From owner-freebsd-questions Sun Dec 1 12:47:16 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 343B237B401 for ; Sun, 1 Dec 2002 12:47:14 -0800 (PST) Received: from post-20.mail.nl.demon.net (post-20.mail.nl.demon.net [194.159.73.1]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6728643E88 for ; Sun, 1 Dec 2002 12:47:13 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from cls@raggedclown.net) Received: from [212.238.197.102] (helo=mailhost.raggedclown.net) by post-20.mail.nl.demon.net with esmtp (Exim 3.36 #1) id 18Iazg-0007ZS-00 for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Sun, 01 Dec 2002 20:47:12 +0000 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mailhost.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Mail Gateway [dawn]) with ESMTP id 1E637CD8 for ; Sun, 1 Dec 2002 21:47:11 +0100 (CET) Received: from willow.raggedclown.net (willow.raggedclown.intra [192.168.1.10]) by mailhost.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Mail Gateway [dawn]) with ESMTP id 89132C76 for ; Sun, 1 Dec 2002 21:46:59 +0100 (CET) Received: by willow.raggedclown.net (Ragged Clown Host [willow], from userid 1009) id 922E522596; Sun, 1 Dec 2002 21:47:00 +0100 (CET) Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 21:47:00 +0100 From: Cliff Sarginson To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Memory test? Message-ID: <20021201204700.GB1424@raggedclown.net> References: <200211291228.GATCSZI18555@asarian-host.net> <44vg2dq522.fsf@be-well.ilk.org> <200212011418.GB1EIVI40435@asarian-host.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <200212011418.GB1EIVI40435@asarian-host.net> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.1i X-Virus-Scanned: by AMaViS 0.3.12pre8 Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Sun, Dec 01, 2002 at 03:18:26PM +0100, Mark wrote: > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lowell Gilbert" > To: "Mark" > Cc: > Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2002 1:47 PM > Subject: Re: Memory test? > > > > Mark writes: > > > > > I just did a makeshift memory stress test on a new machine; that is, > > > I did a "make buildworld". Regrettably, it failed, saying it had a > syntax > > > error somewhere. :( > > > > > > So, I ran it again; and this time it went fine; then I reinstalled > > > FreeBSD 4.7 altogether, and rebuilt world again. And, again, > > > no problems. > > > > > > This is a bit worrysome. Does FreeBSD even notice bad memory? > > > Would the kernel put a message in /var/log/messages? It did not > > > show anything there when buildworld failed. > > > > I'm not sure what you're getting at. You've seen just one failure, > > and it is of a type that is highly unlikely to be memory-related. > > > Au contraire; a syntax error in a "make buildworld" that cannot be repeated > when issued again is almost always indicative of a memory error -- > especially with a new out of box FreeBSD 4.7R -- and is generally considered > a good memory stress test. > > I was rightly alerted to a memory error. I ran Memtest86, suggested by a > list-member here, and indeed, one of the Kingston 512M DIMM's was acting up. > I did some research; and Kingston memory appears to have known issues with > the ASUS A7V333 board. > As an aside, memtest *can* show false positivies on some Asus motherboards with AMD chips. Tests 5 and 7 are not to be trusted. I found this out by own observations, and I believe (although I cannot remember where I read it) that tests 5 and 7 can be a bit iffy. The memory in question when in use and under stress showed no memory typical problems at all. The same memory tested on a system with a Pentium III also showed no failures with repeated running of these particular tests. -- Regards Cliff Sarginson The Netherlands [ This mail has been checked as virus-free ] To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message