Please help !! My System Has A Memory Error But It's Not The RAM's Fault !!

I need help !!

I have a PIII system, 1.3 GHZ - actually it's a Celeron. I have 3 RAM
modules on it, each 512 MB, for total of 1.5 GB.

Lately my system acted strangely, so I ran a battery of memory tests,
both the Norton Diagnostic and Memtest told me that the sytem RAM is
faulty.

The faulty memory location is at 14XXXXXXX - sometimes 144XXXXXX,
sometimes 145XXXXXX, sometimes 146XXXXXX, everytime I reboot the
machine, the "exact location" changed.

Since it supposed to be the RAM fault, and I wanted to see which one
is at fault, I change the location of the RAM module. To my surprise,
the "faulty location" stationed somewhere 14XXXXXXX - even when I have
switched the location of the 3 RAM modules.

Now I got curious. So I plug in a 256MB module, and unplug the 3 512MB
module, and ran the memtest (and Norton Diagnostic) again.

Lo and behold, the "faulty location" is at 14XXXXXXX !!

So, now I am facing with a "faulty memory" problem but it ain't the
RAM !

Can anyone please tell me what's going on ?

I've even eye-balled and cleaned the RAM module sockets, but the fault
is STILL THERE, at 14XXXXXXX !

What else I should do to locate the origin of the error ?

I know that it may be my MOBO, but I just want to know WHICH part of
the MOBO is acting up.

Many, many thanks in advance !!

 

Run memtest86 on your system with a single stick of RAM in it at a time.
Then try two.
Then all three.

You should be able to track down where the problem lies.

http://www.memtest86.com/


-WD

 

Look at the capacitors (those tall, and not so tall, cans), especially
those near the memory slots. If their tops are bulging, or brown goop
is oozing out, then that's your problem.

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/feb03/ncap.html

 

Sounds like a bus error. Is your PSU good? Mobo properly grounded?
Bad caps? or noise on the 3.3V line?

-- Robert

 

Most of the things you identify would not always point to the same
location.

 

Can be. Not all errors are within set locations - the error may be at
another level within the addressing logic, rather than within the data
of certain address cells.

OK. At this point it's worth mentioning that the memory system isn't
just the RAM itself, but also L1 and L2 cache (in processor) and the
support logic of the motherboard's chipset, etc.

SiS mobo chipset? Specifically, SiS 650 I think? Always test 5 in
MemTest86, and OK in tests 0-4 and 6-7? BT, DT.

Swap-test processor, if possible, and check things like:
- RAM timings in CMOS
- exclude overclocking
- bad motherboard capacitors
- inadequate PSU (<235W, for Socket 370)

Unless it's capacitors, the parts involved will be surface-mounted and
not amenable to soldering-iron-mediated replacement.

"I think it's time we took our
friendship to the next level"
'What, gender roles and abuse?'

 

I thought he'd done that, but if not; check mobo's manual - not all
will tolerate the electrical loading of 3 x 512M DIMMs.

Also, try putting the slowest DIMM in Slot 0. If mobo auto-adjusts
timings as per the first SPD it sees, you want that to be the slowest
one, so that timings will be conservative enough for the slowest RAM.

NNA Tech Support, 2037:
"Double-click 'My Silo', click Map..."

 

Another issue is whether or not the RAM is registered. Usually when
systems have lots of RAM, it's required that it be registered to avoid
timing issues.


-WD

 

The DDR memory bus on a PC is not ideally terminated - there will be
reflections and other transmission line effects. I've seen quite a few
boards where the maximum memory bus speed that could be used without
errors would change noticeably depending on which slot(s) were used
for one or two memory modules was placed. With three modules, the
memory bus will be relatively heavily loaded and this is something of
a worst case situation, especially if the modules are double sided (a
common case for 512 MB modules). I think one of the other posters
pointed out that sytems that require large amounts of memory generally
use registered memory as this allows more time for the data signals on
the memory bus to settle.

Robert

 

I ran memtest86, and did what you say. Ran ALL the tests, standard and
extended, and memtest86 reported NO ERROR.

And when I went back to Windows, it acted strange again. Ran the
Norton Utility Diagnostic, and the memory error still appears.

Dunno what's going on. Just running out of options here !

Thanks for your help !!

 

Did that, and the problem persists. Dunno what's wrong. Now at least,
after running memtest86, I am sure that there's no problem on my RAM
module. Checked the mobo's spec, no problem for 3 X 512 MB ram module.

I know something is wrong, and the only thing is that I dunno what it
is, and this is bugging me !!

 

I can "see" all the RAM on the bootup, because the mobo does read ALL
the 1.5 GB of the RAM. I assume all the RAM is registered. Am I right
?

 

Does your motherboard share memory with onboard video?

What about other BIOS settings such as "OS/2 Onboard Memory >64M" or
"memory holes"?

Is your faulty location 14XXXXXX or 14XXXXXXX, ie 6 or 7 Xs? Can you
see anything occupying this address space when you go to Control Panel
-> System -> Computer -> Properties -> Memory?

AFAICS, 14XXXXXX = 320MB and 14XXXXXXX = 5120MB, so this makes your
test failure with a single 256MB module appear very strange.


- Franc Zabkar

 

On 28 Aug 2004 07:22:55 -0700, (Penang) wrote
Have you tried the Norton test with just one memory stick at a time? Two
sticks at a time?

It is possible that you have a motherboard problem and that the memory is
fine. In many systems, signals along data and address lines couple to give
spurious signals on [seemingly] random at [seemingly] random times.
Sometimes this is data pattern related.

Also, was anything else running in the system when you ran Norton? If this
is a Windows program, have you tried it in safe mode?

Norm

 

Chris Brady's memtest86 is an excellent program to exhaustively
test all memory cells. Unfortunately, it is not very intensive
(running maximum bandwidth).

My burnMMX program is not nearly so exhaustive, but it tries
to be intense. I have a new `burnRAM` pgm that is even
higher bandwidth, but I hate porting to MS-Win32.

You might see if you can keep `burnMMX P` running for a few
hours, or how quickly it stops (when it finds an error).

-- Robert author `cpuburn` http://pages.sbcglobal.net/redelm

 

Did anyone suggest this yet...?...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304943&Product=w98
Computer May Reboot Continuously with More Than 1.5 GB of RAM

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q184447
Insufficient Memory

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;253912
"Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed

(1) "START, Run, MSConfig, System.ini tab, [vcache] section".
Don't just open the section; click it to highlight.
(2) Click the "New" button
(3) Type in: "MaxFileCache=524288"
(4) Click "Apply" and "OK". Reboot.

JUST, don't exceed usable RAM, as seen at "START, Run, MSInfo32"...
376MB RAM, it says for me, because Video has grabbed away 8 MB.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

| > Penang wrote:
| > > I need help !!
| > >
| > > I have a PIII system, 1.3 GHZ - actually it's a Celeron. I have 3
RAM
| > > modules on it, each 512 MB, for total of 1.5 GB.
| > >
| > > Lately my system acted strangely, so I ran a battery of memory
tests,
| > > both the Norton Diagnostic and Memtest told me that the sytem RAM
is
| > > faulty.
| >
| > Run memtest86 on your system with a single stick of RAM in it at a
time.
| > Then try two.
| > Then all three.
| >
| > You should be able to track down where the problem lies.
| >
| > http://www.memtest86.com/
| >
| >
| > -WD
|
| I ran memtest86, and did what you say. Ran ALL the tests, standard and
| extended, and memtest86 reported NO ERROR.
|
| And when I went back to Windows, it acted strange again. Ran the
| Norton Utility Diagnostic, and the memory error still appears.
|
| Dunno what's going on. Just running out of options here !
|
| Thanks for your help !!

 

Have you tried another test:
http://home.earthlink.net/~alegr/download/memtest.htm

 

PSS 253912 and 304943 apply to Win9x only, not to NT/2K/XP.

 

I don't much care about NT/2K/XP, especially XP.

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

| PSS 253912 and 304943 apply to Win9x only, not to NT/2K/XP.
|
|
| | > Did anyone suggest this yet...?...
| >
| >
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304943&Product=w98
| > Computer May Reboot Continuously with More Than 1.5 GB of RAM
| >
| > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q184447
| > Insufficient Memory
| >
| > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;253912
| > "Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed
| >
| > (1) "START, Run, MSConfig, System.ini tab, [vcache] section".
| > Don't just open the section; click it to highlight.
| > (2) Click the "New" button
| > (3) Type in: "MaxFileCache=524288"
| > (4) Click "Apply" and "OK". Reboot.
| >
| > JUST, don't exceed usable RAM, as seen at "START, Run, MSInfo32"...
| > 376MB RAM, it says for me, because Video has grabbed away 8 MB.
| >
| >
| > --
| > Thanks or Good Luck,
| > There may be humor in this post, and,
| > Naturally, you will not sue,
| > should things get worse after this,
| > PCR
| >
| > | > | > | > Penang wrote:
| > | > > I need help !!
| > | > >
| > | > > I have a PIII system, 1.3 GHZ - actually it's a Celeron. I
have 3
| > RAM
| > | > > modules on it, each 512 MB, for total of 1.5 GB.
| > | > >
| > | > > Lately my system acted strangely, so I ran a battery of memory
| > tests,
| > | > > both the Norton Diagnostic and Memtest told me that the sytem
RAM
| > is
| > | > > faulty.
| > | >
| > | > Run memtest86 on your system with a single stick of RAM in it at
a
| > time.
| > | > Then try two.
| > | > Then all three.
| > | >
| > | > You should be able to track down where the problem lies.
| > | >
| > | > http://www.memtest86.com/
| > | >
| > | >
| > | > -WD
| > |
| > | I ran memtest86, and did what you say. Ran ALL the tests, standard
and
| > | extended, and memtest86 reported NO ERROR.
| > |
| > | And when I went back to Windows, it acted strange again. Ran the
| > | Norton Utility Diagnostic, and the memory error still appears.
| > |
| > | Dunno what's going on. Just running out of options here !
| > |
| > | Thanks for your help !!
| >
| >
|
|

 

That's interesting; more on that, please? I never did figure out what
"registered" RAM was and why it may be worth the extra cost.

"I think it's time we took our
friendship to the next level"
'What, gender roles and abuse?'