On Wednesday 27 September 2006 04:56, Peter Sjoberg wrote:
Normally I would agree but this happens to be my primary server so I put some extra $$ on it and have matched pairs of Kingston DDR PC3200/ECC/REG (KVR400D8R3AK2/1G) modules.
I hope you didn't pay /too/ much of a premium, Peter. ;-) The 'VR' in that part number stands for "Value RAM" which is Kingston's "industry standard" product line... meaning essentially 'generic' designs built using chips purchased on the open market so they can sell competitively 'down market'... as compared to their more expensive premium product line. In any event, even buying premium parts from a well known and established manufacturer only *improves* the liklihood of a successful outcome. It *doesn't* guarantee that every part will operate perfectly fresh from the factory. There are just too many reasons for this to be true than I have room or time to elaborate on here.
Since ECC is enabled I would expect it to complain somewhere if it discovered ECC errors.
ECC only covers selected regions of a much larger spectrum of fault possibilities. I've been in the industry for almost 20 years and actually worked for a high end memory manufacturer in Silicon Valley before production moved offshore... so I know a little bit about how these things work. ;-)
Also, as a test I tried to provoke the system to hang by compile the kernel in a loop, worked fine for 35h
This is a compelling factor and you could be 100% right. However, given the classic nature of the symptoms, if /I/ were managing this problem I'd wholesale swap the modules out with a premium set from another established manufacturer... even a set borrowed from another machine just as a test. Your time and this system's downtime *must* be costing a lot more than the delta in price. If you try this and the problem goes away, Kingston might even credit your existing purchase towards an upgrade to their premium line so they don't lose the sale. This is particularly true if they think you'll end up returning the parts for cause... which could happen if another brand solves the problem. Just some things to think about... YMMV and all that. hth & regards, Carl --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org