[Cialug] Crashing with errors in mcelog

[David Champion]

Daniel A. Ramaley wrote:
> My previous statement about memtest86 just flat out not working still 
> stands, however. Both before and after removing the bad RAM, when i 
> select memtest86 in grub, the screen goes black and after less than a 
> second reboots. So, memtest86 is functionally similar to the computer's 
> reset button. I was expecting a memory test, not another way to kick 
> the machine. I might try booting memtest86 from a CD and see if that 
> works any better, but since i seem to have discovered the memory 
> problems without it, i probably won't bother. For now i'm running with 
> ECC turned off, which i think should cause a crash if there are also 
> problems with the lower pair of DIMMs.
>   

I dont' think it's fair to say memtest86 doesn't work... I think maybe 
the version packaged with debian may have a bug or something... but some 
of us have used it with the proper results. It's been around for quite a 
while, I remember using it probably 6 or 7 years ago to diagnose some 
janky RAM.

Many distros have memtest86 on their CD's that you can run in live or 
rescue mode, I'd suggest trying that - it's easier anyway, and doesn't 
require messing with your bootloader.

-dc