From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S264436AbTDPQDl (ORCPT ); Wed, 16 Apr 2003 12:03:41 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S264451AbTDPQDl (ORCPT ); Wed, 16 Apr 2003 12:03:41 -0400 Received: from zcars04f.nortelnetworks.com ([47.129.242.57]:57568 "EHLO zcars04f.nortelnetworks.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S264436AbTDPQDd (ORCPT ); Wed, 16 Apr 2003 12:03:33 -0400 Message-ID: <3E9D8062.1060202@nortelnetworks.com> Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 12:10:10 -0400 X-Sybari-Space: 00000000 00000000 00000000 From: Chris Friesen User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:0.9.8) Gecko/20020204 X-Accept-Language: en-us MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Brien Cc: John Bradford , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: my dual channel DDR 400 RAM won't work on any linux distro References: <200304161511.h3GFBoe7000614@81-2-122-30.bradfords.org.uk> <003801c3042e$a6bcbea0$6901a8c0@athialsinp4oc1> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Brien wrote: > I ran Memtest86, and there're 290 errors that showed up from test 7. But the > thing that I don't understand is, if I use either of the RAM modules alone, > Linux loads and runs perfectly for as long as I've tried; Could it possibly > be a problem with something besides the RAM (e.g. motherboard, CPU)? And I > still don't know if my RAM setup is even supported by Linux -- I'm guessing > that it is though (?). Memory support is generally not something handled by the OS. The more RAM modules you've got, the more reactance on the bus to memory. It may be that the second module is loading down the bus enough that the mobo can't keep up with the timings. Try easing off a bit on the memory timings and/or strengthening the memory drive strength. Linux often shows up memory problems when M$ doesn't since it is a) more aggressive in its use of memory, and b) capable of driving cpu and chipset closer to their theoretical limits. Chris -- Chris Friesen | MailStop: 043/33/F10 Nortel Networks | work: (613) 765-0557 3500 Carling Avenue | fax: (613) 765-2986 Nepean, ON K2H 8E9 Canada | email: cfriesen@nortelnetworks.com