how to test if ECC is working w/OUT memtest

[shaba230]

is there another utility out there that can do this??

thx in advance.

 

[Mondoman]

There's memtest86+ (which is different from memtest), and I'm sure if you google "memory testing" you'll find lots of others.

 

[mpjesse]

if it wasn't working your system wouldn't be working right now. you're a worrier, aren't you?

 

[Mondoman]

Many systems seem to work (for at least a while) even with memory glitches...

 

[shaba230]

if it wasn't working your system wouldn't be working right now. you're a worrier, aren't you?

hahaha i'm sorry i must sound like an idiot.

i meant if the ECC was working, not if the memory itself was working.

Like is there a memtest that can test to make sure the memory makes the proper ECC corrections?

When i ran memtest86+ it ran with no problems but that didn't really mean anything to me even with ECC turned on in memtest, because memtest doesn't actually test with errors on purpose to see if ECC will correct them, i am looking for a test that will do that...and i googled like hell and have come up short.

 

[Mondoman]

OK, it is the chipset, not the DIMM, that does the actual ECC work; the DIMM just provides extra bits -- 72 instead of 64 -- to store the info. If ECC mode is enabled in the chipset, the chipset automatically calculates the 8 bits of parity info and stores them along with the 64 bits of data. When it reads in the 64 bits of data, it automatically compares the newly-calculated 8 bits of parity with that read in from the DIMM.
Thus, there is no functional difference between the 64 "data" bits and the 8 "ECC" bits in the DIMM. If ECC mode is supported for your chipset and is turned on, the 8 bits get tested just like the 64 others, by comparing the value read in from them with the "correct" value.
Memtest86+ monitors the ECC process for at least some chipsets. You might try contacting the good folks on the memtest86+ forum to verify if your chipset is supported.