Hi,
Over the last few months I've posted a few enquiries about my steadily worsening PC. A few tweaks have sometimes improved things slightly for a while but long term it's getting worse.
It's now very unstable given to hanging whenever asked to do anything like move/close a window, so hope I get to the end of this without a problem.
I *think* there might be a problem with RAM and/or mainboard RAM slots. There are 2x4GB modules fitted. (Crucial Ballistix not cheapo stuff). UEFI setup and lshw both report 8GB but free only shows 4GB. That was the case under Mint, and still is with a fresh install of Kubuntu.
Any suggestions before I lash out on new RAM? Because if I do it's pretty much guaranteed to be something else. Or do any of you have old DDR 3 you've replaced with bigger sticks and not got around to selling on Ebay? Cheap preferred but no reasonable price refused!
If all else fails I guess a new MoBo/CPU/RAM bundle might be required...
--
Phil
On Fri, 13 May 2022 at 19:30, Phil Thane phil@pthane.co.uk wrote:
It's now very unstable given to hanging whenever asked to do anything like move/close a window, so hope I get to the end of this without a problem.
What does Memtest86 say about your ram? This should be the very first thing you do.
I *think* there might be a problem with RAM and/or mainboard RAM slots. There are 2x4GB modules fitted. (Crucial Ballistix not cheapo stuff). UEFI setup and lshw both report 8GB but free only shows 4GB. That was the case under Mint, and still is with a fresh install of Kubuntu.
Which version of Kubuntu? What kernel version and architecture? uname -a
Are you sure your kernel is not 32bit without PAE extensions? That would limit to 4GB usable RAM even if you had more. Any weird BIOS / UEFI settings that might put it into some sort of legacy mode to only give you 4GB?
Any suggestions before I lash out on new RAM? Because if I do it's pretty much guaranteed to be something else. Or do any of you have old DDR 3 you've replaced with bigger sticks and not got around to selling on Ebay? Cheap preferred but no reasonable price refused!
I have 2 sticks of 4GB each, DDR3 ECC server ram - not sure if it would work (you would need to check if your CPU + motherboard could support it), but might be open to taking £10 or something + postage? I would need to do Memtest86 on that ram to make sure it's ok.
Thanks, Srdjan
On Fri, May 13, 2022 at 07:30:18PM +0100, Phil Thane wrote:
Any suggestions before I lash out on new RAM? Because if I do it's pretty much guaranteed to be something else. Or do any of you have old DDR 3 you've replaced with bigger sticks and not got around to selling on Ebay? Cheap preferred but no reasonable price refused!
If it's so bad that you can't even download/run memtest then One thing to try is removing one module and seeing if the system is stable, then swap that with the other module. Don't try them both in the same slot though, in case the slot is faulty.
Also, is your machine overheating? have you checked that the cpu fan is spinning, same for GPU?
Adam --
Thanks to Srdjan and Adam, here's an update...
CPU and case fan OK, GPU is fanless. Memtest86 reported only 4GB not 8GB but no errors. Tried booting with one stick out, OK. Moved that stick to other slot, still OK. Tried other stick by itself, no boot. So I guess that's faulty. Odd though because I tried that a few days ago with slightly different results. One stick wouldn't boot like today but the other threw UEFI into panic mode with frantic beeps from the mainboard.
Then replaced good stick by itself and rebooted. Ran OK for a minute or so, then hung when I clicked reply in T'bird to send this! Sometimes it hangs the plasma screen but I can [ctrl][alt][f2] to get a CL login and kill plasma from there but sometimes (like now) even that wouldn't work. Beginning to think one stick is completely f****d and the other one on it's way out.
I think I'll try some new RAM and if it's still unstable then maybe a mainboard and CPU too...
Thanks for the help
--
Phil
On Sat, May 14, 2022 at 07:29:44PM +0100, Phil Thane wrote:
I think I'll try some new RAM and if it's still unstable then maybe a mainboard and CPU too...
That sounds like a good course of action although I suspect you may have 2 problems, the RAM and another one as yet undiscovered.
If you boot a live distro does that work OK? My suggestion is that you may have a faulty storage device, especially if your machine is trying to use swap space....
One other thought, are you certain that the memory timings and settings in the BIOS are OK?
Adam --
On 15/05/2022 10:50, Adam Bower wrote:
On Sat, May 14, 2022 at 07:29:44PM +0100, Phil Thane wrote:
I think I'll try some new RAM and if it's still unstable then maybe a mainboard and CPU too...
That sounds like a good course of action although I suspect you may have 2 problems, the RAM and another one as yet undiscovered.
If you boot a live distro does that work OK? My suggestion is that you may have a faulty storage device, especially if your machine is trying to use swap space....
One other thought, are you certain that the memory timings and settings in the BIOS are OK?
A few years ago, when I was too skint to afford a replacement, I managed to keep a machine going with what appeared to be memory problems. I never really got to the bottom of it - I had several memory modules I could swap in but kept getting occasional errors, with no consistent pattern. It was a BIOS based machine and as such I could control the memory settings - I told the BIOS to read the memory more slowly and ignore the memory ratings and that kept it going - I don't know if you can do similar with modern UEFI "Bios".
My 2p is this: Is it worth trying to save this machine? You could chuck some money at new (to you) ram and still find out it's the motherboard, then replace the motherboard and probably consequentially have to buy some more ram in a different format. I'm wondering if it's quicker to just go to a new motherboard and ram, or a new machine (or new to you, 2nd hand). You'd probably end up with a newer, faster machine. It depends on how much time and/or money you want to invest in the problem.
Steve
On Mon, 16 May 2022 at 22:49, steve-ALUG@hst.me.uk wrote:
My 2p is this: Is it worth trying to save this machine? You could chuck some money at new (to you) ram and still find out it's the motherboard, then replace the motherboard and probably consequentially have to buy some more ram in a different format. I'm wondering if it's quicker to just go to a new motherboard and ram, or a new machine (or new to you, 2nd hand). You'd probably end up with a newer, faster machine. It depends on how much time and/or money you want to invest in the problem.
Very good point. It may be harder to do now that we have the cost of living crisis, but that approach does seem to be the most logical.
An alternative is that someone from Phil's locality meets face-to-face to help diagnose the machine / bring spare parts for testing. I'd consider doing that, but I'm no longer in East Anglia. Are there still any LUG-like meets in pubs etc where a meeting could be arranged with more local members I wonder?
Srdjan
On Mon, May 16, 2022 at 10:48:58PM +0100, steve-ALUG@hst.me.uk wrote:
A few years ago, when I was too skint to afford a replacement, I managed to keep a machine going with what appeared to be memory problems. I never
ram in a different format. I'm wondering if it's quicker to just go to a new motherboard and ram, or a new machine (or new to you, 2nd hand). You'd probably end up with a newer, faster machine. It depends on how much time and/or money you want to invest in the problem.
Well, that's it. Typically new hardware will be quicker but not necessarily cheaper! I think it's worth a little more diagnostics as it could easily be a PSU problem which means you spent £200 on a new board/cpu/ram and then have to buy a new PSU which was the original problem.
Adam --
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Adam Bower -
Phil Thane -
Srdjan Todorovic -
steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk