memory settings were wrong
When you overclock memory, that's how you do it. You step it up i
very small steps until you get errors. Memtest is an excellent too
to do this with. I was surprised my Lan Party board didn't com
bundled with it. When you get errors, you step it down one, an
you're all set. Hopefully... LO

Don't feel bad, you're not alone. I had a bad set of mainboards: Soy
Platinum Dragons. The prettiest pieces of garbage you've ever seen
And, they weren't cheap. Soyo doesn't do mobo's anymore and I'l
never buy anything with their name on it again. I had to eat the
both

Memtest did me very well for the problems I had. It told me my RA
was good, which is what I was blaming for all the problems I wa
having. Poor Windows XP! This thing crashed so many times I did
clean install once I got a decent motherboard, out of guilt. I fel
sorry for it! LOL No other OS I've worked with, (Win 95, 98, 98s
and ME) could have taken even 1/10th what that XP build went through
You'd have never known it, it ran fine

I finally bought my third board, a Lan Party; and everything wa
better then fine. I bought the Dragons as a platform decisio
because they had dual RAID's on 4 serial ports. I ran out and bough
4 new Maxtor serial hard drives! Talk about being stuck? I knew
should have bought the Lan Party all along! 350 bucks, right dow
the tube! The only thing I could salvage from them was the cute
cent heat sinks scattered all over the boards. LO

Yeah, LOL indeed. I can laugh now..

I would think you should be able to overclock your RAM some however.
At least put those heat shields to good use. LO

Cheer