David Brown wrote: > On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 11:54:56AM -0700, Jeff Johnson wrote: > >> Download a bootable image (floppy, cdrom or usb keydisk) from this >> website: http://www.memtest.org/#downiso >> >> Running that test (runs as self contained bootable kernel) will >> thoroughly test your memory. If there is any instability it will be >> found using that tool. Best of all, its free. > > Although memtest is useful, I've only ever once had a memory error > that it caught, and it was a blatant stuck bit. Most transient errors > don't show up in a standalone test. > > Building the kernel is by far the best memory test I've ever found. >
I would guess that there are cases where memtest would find something that a kernel compile torture test would miss. Running both would seem like a reasonable thing. Personally, I would run the memtest one first, because it attempts to cover a lot of possibilities so systematically (and thoroughly). [I've mentioned this before, but it's so interesting I can't resist describing it again.] I once found a weird problem with an incorrect mobo voltage (the mobo default was out-of-spec for the memory) causing an error with 2 good chips installed but not one. Only one particular memtest (test #7 or 8, as I recall) showed the error, and it was repeatable. Regards, ..jim -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
