Memtest 86

[drwho9437]

I have a Lenovo T60, I believe the chipset is intel 945, in any case.

I have been having a lot of NMI Parity memory errors. I've run memcheck 86 on the two 1 GB SIMMs I have. Both pass 2 passes alone, but together they fail.

I have checked them individually in both slots both slots, that seems to be OK. The have the same timings in theory.

So the question is, is the chipset or the T60 finicky about memory? What might the issue be?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I am going to take a guess here and say that with both chips in that its trying to do dual channel and is having an issues with them being incompatible (can rarely happen even when both sticks are the same model and manuf)

I have a T60 here myself so if I can be of further help let me know.

 

[degibson]

It could be a fault in the memory controller's interleaving mechanism, or any one of lots of other things between the memory modules and the CPU on the motherboard.

Since both modules pass individually, you can probably assume the memory is OK.

 

[ch33zw1z]

This is what my search for "lenovo nmi errors" turned up. not sure if it will help

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/supp...ovo&lndocid=MIGR-67654

 

[bruceb]

First would be did you get the correct or faster speed memory
for the computer ? ? Faster is always better, but not cheaper.

Second would be is the memory voltage in the BIOS set to
the minimum or just a tad higher than what the memory
you have is specd to run at ? ?

Third are you using the very latest BIOS ? ? If not, try upgrading
it. IBM may have fixed something in there that could cause it.

Last resort: Borrow or buy 2 new memory sticks (another make)
try them and see..If ok then your computer is very picky about
memory brands / speeds or your memory really has a problem
that memtest can't find.

Just looked at the link provided above & that does seem to be
a known issue. Perhaps try that first .. Nothiing to lose.

 

[drwho9437]

Thanks for the replies guys.

RadiclDreamer: Yes I think that also, it might have to do with duel channel because the sticks are the same size but they are not matched. However, I don't see how you can turn off duel channel by hand in the BIOS seems like they dumbed it down a lot and the only setting under memory is check memory. As another T60 owner do you know how to get into the more low level settings for memory like timings and the like.

ch33zw1z:
I have seen that, but I don't have that network card. It only happened once I added the second module to my computer but the number of errors has increased from one every other week to one every other day since I added the second module.

There also were many software driver changes in that time period and the first crash, might not have been a memory parity error as all I have to go on is the windows logs, and it could have crashed for other reasons, but no blue screens in 6 months then in the same month I added memory that is pretty damning to the memory.

Some people think that ATi hypermemory implementation is to blame over at the thinkpads forum. But it is hard to say, and if that is the issue then why with the second stick, hence why I also suspect the duel channel.

Bruceb:
They are matched except for manufacturer. DDR 667 CL 5 1 Gb.

The IBM BIOS does not appear to let you modify low level settings.

Again I don't have the network card, I don't think I have a source for borrowing.


EDIT: Oh yes I have the second latest BIOS. In the interest of reproducibility I'm not changing that parameter, the change log does not indicate the changes would improve the problem.

 

[bruceb]

Then the memory is not matched. For a lot of dual channel systems,
they need to be from the same manufacturer for best results. In some
cases, llke yours, use of two ram modules from different makers may
not work properly.

 

[RebateMonger]

It's not unheard of to have memory modules that will pass Memtest when tested alone, but fail when used together in dual channel mode. I've seen it happen, even with "matched" memory. If you read the Forum on the site that hosts Memtest, you'll see other examples of this problem.

My solution is always to replace both modules with another brand of memory that passes Memtest in dual-channel mode. Laptops have always picky about memory, and it's been uncommon to find that certain memory brands simply won't work properly with a certain laptop.

 

[Muse]

Don't know that it would make any difference, but there's a newer version of memtest86, being memtest86+, also a free download. More support, some bug fixes, that kind of thing.

I also have a T60, but the 1.5 GB of memory was installed on the machine when I got it.