When does memtest86+ stop?
When does memtest86+ stop?
I'm running memtest now for over 60 hours and don't really understand when it stops. As per the web it runs 12 tests. But are these tests run per memory slot? I have 6 slots and currently passed 21, but it is still going. To get a pass, the 12 tests are run. So I'm a bit confused when this will end.
2 Answers
2
It stops when you press Esc, I mean it loops until you stop it.
The number N of completed passes is indicated as Pass: N (it was Pass: 0 when the very first pass was running). I guess after 60 hours your N is relatively huge.
Pass: N
Pass: 0
The message Pass complete, no errors, pres Esc to exit appears when the very first pass finishes without errors. If consecutive passes finish without errors, the message stays.
Pass complete, no errors, pres Esc to exit
If there were errors, the program also loops. Either way it's your job to stop it. In case of errors there's almost no point of running additional passes. If there are no errors, running multiple passes is advised because there's non-zero probability that a faulty memory module successfully passes all tests. The more passes without errors, the more certain you may be your RAM is fine. In this case you stop the program when you think it's enough.
@user8: yes, 2 or 3 passes is usually fine for memtest86+. If you're looking for errors like data corruption while transferring, do Prime95 stress tests with large block sizes to stress cache and the interconnect between CPU and DRAM (at high temperature), rather than looking for a specific DRAM cell or address/data line that's bad.
– Peter Cordes
Sep 3 at 23:47
Also be aware that there is MemTest86 (the original version) and the MemTest86+ fork (which is not being maintained at the moment). They aren't the same software.
The current MemTest86 V7 release auto-terminates after 4 passes. It is a good idea to do at least 2 passes, as the first pass is a quicker less intense pass. This was a design choice done with the goal of picking up gross errors faster.
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Thx for your answer. It passed 21 with no errors, so think thats more than fine
– user8
Sep 2 at 21:19