Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of doctortony
doctortony

asked on

Diagnosing a Memory Error

I'm running a Dell Precision Workstation 650 (1 yr old). It has 2GB, 266MHz,Double Data Rate SDRAM,ECC,4x512 memory. It's still covered by a service agreement; however, sometimes I like to get some expert advice before calling tech support.
      A few months ago, at boot, I would get the message "Uncorrectable memory failure ...Press F1 to continue". The Dell Diagnostics "March A Test" identified the problem in addresses 73D00000h - 73DFFFFFh as Error Code 2F00:0419, ECC Error encountered. Suspected DIMM B.
     Dell sent me 4 new DIMMs. However, I would still get the message sometimes--not all the time. I would just "Press F1 to continue..." since the machine worked fine. More recently, the machine has been freezing.
     I ran the Dell diagnostics, and got the same error code, this time for DIMM A. If I switch the first and last DIMMs, I get the same error message, identifying DIMM A as the problem. Does it seem likely that the problem really is the DIMM or something in the system board?
SOLUTION
Avatar of Pete Long
Pete Long
Flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland image

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
I see Pete is on the case ... :-)
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
tmj883 - Outstanding post :)
Avatar of tmj883
tmj883

Wish I could correct some of my spelling but I hope this helps all of the subscribers. I have found this to be a "hidden" problem with many different mainboards and mem modules especially for people who upgrade a pre-existing system with more memory. The application of modern memory technology has become complex. The term compatible memory means alot of different things today. While we concentrate on the number of banks, timings, bandwidth, etc. let's not forget basics like detailed assembly practices.
For doctortony,
What if we have good installation of good modules in a good mainboard...two other possibilities come to mind when it comes to Dell machines...case heat(Dells are generally quiet machines but their cooling is from the school of minimal) assure good ventilation. And power supply...these are minimal efforts as well. Could be a failing ps. In any event, Dell backs their products...use your service agreement...T
ThanQ