Blue screen of death... memtest86 results

[lee]

Been having seemingly random blue screens for some time, now and then, and it seems to be memory management related so I did a memtest86+ for almost 23 h.

I'm really not a pc troubleshooting expert and I'm having trouble understanding the memtest86 result or what to do next.

Any advice would really really be appreciated. Trying to avoid expensive solutions here..

Crash list created by bluescreenview
https://app.box.com/s/7dbnusruegj2eqda2ogf

Click to read more...

 

[Chriss Ons]

Have you checked whether all the memory modules are still securely snapped into place? Have you tried swapping them around and/or booting the DAW with less memory installed?

 

[rgames]

Generally if you get BSOD and MemTest errors then you have bad memory.

You can identify which stick is bad by swapping them out but, unfortunately, that doesn't help much because you really should replace them all at once. So even if you identify the culprit(s) you still need to replace all of them with identical sticks from the same batch.

rgames

 

[lee]

Thanx Josquin, rgames.

Will check if the memory sits like it should

If it's best to replace all memory sticks, then is there any point in determining which one/ones are broken? Or could I just go shopping for new ones? I guess removing the faulty one would stop the bsod, if I can live with 12 gigs instead of 16 before I've bought new ones.

 

[Chriss Ons]

(...) if I can live with 12 gigs instead of 16 before I've bought new ones.

this will depend on whether or not
a) there is indeed 1 faulty memory module, and not another cause for the BSOD
b) your motherboard supports booting with 3 occupied memory slots rather than one or two pairs - consult the manual.

Hope you'll get it sorted out.

 

[lee]

this will depend on whether or not
a) there is indeed 1 faulty memory module, and not another cause for the BSOD

This is my biggest concern.

 

[rgames]

is there any point in determining which one/ones are broken?

Not really. If you're really strapped for cash then you can replace only those that are faulty.

The problem is that mixing RAM from different batches usually is not a good idea. However, that is a historical trend and might not be such a significant issue any more.

So it's a risk but hard to say how risky.

rgames

 

[lee]

Doesn't seem myASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 mobo supports using only 3 ram slots if I understand the manual correctly, so swapping sticks around and doing more memtest86 might be a better idea than removing one stick.

Trying to understand my first test session, did it actually report 4 errors on the first ram slot or 1 error on each of the 4 slots??

 

[Chriss Ons]

It's unlikely that you have several faulty memory modules, let alone all of them - utilities like Memtest can give false positives - it might just as well be a MoBo- or BIOS-related problem (like a bad slot, voltage/frequency setting). Have you changed any settings in the latter, or used one of the Asus tweaking utilities, like AI Tweaker lately?

Try booting / testing the modules each individually, in the same slot. Ususally there's a preferred slot like A1 or A2 - check the manual. If you can't determine if there's a bad module this way, i.e. or ar not getting consistent readouts, try the MemOK!-switch on the MoBo to load failsafe settings and see whether this has an impact on the test results.
You could also try updating the BIOS with the Asus utility, which should also be explained in the manual - but I'd only do that if all else fails.

Just my two cents... the cause of this problem can take ages to pin down.

 

[lee]

Thanks for taking time to answer, Josquin.

I've never changed any voltage/freq settings or used Ai tweaker.

The things I've changed that I can remember is putting the daw online for the first time, since my surfing machine broke AND unsuccessfully trying to install som of the old sata discs to my daw. It just didn't recognize them! I tried to use usb cabinets for a sata hd and an idé hd, but my daw would still not "see" them. I managed to start my old Internet machine one more time though and the hds worked just fine there. Weird. I hope this isn't a clue that the mobo in my daw is the culprit? :-\

Will do the individual module testing tonight..

 

[Piano & Strings]

Both serious computer issues I had in the past were caused by bad RAM. I don't know if you installed that RAM yourself, but look up some videos on Electrostatic Discharge or ESD. Sometimes, even when you think you are grounded, you can introduce a tiny charge onto a RAM module that doesn't show signs of damage till months down the line. The best way to establish if its RAM is (as already suggested) take all the modules out whilst carefully avoiding ESD, then run the machine with only one stick in for a length of time that would result normally in a bluescreen. Try them all this way and bear in mind that the RAM slots themselves can occasionally get damaged also. Once you've ruled out the RAM you can look elsewhere in the computer for troubleshooting, but it seems most often the culprit in my past experience. I built a computer from scratch and fried the motherboard one year later because I got sloppy observing ESD precautions whilst removing a soundcard. Won't make THAT mistake again lol. My last RAM stick became faulty despite all my ESD precautions, however crucial replaced it free of charge as it was less than six months old. Good luck, you'll get to the bottom of it with a little logical detective work, don't worry... I use the same principles to troubleshoot PC's as I used hand-coding HTML... rule out everything that COULD go wrong, in the order of likelihood that it WOULD have gone wrong

 

[lee]

Tested two sticks now (just 1 pass of memtest86+ each) and one of em has shown to be really bad. It's not in the same slot as I had it when all four sticks were used, since the mobo prefers a single ram stick in the second slot. Which must mean it probably isn't the mobo that's not functioning right, should be the memory stick! Right?

 

[Chriss Ons]

Should be the memory stick! Right?

Hopefully, but you'll only know after testing them all, and more than once.
You need to rule out the possibility of a bad slot on the MoBo, as well...

 

[lee]

K, got some more testing to do!