Linux Weird RAM issue or Ubuntu at fault ?

A

alcy

Disciple
Hello folks, I faced a strange problem last night.

I just set the timings, frequency & voltage of my RAM as per the company-recommended settings at 1333MHz(using memory ratio equal to 5 on my motherboard), 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5V for the particular model (in sig).

The thing is I tested the settings in memtest86+ for over an hour without errors (one complete pass).

However, when I booted into the OS, and started doing some web browsing, the system rebooted. This happened twice.

I am still using the same settings, and nothing has happened yet.

My questions:

1. Could this possibly be a software issue ?
2. What could have led to the reboots ?
3. I have been running the system now for over two hours now, and nothing has happened yet. Should I be worried still ?
 
Could be the buggy binary blob you are using. I had lot of stability issues with nvidia blob on 9.10 ( 2.6.31 and 2.6.32 kernel ). The system would freeze in my case. The nvidia drivers are very unstable with nv 8x and up cards on 31 and 32 series kernel for some poor souls :P

Adding the following line to the kernel boot parameter fixed the issue for me.
pci=nommconf clocksource=hpet
 
Woah really ?

Just to let you know, I have been using the binary drivers for as long as I have bought the rig (doing overclocking on & off routinely) and its only now that I have got a problem.

But no harm in trying what you have suggested. If you don't mind me asking, what do the arguments actually mean/do ?
 
If its not a problem earlier then it could be some other issue, you could do some stress testing to ensure the system is stable after the overclock.

pci=nommconf will make the system to use alternate bios mapping

clocksource=hpet uses hpet for calculating the clock value,

do a google or man page search to get detailed exp ;)
 
Sure, thanks. Repped.

As I mentioned, memtest86+ as well as a bit of Prime didn't return errors. And to update the status a bit, been quite sometime now (~6 hours) with the settings and nothing has happened. Wonder what's the story of the two mystical reboots. :)

UPDATE: I think I might know the issue. Since turbo-boost was enabled, it is possible that an increase in the base clock frequency caused the RAM frequency to increase...but since it was already at its limit, therefore crossing the limit might have caused a reboot ?

Of course, this is true if indeed my thinking is right. Point of apprehension: does enabling turbo-boost and when it actually works, increases the RAM frequency in real time also ? Or once the RAM frequency in BIOS is fixed, can it not be altered by the controller ?
 
As I said earlier mine would freeze, sometimes in 5 mins, sometimes after a week of uptime. There are lots of posts on nvnews forum regarding the stability issues with nvidia binary blob with certain models.
 
Instead of taking wild guesses, why not refer to the logs and find out? Have a look at system logs and see if you find anything fishy

PS: All system logs in /var/log
 
how many RAM chips do you have? if you have multiple try running with just one at a time plugged in and see if that helps identify potential broken RAM....

sometimes even "long running" memtest is of no use unless you run it for like REALLY long :)

its also likely that those timings you changed are not 100% compatible (mobo with ram chips) so you should change it back to the stable settings.

btw, are ALL your ram chips (if you have multiple) the same make and model???
 
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