Memtest86+ ECC Test / ASRock ECC Enable

[_Will_]

I turned on my system for the first time today and it didn't blow up, so that was great - but I have two questions:

1. My mobo is ASRock E3C226D2I and I am using ECC RAM. Do I need to enable ECC RAM in the BIOS/UEFI somewhere? I couldn't find any options regarding enabling ECC.
2. I am currently running Memtest86+ version 5.01. I searched online and saw that Memtest86+ does perform ECC tests to ensure ECC is functioning properly. Do I need to do anything special in Memtest86+ in order to test for ECC functionality or will it automatically perform ECC checks if the the memory stick is ECC and the mobo is enabled for ECC (if it needs enabling)?

 

[Yatti420]

I've never seen an option in BIOS for ECC functionality (maybe if board supports ECC/non-ECC?)..

As for memtest i'm not sure if there is a specific test for ECC ram.. It may be able to detect if your ram is ECC.. The goal of memtest being aslong as you arent getting errors after a day or two of testing you should be ok..

 

[Ericloewe]

1. I am currently running Memtest86+ version 5.01. I searched online and saw that Memtest86+ does perform ECC tests to ensure ECC is functioning properly. Do I need to do anything special in Memtest86+ in order to test for ECC functionality or will it automatically perform ECC checks if the the memory stick is ECC and the mobo is enabled for ECC (if it needs enabling)?

That's a very good question. The general rumor is that memtest86+ is ECC-aware and will log ECC errors (not sure it's even possible to directly test ECC). I've never seen anyone who claimed to have seen memtest86+ do just that, however.

Unfortunately, the whole ECC business at times seems to require blind faith that it is working...

 

[Yatti420]

Well if its an ecc ram and ecc board and boots I would assume its compatible.. I've never tried a non-ecc compliant CPU with compliant mobo and ecc ram.. I would assume it would fail to boot..

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk 2

 

[grep137]

Not sure if this answers your question, but it may be something you'd like to keep in mind: Memtest86+ v. 5.01 did not catch ECC errors (or find any other errors) for one of my DIMMs on my Supermicro X10SL7; the ECC errors only showed up in the event log in the BIOS. See also my posts in the X10SL7 thread. I also swapped DIMMs and ran Memtest again just to be certain that it wasn't the board (didn't mention this in the X10SL7 thread yet).

 

[Yatti420]

So you get errors in BIOS not not memtest?

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk 2

 

[_Will_]

Not sure if this answers your question, but it may be something you'd like to keep in mind: Memtest86+ v. 5.01 did not catch ECC errors (or find any other errors) for one of my DIMMs on my Supermicro X10SL7; the ECC errors only showed up in the event log in the BIOS. See also my posts in the X10SL7 thread. I also swapped DIMMs and ran Memtest again just to be certain that it wasn't the board (didn't mention this in the X10SL7 thread yet).

I've run about 18 hours on each of my sticks of RAM with 0 errors shown in Memtest86+. I will have to go home and check the event log in BIOS and see if anything popped up there. Thanks so much!

 

[_Will_]

I did find out where in my BIOS the ECC enable option is. It is in the North Bridge Configuration section. It was enabled when I went in there - so I'm assuming that's the default or it recognized my RAM as ECC and enabled it.

 

[grep137]

_Will_, be sure to check your event log before the refund/replacement time period at the store you purchased it from expires. The store I purchased my DIMMs from is unable to test for the type of errors I described, so I have to wait 2 - 4 weeks while they send it back to the manufacturer for testing.

So you get errors in BIOS not not memtest?

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk 2

I've run Memtest (with the default settings) for over 80 hours (on separate occasions) and it didn't find a single error (I have screen shots of all of the Memtest runs and the event logs in the BIOS if you'd like to see them -- printed them to satisfy my own paranoia. The was that a 0 or an 8 question always seems to haunt me later). However, the event log in the BIOS (which I posted on page 15 in the "SuperMicro X10SL7-F" thread in "text form", not an image) does show ECC errors. I'm not very knowledgeable about memtest, so I may be doing something wrong -- I just put the disk in the drive and run it.

If you believe that it's worthy of it's own thread, I was thinking about starting a separate thread for this topic with the title "Memtest Doesn't Always Catch ECC Errors", so that it will get more attention. It seems like an important topic; I wonder how many other people have run memtest, got a good result, and then falsely believed that their ECC memory was fine.

 

[Yatti420]

The other side of the coin is the ram is dine and the ipmi log is incorrect..

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk 2

 

[_Will_]

_Will_, be sure to check your event log before the refund/replacement time period at the store you purchased it from expires. The store I purchased my DIMMs from is unable to test for the type of errors I described, so I have to wait 2 - 4 weeks while they send it back to the manufacturer for testing.


I've run Memtest (with the default settings) for over 80 hours (on separate occasions) and it didn't find a single error (I have screen shots of all of the Memtest runs and the event logs in the BIOS if you'd like to see them -- printed them to satisfy my own paranoia. The was that a 0 or an 8 question always seems to haunt me later). However, the event log in the BIOS (which I posted on page 15 in the "SuperMicro X10SL7-F" thread in "text form", not an image) does show ECC errors. I'm not very knowledgeable about memtest, so I may be doing something wrong -- I just put the disk in the drive and run it.

If you believe that it's worthy of it's own thread, I was thinking about starting a separate thread for this topic with the title "Memtest Doesn't Always Catch ECC Errors", so that it will get more attention. It seems like an important topic; I wonder how many other people have run memtest, got a good result, and then falsely believed that their ECC memory was fine.

Very interesting. I will check the BIOS event log as soon as I get home. Fingers crossed that there's nothing in there.

What was the outcome of your RMA? Did they replace your RAM? Did replacing the RAM fix the issue?

I would agree - creating that thread will be very useful to other users!

 

[grep137]

_Will_, still waiting on the RMA -- just sent it in last week Thursday. I'll let you know the outcome.

The other side of the coin is the ram is dine and the ipmi log is incorrect..

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk 2

Hmm, that didn't occur to me (the only other experience I have with ECC RAM is from an old Tyan k8we board). It did only show 1 of the 4 DIMMs as having errors, though, and I haven't seen any errors since I removed the bad DIMM. Not sure what to do now; I already RMA'd the bad DIMM. Maybe Samsung will have some better means of testing it?

 

[dmitrios]

I know I am resurrecting a very old thread, however this is the one I could find on the subject of ASRock Rack E3C226D2I + ECC RAM.

I purchased 2x of Hynix DDR3 UDIMM that are supposed to be ECC however I see "ECC Support" greyed out "Disabled". Does this mean the board does not recognise the RAM as ECC?

Running the latest BIOS, CPU supports ECC.

 

[KrisBee]

Your hynix RAM should be clearly labelled. If it's ECC then it should be marked PC3-10600E-X-X-X or PC3L-10600E-X-X-X for DDR3-1333. You can always check the long hynix ref number.

 

[dmitrios]

Thanks. I simply could not believe a reputable business seller on eBay can so blatantly mis-advertise memory as "Server ECC" (in multiple places all over their listing) when it is clearly neither! I found it on a Taiwanese website and it's a normal Desktop UDIMM. What a waste of time (and electricity I have already spent on memtest'ing it)...

 

[KrisBee]

It's always caveat emptor wrt Ebay. Just search for 12800E or 10600E RAM and maybe stick to Asrock QVL list. If mis-advertised, or seller sent wrong RAM, then it's "make a claim" time ...

 

[dmitrios]

And so I did, and to their credit they have handled the situation exceptionally well. It appears a genuine error was made, which they have promptly corrected, within minutes.

Yes, from now on the strategy has been searching for PC3 12800E or 10600E which yields rather precise results, with the exception of mostly private sellers which neglect the "E" for ECC so have to search again with e.g. 12800 ECC.

For the benefit of anyone else stumbling upon this thread:
"E" is for ECC
"R" is for Registered, which includes ECC (which is incompatible with my ASRock board, and with multiple other 'less server' boards, but can be had s/hand on eBay in abundance, i suppose due to lesser compatibility with the enthusiasts server boards)
"U" is for Unbuffered, as opposed to "F"
and "L" is for low voltage (1.35V vs. normal 1.5V)

Edit: adding link to Hynix Label Info

 

[dmitrios]

stick to Asrock QVL list

Great advice. Somewhat difficult/restrictive when looking for s/hand deals to be had on eBay. I will most likely end up trying my luck again:)