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FAQ
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- What is memtest86+, what do I use it for?
Memtest86+ is a utility designed to test whether your memory is in working
order. It repeatedly writes an enormous amount of different patterns to all
memory locations and reads them back again and verifies whether the result
of the read is the same as what was written to memory.
There can be a multitude of reasons for running memtest, but foremost of all
is of course to test whether your memory modules might be bad. Whenever you
suspect your modules to be bad because of system crashes, lockups or reboots
it would be nice to know whether the modules are in working order.
Memtest86+ is a utility which tries to answer that question for you.
Another common use exists in the overclocking scene. When overclocking a
system you are essentially pushing your system to the limits and at some
point it will simply give way and break. Unfortunately there isn't a clear
cut way of deciding whether a system is still working correctly. Because of
the complexity of a computer a system which is pushed to the limits doesn't
just break completely when it starts to fail, instead little errors start
showing up in many different places in the system growing more frequent and
widespread the more the system is pushed. Each one of these little errors
can lead to a crash of your system but can also go unnoticed for days or
weeks in a running system. The art so to speak of overclocking is thus to
push the system as far as it can go without introducing any such errors. As
memory is usually one of the first places these such errors start coming up
a memory test is very useful.
- How do I get it to run?
There are several ways to use memtest, which are described below:
+ Run from floppydisk
Memtest86+ is directly executable by any modern x86 compatible machine, by
writing the bootable binary to a floppy disk one can boot from the disk to
run memtest.
Simply download the appropriate package, the Pre-Compiled Bootable Binary
(.gz) package for Linux users and the Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS
- Win) for Windows users.
For Windows, unzip the package into a directory like C:\memtest, insert a
blank floppy into your a: disk drive and run the install.bat file. As the
install prompts you, to use memtest directly, leave the disk in the drive
and reboot your machine.
For Linux, unpack the package into your home directory, insert a blank
floppy into your floppy drive and execute 'dd if=~/memtest+-1.xx.bin.gz
of=/dev/fd0 conv=osync' replacing 1.xx with the correct version number of
the memtest86+ you downloaded. To run memtest immediately reboot your
machine.
Your machine should now boot from the disk, display the word Loading
folowed by a series of periods and then show a screen much like the
screenshots on the memtest86+ web page. The test is automatically started.
If your machine simply boots back into Windows/Linux you will most likely
have to configure your BIOS to attempt to boot from floppy disk on
startup, refer to your computer's/mainboard's manual how to do this.
When you are done testing simply remove the floppy and reset your
computer, if ever you want to execure the test again simply reinsert the
disk and reboot/start your computer.
+ Run from CD
Memtest86+ is directly executable by any modern x86 compatible machine, by
writing the iso to a CD one can boot from the CD to run memtest.
Simply download the appropriate package, the Download - Pre-Compiled
Bootable ISO (.gz) for Linux users and the Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO
(.zip) for Windows users.
For Windows, unzip the package into a directory like C:\memtest. You will
now see a file called memtest86+-1.xx.iso in this directory. You will need
to burn this file to a CD with a CD recording program. Do note however
that you should not make a regular data CD on which you for instance write
your text documents and holiday photographs. Instead the iso file is a so
called image of a CD, it is a direct copy of a CD. Your CD recording
program will most likely have a feature called burn image or something to
that effect which you should use to burn the CD.
For linux, unzip the package into your home directory. and execute
'cdrecord dev=<your burner> ~/memtest86+-1.xx.iso' where you replace <your
burner> with the scsi address of your CD burner and replace 1.xx with the
correct version number of the memtest86+ your downloaded.
When the burning completed your drive will most likely have ejected the CD
and you should have a bootable memtest86+ CD. To run the test directly
reinsert the CD and reboot your machine.
Your machine should now boot from the CD, display the word Loading folowed
by a series of periods and then show a screen much like the screenshots on
the memtest86+ web page. The test is automatically started.
If your machine simply boots back into Windows/Linux you will most likely
have to configure your BIOS to attempt to boot from CD-ROM drive on
startup, refer to your computer's/mainboard's manual how to do this.
When you are done testing simply remove the CD and reset your computer, if
ever you want to execure the test again simply reinsert the CD and
reboot/start your computer.
+ Run from USB Flash drive
FIXME
+ Run from boot manager
FIXME
- How long does memtest86+ run? How do I stop it?
Memtest86+ runs indefinately unless you stop it. It does however repeat the
same tests over and over again. Memtest86+ contains a number of different
tests which each take different approaches in trying to expose any errors in
your memory. In the top right of your screen you can see the progress of
each test in the lower of the two progress bars. The topmost progress bar
shows the progress of a pass, each pass consists of all the tests in the
memtest suite.
Thus all tests are executed in one pass, so does that mean that no errors
will show after the first pass if that pass didn't reveal any errors? Well
no, there are several reasons why errors might only show up after a number
of passes. Firstly as of this writing, the latest version of memtest also
includes a test which uses random test patterns, each pass these patterns
will of course be different. Secondly some types of errors simply don't show
up until the system has been running for a while or are very critical on a
certain timing condition, or other such conditions.
To conclude, one successful pass of memtest will give you a pretty good idea
that your memory is ok, only in rare cases will there be errors showing
after the first pass. To be sure though simply have the test run overnight
or even for a couple of days depending on the level of importance of the
system.
- How many errors are acceptable?
No errors are acceptable. Even if there is just one error, something is
amiss which can cause your system to crash. Of course what the cause of the
errors is you will still have to determine.
- What do I do when I get errors?
Firstly, don't start drawing any conclusions. You only know that memtest86+
is giving your errors, not what the cause is. Unfortunately it is not a
straightforward exercise to decisively test the memory in an actual system.
This is because a computer is not just built up of some memory, but also
includes many other elements such as a memory controller, cache, a cache
controller, algorithmic and logic units, etc, all of which contribute to the
machine. If there are faults in any of these other parts of the computer you
will likely also see errors showing up in memtest.
So what to do? First verify that the BIOS settings of your machine are
correctly configured. Look up the memory timing settings applicable to the
brand and type of memory modules you have and check they match your BIOS
settings, correct them if they don't and run memtest again
Ok, you have all the settings correctly set and you're still getting errors.
Well of course a very likely cause are the memory modules and the logical
course of action is to look into them further.
If you are well stocked, have a few other machines at your disposal, or just
want to spend the cash for some new modules the best way to test if the
cause are your memory modules is just to replace them and test again. If you
are less fortunate though there is still something you can do.
If you have more then one module in your system, test them one by one, if
one is consistently giving errors and another is consistently showing no
errors it's a pretty good bet that the module giving the errors is simply
defective. To exclude the possibility that a defective slot is throwing your
results, use the same slot to test each different module.
If each module by itself shows no errors, but when you place two or more
modules into the machine at the same time you do get errors, you are most
likely stuck with a compatibility issue and unfortunately there isn't a
whole lot you can do about it. Be sure to check your computer/motherboard
manual to see if the setup you are trying is allowed, some boards require
special restrictions in the sizes of modules, the order of modules, the
placement of double sided and single sides modules and more of such things.
If you have only one module in your system, or all modules are giving
errors, there are only very few options left. The only thing you can do
really is to try the module(s) in another slot. Finally simply try out
different orders of the memory modules, although your manual might not
mention anything on the matter sometimes there simply exist timing or other
issues which can be resolved by changing the order of your modules. And of
course test each slot by putting a single module into that slot and running
memtest on it.
In the end if you still have not been able to localize the problem you will
have to find a replacement module to establish whether the problem lies in
your modules. See if you can borrow a module from someone else.
When you have replaced the memory by new memory and the errors still
persist, first check if you can rule out any compatibility issues or timing
issues. If you are sure the memory should work in the system the cause of
the errors must obviously lie someplace else in the system.
The only way to find out where, is by trial and error really. Simply start
replacing and/or removing parts of your computer one by one, running memtest
each time you changed anything, until the errors are resolved.
- I'm getting errors in test #x, what doest that mean?
Interpreting memtest results is as scientific an endeavour as testing
whether a person is a witch by the methods used in Monty Python's Holy
Grail. In short, don't even start, it's not going to get you anywhere. Just
interpret any error as you should any other and use the methods descibed in
the previous question to determine the cause.
- I'm getting errors in test #5 and/or #8 and have read a lot about it.
Yes there are just about enough discussions on the topic to fill a book, but
it all boils down to the answer given above. The only thing that can be said
is that many a times, when memory latencies are incorrectly set in the BIOS
you will experience errors in test #5 and #8. (Though #8 does not exist
anymore as of version 1.40 and might be reinstated as a different test in a
later version.) This does however NOT mean that errors in these tests are
always the cause of incorrect settings, your memory might just as well be
defective.
- I'm getting errors in memtest on one machine, but not when I put the same
memory in another, what does that mean?
It can mean one of two things:
- The machine that is giving the errors is defective. Errors don't just
orginate from the memory module itself, but can also be caused by
defects in the cpu, chipset, motherboard, PSU and even by timing issues
introduced by any other component in the machine.
- The machine giving the errors is imposing stricter timing than the other
which the memory module simply can't cope with. If the module should
work with the machine according to its specifications then it most
likely is defective.
- Which memory is tested?
As much as possible of the system memory is tested. Unfortunately memtest86+
can usually not test all of the memory. The reason for this is that todays
processors have become so complex that they require a small amount of memory
to keep accounting data of the processor state. If memtest were to write
over these areas the state of the processor becomes invalid and it's
behaviour unpredictable. Alas it is also impossible to relocate these areas
in the memory.
This means that a small area of your memory can not be tested by memtest. If
this part of the memory is defective you will know soon enough though as the
processor, or parts of the processor simply won't work correctly if this
part of your memory is defective. Do realise though that in very rare cases
memtest will show no errors even though the module is defective, not because
memtest can't detect the error, but because memtest can't test the area the
error is located in.
- When I select BIOS-ALL I get many errors / my machine crashes.
This is normal. With todays computers this option should never be selected.
See the previous question about the reason for the errors.
- I want to use memtest on a multiboot CD, how do I do this?
This is of course very dependent on which boot loader you use for your CD.
Below is a description of how to set up a multiboot CD including memtest+
with isolinux, if you have experience with any other bootloader(s) please
consider writing a small description of using memtest with that bootloader
for the FAQ.
-isolinux
For general instructions on how to make a bootable CD with isolinux see
the syslinux website and the manual. What you need to do to get memtest
working is as follows.
Download the Pre-Compiled Bootable Binary, the .gz if you are working
under linux, the .zip if you are working under windows. Unpack the file
from the package and rename it to an 8.3 filename with an extension other
than .bin, renaming to memtest. (without an extension) is a good choice.
Put the file somewhere in your CD directory structure, for example in
images/memtest and edit your config file to include the following:
label memtest
kernel /images/memtest
If you want to boot memtest automatically insert or change a line at the
top to:
default memtest
If you want to display a prompt from which you can start memtest add or
change the lines at the top to: (Change the timeout to suit your needs)
prompt 1
timeout 200
- If memtest86+ shows no errors does that mean my memory is not defective?
Of course no answers are definitive, no matter how good memtest86+ will
eventually become there is always the possibility that a particular type of
error will go unnoticed. As long as you are having no problems with the
system it will be pretty safe to say that the modules are good. If you are
having problems with the system however you will just have to check by trial
and error, ie swapping the modules for new ones and/or testing with modules
of a different brand/type.
- When I run install.bat it doesn't write anything to floppy.
You most likely have unpacked the memtest+-2.xx.floppy.zip file into a
folder with a long pathname and/or containing + and - signs. It seems
rawrite doesn't like that. Just move the files you unpacked to a directory
like c:\memtest and execure it from there.