[clug] Run memtest86 on all new RAM!

[Rodney Peters]

On Mon, 2 May 2011 13:59:29 linux-request at lists.samba.org wrote:
> Message: 6
> Date: Mon, 2 May 2011 13:34:17 +1000
> From: Michael James <clug3 at james.st>
> To: CLUG List <linux at lists.samba.org>
> Subject: [clug] Run memtest86 on all new RAM!
> Message-ID: <4CCD0C65-D751-4E08-B103-AD9A8D8A0250 at james.st>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Just found that a stick of RAM I installed 2 months ago is faulty.
> 
> The supplier is dispatching a replacement by courier
>  so I've no complaints about the warrantee.
> 
> But running with it has left me with a corrupted HFS+ filesystem.
> 
> I think I've got all the files off safely, reformatted and re-
installed
> etc. so I survived, but hassle, worry and time wasted.
> 
> 
> I'm drawing 2 lessons from this:
> 
>   1)    Backup, always have a backup!
> 
>   2)    Run at least 1 cycle of memtest86 against all new RAM
>          on insertion and again after a week of use.
> 
>   I'm also wondering if modern machines with many Gig need ECC ram?
>
perhaps, but also worth scouring the mainboard manual for any not 
prominently documented restrictions on RAM speed when full complement 
of DIMM modules or GB is installed.

> 
> -- 
>           There is no Perl one-liner
>  that a page of java can't do more correctly
> 
>   Michael James         clug3 at james.st

Rod