upgraded memory to ECC, FreeNAS now hangs at boot

[digity]

I swapped out 24GB (6 x 4GB) 1600 MHz non-ECC memory for 64GB (4 x 16GB) 1066 MHz ECC registered memory and now FreeNAS frequently hangs at boot (during module/plug-in loading). I swapped the 24GB back in as a test and FreeNAS boots consistently again.

Is it not possible to change to ECC memory (or slower memory or decrease memory slot population)?

P.S. - the memory has passed diagnostics, so I don't think it's bad memory

 

[Redcoat]

I suggest you provide your system specs and FreeNAS version (per the forum rules) in order to allow evaluation of your question.

 

[nojohnny101]

as @Redcoat said we need full system specs.

How did you test your new memory?

 

[digity]

Supermicro X8DTL-i mobo, rev. 2.01
dual XEON X5550 2.66 GHz CPUs
16GB SanDisk Cruzer Fit USB boot drive (onboard USB port)
dual 1Gb onboard NIC
dual 1Gb pci-e NIC (not active/enabled yet)
10 x 3.5" SATA drives (mix of different make and model SATA II & III, 5400/5900 (WD Green)/7200 RPM and varying cache HDDs)
LSI 9211-8i and HP SAS Expander (both flashed/upgraded as per best practices for use with FreeNAS)
outgoing RAM: 24GB (6 x 4GB) 1600 (PC3 12800) non-ECC DDR3 memory (G.SKILL Ripjaws Series model F3-12800CL9T2-24GBRL)
incoming RAM: 64GB (4 x 16GB) 1066 MHz ECC DDR3 registered memory (Hynix hmt42gr7bmr4a-g7)

I've tested the incoming RAM via Dell's built-in diagnostic (on another machine) and it passed. I'm also running memtest and no errors so far (45% done, over 2 hours).

 

[nojohnny101]

Let that memtest run for at least 24 hours. Are you using memtest or memtest+?

 

[digity]

Let that memtest run for at least 24 hours. Are you using memtest or memtest+?

Okay. It's memtest+

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[SweetAndLow]

Did you reset the bios? You switched from a non registered memory to a registered memory. This might really confuse the motherboard.

 

[digity]

Did you reset the bios? You switched from a non registered memory to a registered memory. This might really confuse the motherboard.

Good point! For super safe measure I updated/reflashed the BIOS to the latest (I'm not sure what version was currently installed), loaded fail-safe defaults, did the hold power button for 30 seconds thing with power unplugged (I forget what this actually does) and cleared CMOS. I've restarted the server multiple times and it's no longer hanging.

Thanks!

P.S. - memtest+ ran for only 23 hours and there were no errors. good enough for me