Memtest freezing at 16 percent

memory memtest86+

27,259

Solution 1

I recently hit the same issue on Memtest 5.01 Release version. The test fails exactly at Step #7. At around 20-25% progress indicator.

If something similar is happening to you, the recommended solution is to not use SMP mode. I am guessing you did the the same thing as me. Hit F2 and enable SMP when the test starts. If that is not what happened and you do not see SMP enabled in the memtest86+ screen then you should try the other solutions recommended here.

Currently there is no known fix for this. Officially on memtest.org86+ only 5.01 exists as latest release as of this writing. If you are using a higher version it is likely an OEM but likely uses the same underlying base code with minor modification inheriting the issue.

Reference: http://forum.canardpc.com/threads/84663-Memtest86-is-freezing-while-running-test-7

When I ran the tests without SMP everything checks out. The only reason I investigated is because I find it hard to believe Hardware will be the most likely cause of issues so I would suggest trying different methods to confirm hardware failure.

I wasted half a day on this test and google brought me here first. Now I hope other can save that time to run test without SMP.

Solution 2

If Memtest freezes up, and doesn't recover (if you just let it keep running a while), then I can only conclude that this really is a good, strong indicator that the memory is not properly accessible.

Usually when there are memory errors, MemTest does not have a problem continuing to run, but it does continue, and so MemTest draws something on the screen. Having it completely freeze does indicate that the system's stability was affected, which is one of the possible symptoms of memory not working right.

This could be a bad memory stick, a bad motherboard, or maybe some other issue like a bug with a CPU feature. Disabling the CPU feature might help make Memtest work better in that case, and if so, may result in the system working better at other times (when you have a normal operating system booted up). There may be other possible causes; in theory, a damaged motherboard could cause errors when trying to access memory.

I would not trust this computer with any important data-handling tasks until I troubleshot further (which may involve replacing parts with other parts) to get to the bottom of the issue. I might tolerate the computer for something like playing a video, where a bit of inaccurate memory handling (loss) might be tolerable, for entertainment. If I cared about the presentation, like a business meeting where I am relying on the system stability so that I have a nice presentation, then I wouldn't be trusting this system. Understand that memory is needed to access data; bad memory can result in incorrect data being written, which could cause further troubles. Do treat this as a top priority until it really seems resolved.

And if you've been doubting whether there really is an issue or not, I'm interpreting your MemTest results to say yes, most certainly: there is. I'm not trying to say that I know exactly what is causing the problem, but I am confirming that something is wrong. Memtest did its job by conclusively telling you that.

Solution 3

There's likely a bug with MemTest+ 5.01, see this question of mine from a while ago:

How likely is it that I've encountered a MemTest+ bug?

It may or may not be the reason you're seeing a freeze. It's still quite likely that there's an actual problem with your memory.

Solution 4

This is most definitely a bug with memtest86+ 5.01

I am testing a blade system which was freezing at 7%, this is with built in memtest from proxmox installer which is the dreaded 5.01.

Switching to SystemRescue (memtest86+ 5.31b-1) it works fine and does not stop at 7%.

Bug is documented (specifically in verion 5.01):

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/memtest86+/+bug/1876157


*** Enhancements in v5.31b : ***
I've started compiling many codes branches to release public builds again! Here is Memtest86+ 5.31b, with many bug fixes in the core functions.

Also there is updated Memtest86+ branch at https://www.coreboot.org/Memtest86%2B - several people told, that this branch does work, where original Memtest 5.01 doesn't, see
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=943752

---- Original bugreport ----
I ran it twice, and both times it hung at exactly 79% in the first test. Even fail safe mode hung exactly at that point.

Then I booted with the floppy image from memtest86+-4.10.floppy.zip and it worked fine.

Today I installed memtest86+_5.01-3ubuntu2_amd64.deb from Ubuntu 19.10 and that worked fine too.

The failing version is 5.01-3.1ubuntu1.

Memory configuration is 2 * 2 GB (F2-6400CL5-2GBPQ) and 2 * 1 GB (OCZ2G8001G) working in dual channel mode. CPU is Harpertown Xeon X5470 running at stock speed (3.33 GHz).

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: memtest86+ 5.01-3.1ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-28.32-generic 5.4.30
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-28-generic x86_64
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Thu Apr 30 13:51:01 2020
SourcePackage: memtest86+
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to focal on 2020-04-06 (24 days ago)

Solution 5

It's probably because there is a memory fault that even memtest can't deal with. If you have multiple sticks of RAM, remove all but one and run memtest again. Repeat with each RAM module so you can identify the faulted one.

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27,259

Aloizio Macedo

I am a PhD in Mathematics at UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro) currently working at traffic control as an applied mathematician. You can see my webpage on IM-UFRJ here. My area of study in my DSc and MSc was Geometry and Topology. Specifically, I studied the free loop space of globally symmetric spaces and its homology in the specific case of CROSS's (Compact Rank One Symmetric Spaces) in my MSc. In my DSc, I studied the symmetric Hofer-Zehnder capacity (defined in symmetric symplectic manifolds, which are essentially symplectic manifolds equiped with an anti-symplectic involution with non empty fixed-point set) and arrived at results related to its finiteness under specific conditions. My main mathematical interests reside in the following areas: Topology Geometry Analysis Set Theory Foundations of Mathematics Algebra Functional Analysis Measure Theory I also like music, and I'm a huge fan of guitarist John Frusciante. I have a blog, on which I post something every once in a millennium: http://aloiziomacedo.weebly.com/ I have a Real Analysis book in development (mostly done), which you can see here (I've been adding some things, so the last sections are still incomplete). You can contact me at aloiziomacedo AT gmail DOT com.

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Aloizio Macedo almost 2 years

I'm having trouble with my PC freezing, and decided to run Memtest. What happens is: no error is being revealed, but the test gets halted when it reaches 8:30 min (16% of total test). Does this mean something? What should I do?
- Admin over 9 years
  
  Memtest86 v5.1, is that is? If so, yes :)
- Admin over 9 years
  
  Ok you're using a different version. I use this one: memtest.org. In any case, both versions share a lot of the same underlying code. When you run yours, is SMP (multi CPU/Core) mode enabled? That could absolutely be the issue. It's buggy and doesn't work with certain PC configurations.
- Admin over 9 years
  
  I'll check tomorrow and leave feedback. Thank you for your attention!
- Admin over 9 years
  
  Sorry, I could not find where that option is available : /, but I downloaded the v6. version of what I said and the problem persists.
- Admin over 9 years
  
  (1) Which test number is Memtest freezing on? (2) According to this thread Memtest will freeze on certain hardware configurations, but try the advice in the last entry. (3) If your BIOS has Legacy USB Support, try disabling it. (4) If you have several DIMMs try only one in the first slot if the motherboard allows it; if not then try other minimal configurations to isolate the problem.
- Admin over 9 years
  
  Also, (5) which operating system do you use and are all drivers updated?
- Admin over 9 years
  
  Please answer .
- Admin over 9 years
  
  (5) Windows 8, and yes I'll try the other things soon. Unfortunately, I've been busy. I have to send asap a project request to my university. Sorry for that.
Aloizio Macedo over 9 years

It may help to add this information: My computer is freezing, approximately twice, three times per day. When it freezes, a loud noise comes on the speaker. Is it associated?
TOOGAM over 9 years

Speaker noise can be caused by all sorts of things, like interference in a wire, or a motherboard misbehaving (and maybe sending out weird/wrong/bad sound data out its sound ports). Likely related? Really don't know; there's lots of possibilities to that. Could be; very good chance that it's not caused by bad memory; maybe some other bad part. Really hard to tell since so many things can cause that particular symptom. However, freezing is often something that is quite commonly caused by bad memory. Likely related? Yes, high probability on that one. Worth checking out.
Andreas Paulsson about 8 years

Same thing here, three years later. Running tests with SMP disabled works, but running with SMP enabled freeze at the exact same percentage in step 7.
Abhishek Dujari about 8 years

I had this issue again in March 2016 - 5 years later and hit the same. Forgot about this whole thing. Hit google and did not find my answer at all?? wasted hours searching. Can we all upvote this please to save the planet the collective waste of electricity. thank you
chrulri almost 8 years

Exactly this was the case with me too!
einpoklum over 7 years

I have a similar issue but at step #5.
einpoklum about 7 years

You shouldn't "only conclude". There always a chance it's a MemTest bug, and in fact, several people have been encountering one lately.
Daniel F about 7 years

I've hit the SMP-freeze issue with three different memory sets, all of the same properties (one RMA and one to check if RMA is a solution). It is either a bug in MemTest86+ or it's the CPU/Mobo which triggers this issue.
Community almost 3 years

Please add further details to expand on your answer, such as working code or documentation citations.
Thomas Guyot-Sionnest over 2 years

I've had issues with memtest too, wanted to test new 8GB dimms I got, no configuration worked and it seemed to always fail around the 4g memory hole. Turning on SMP just made it fail "sooner" (tbh I think it's the test that was twice as long, so sooner percent-wise), but it also failed sooner if I disabled the memory hole remapping in the BIOS. I ran a usermode memtest fine and the system is stable so far.