OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
October, 26, 2002 6:43 PM |
Tony.Scaminaci |
I've been able to get Charles Cazabon's MemTest utility to build under Jaguar and I've posted the modified release to my web site at . This is a command-line utility that runs in OS X's terminal window. Be aware that it can take a significant amount of time to run a memory test suite since this utility runs 15 different tests. As a point of reference, I ran this test on 550M of memory on my 450MHz AGP machine and it took slightly less than 4 hours to complete. The run time will increase with the amount of memory tested but is offset, of course, by a faster CPU speed. Please be sure to read the READ ME FIRST!!! file that I've added to Charles's release before running this utility to save yourself some headaches. The executable file is called "memtest". Hopefully, this little program will help us determine, once and for all, if memory problems are truly causing OS X to freeze for many of us. Enjoy! Tony |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 16, 2002 1:29 PM |
Tony.Scaminaci |
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Jeglin, I believe that the latest G4 processors have had the temperature measuring feature removed or disabled. There's been quite a bit of discussion about that. It seems that Motorola determined that the measurement method wasn't very accurate so they decided to remove it. |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 16, 2002 10:33 AM |
jeglin |
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FWIW, System Manager does not appear to be able to read temp on the Sonnet G4/800, at least my first test of it. |
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System Manager X 1.1 |
November, 15, 2002 9:17 PM |
earlyd |
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The new address is: http://www3.nb.sympatico.ca/gamson/SystemManager/index.html Like it. It will now do the job for me. Thanks, Tony! --Dwight |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 14, 2002 10:55 PM |
Tony.Scaminaci |
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There was a utility called System Manager available from Versiontracker that displays a lot of info including CPU temp. I'm running it and it correlates fairly well with Powerlogix's Cache Control utility. The guy who posted System Manager had a .Mac homepage, but of course, it's history now. However, if you can't find it somewhere else on the web, let me know and I'll post it up on my web site. By the way, Macintouch had an entire thread devoted to bad DIMM problems with OS X today. Reading through the posts, it appeared that no one had found an OS X utility for thoroughly checking memory, so I took the opportunity to email Macintouch with my web site address for memtest. It'll be interesting to see if my post makes it up on their site. |
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Freezes Fixed |
November, 14, 2002 6:28 PM |
earlyd |
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See my post in the L2 Cache Enabler 3.3 thread. No more freezes. --Dwight |
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RE: More on my crashes - or lack there of |
November, 10, 2002 12:03 PM |
earlyd |
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24 hours later and no freezes using L2 Cache Enabler 3.3 with the Powerlogix PowerForce G4/450 in my 8600. Mozilla worked fine from my last post to now. So, I'm a happy camper. The bad news is I have to run my cache at a lower speed, and I don't have access to temp, etc., info that the Powerlogix Cache Controller had the capability of displaying. I'm now running more memtest on virgin memory and will go back and rerun the memory modules that failed under Gauge Pro to confirm the problem is either with the cache speed or the module, itself. As to powderhaus' comment on Sonnet, I will go try to get it and run it to see if has any affect on my Powerlogix CPU card. Folks, I finally glad we're homing in on this problem. --Dwight |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 09, 2002 8:57 PM |
powderhaus |
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I think each one handles the cache in a different way and the way they handle it is eather the way the card likes it or some other way. because as tony said he had problems with sonnet's cache enabler but i have been running it for a little over a day now with no crashes at all. powerlogix is the only one (of the three) that gives me problems. I guess there is no overall answer except, to try all three and see which one works best for you. I have a sonnet G4 400. Good luck! |
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More on my crashes - or lack there of |
November, 09, 2002 8:17 PM |
earlyd |
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OK. I took the advise of Tony (ditched the Powerlogix Cache) and installed L2 Cache Enabler 3.3. (I was running Powerlogix's Cache Controler 1.2 until today when I discovered reading the thread here that there was a 2.1b available. So, I upgraded and kept my cache at 180. However, Mozilla still froze my 8600/200/Powerlogix G4/450/225/1MB shortly after Mozilla came up.) I then deinstalled Cache Controler and created the L2 Cache Enabler config file in 9.1 using my standard 225 cache spped. Now using L2 Cache Enabler, I rebooted into 10.2 and tried Mozilla with L2 Cache Enabler. No cigar! So, after rebooting, I knocked down the cache speed to 180. So, far, no freeze in Mozilla. I've been running a couple of hours now. This is good news. Unfortunately, I now have 4 128MB DIMMs that didn't past the Gauge Pro memory test. Tomorrow, I rerun the memtest program again with "-l" option while I watch a football game. Thanks, Tony, for getting me this far. If it's stable using L2 Cache Enabler, then I'm going to go back & try my memory again. I'll report back after I'm done. So, as we say here in the Eastern Time Zone, "Stay tune for film at 11 (news cast)!". --Dwight |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 09, 2002 3:28 PM |
Tony.Scaminaci |
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Powderhaus, I just posted some info on the L2 Cache Enabler thread regarding my short-lived experience with Sonnet's cache enabler. In short, the Sonnet enabler made my machine lock up with nearly every application launch. The PowerLogix enabler was more stable with just a few freezes per day. So far, with Ryan's 3.3 enabler, I haven't had any freezes yet today. Time will tell... Tony |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 09, 2002 12:52 PM |
powderhaus |
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Hi i have just tryed sonnet's cache enabler (because my start up time was to long) and it works fine, no crashes. so if it is related to the cache it would have to be powerlogix cache control. were do you guys keep you computer? (on top of a desk, in a cut out in a desk...) If it is the heat of the CPU then you may try taking off the PCI port covers to let more air flow. |
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Memory Test Utility is at... |
November, 08, 2002 3:45 PM |
Tony.Scaminaci |
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http://www.appleisp.com/~frisky |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 08, 2002 2:50 PM |
mjoecups358 |
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Where exactly does one find this memory testing app? |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 07, 2002 5:16 PM |
avit |
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I ran the memtest last night, and it found nothing. I used that trick and logged into >console and then killed a bunch of processes to free up memory while I was at it. SystemStarter is handy for some of these, but for others you need to sudo kill. I only saved a few megs by doing that, but at least I felt safe that nothing would be launching while I was running the test to eat up memory and push things into swap (e.g. new httpd processes, users launching processes through ssh, etc...). Thus I felt safe to run it within a megabyte of the reported "free" from top. It allowed me to test about 422 out of 512M. Regardless, memtest found no problems. |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 07, 2002 12:23 AM |
avit |
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To check my temperature I use the command from the PowerLogix CacheControl: plxcache -d Dumps all the cpu info to the screen. I actually made this alias: alias cputemp 'plxcache -d | grep Temp' ...so now I just type cputemp. Unfortunately, my computer is back to crashing lots again after a few days respite. I have no idea... :^( |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 06, 2002 6:23 PM |
powderhaus |
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It could verry well be the CPU temp. But my computers temp is 38°C so if thats what it comes to i guess i am lucky. I did not have to uninstall powerlogix cash control when i did it, i just had to tell it to not enable on boot. |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 06, 2002 4:42 PM |
gx77 |
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seems the thread has moved from the other thread about 10.2 crashing to this one... the comments about having no crashes after switching from Powerlogix CacheControl to L2CacheConfig are interesting. I used to use the Powerlogix utility to enable my cache, but I recently started using the Sonnet extensions from their "free" utility because i'd heard it had cut boot times in half for others... I figured since i was rebooting so much after these freezes a quicker boot would be a nice feature. After installing the sonnet extensions, I disabled the Powerlogix software, but i didn't uninstall it. I'll try doing that to see if it helps. If not, I might switch to L2CacheConfig- although the configuration sounds like it's a bit tedious. I have noticed something about WHEN I get the freezes- Last nite, i started getting them after i'd been using the computer for a while. it started freezing a few minutes after each reboot- i think i rebooted 4 times. finally, i got fed up and went downstairs to get something to eat and watch some TV. I came back to the computer about an hour later, and I didn't have any more crashes. What I'm thinking is that when i left the computer i gave it time to "cool down" (although it was running SETI the entire time, so i don't know how much it actually got to rest...) I'll try to figure out how hot it's running tonite. what utility are the rest of you using to do that? |
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RE: CPU Temps |
November, 06, 2002 12:25 AM |
drc |
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Anecdotally I have noticed a decrease in the number of crashes I've been having in the last week or so. At first I thought maybe all the components were just 'calming down', but I also noticed that the local temperature has dropped a lot lately. (I live in Japan where the housing is, shall we say, porous & tends to closely reflect the prevailing weather trends. Since logic usually trumps wishful thinking.... |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 05, 2002 6:52 PM |
powderhaus |
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When you disable the cache remember to uncheck the box for enable on start up. (i forgot to do that the first time) then go enable Ryan's l2cacheconfig. after all, powerlogix version is still a beta version |
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RE: Temperature testing for Crashes |
November, 05, 2002 8:56 AM |
Tony.Scaminaci |
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One way that we do testing for temp sensitivity is a very low-tech method: a heat gun on the questionable chip. For home use, a hair dryer is a good substitute. If you can aim the hot air stream directly at the CPU heatsink and avoid blowing hot air on the motherboard, you can gradually raise the temperature of the CPU. If you get it hot enough, it may just crash the machine. Every CPU will fail at some temperature - we just don't know how much safety margin the vendors are building into their upgrade cards and, if they don't directly support OS X, there's even a bigger question mark. You can also cool down the CPU heatsink with an ice pack (ice chips in a plastic sealed bag). Be careful with how cold you get the CPU so that condensation doesn't form. Going down to a reported temp near room temp should be adequate. The memtest utility allows us to screen the memory. Since this was the biggest theory of the random freezes we're seeing, eliminating the memory allows us to focus on the cache config software and CPU temps. I've run memtest more than a dozen times on my Ramjet memory and they pass every single time. Yet the random freezes persist. Since my CPU temp on the Sonnet card is in the low 40's, I'm kind of ruling that out as a source of the problem. That only leaves software as the potential culprit. Maybe turning off the L2 cache for a few days would be a way to isolate whether the cache config software is to blame. Any other ideas out there? |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 05, 2002 5:15 AM |
avit |
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Thanks powderhaus, I will try that. Here's an interesting tidbit. I took the case off my system and installed a little cpu fan to blow across my cpu from the side. (Matter of fact, it fits perfectly wedged between the CPU card and the hard drive shelf in my 7600). Ever since I did this, I haven't had a crash in days, and I've been driving it harder than usual. My temps are now generally 40-44, and sometimes 48. I have yet to see it spike above 50, which it did about half of the time before. It makes me wonder if it was crashing because of the heat? Now, Powerlogix tells me that my card is rated "up to 90 deg C", but that Mac OS X is "not supported" (even though they direct you here to get XPostFacto from their website). The question is, how can one prove if the machine crashes due to temperature sensitivity (a hardware problem; not within rated specs), or due to unsupported software (Mac OS X) ? This crashing bug is an elusive one... I wonder if we will ever find the One True Answer for this. |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 04, 2002 4:46 PM |
powderhaus |
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I am starting to think the crashes have to do with the L2 cache enabler you uased. I changed it from L2cacheconfig to powerlogix cache control and i started getting these browser crashes (2 within 5 min of being online). i switched back about 15min ago and its been running fine. Try L2cacheconfig and see if it helps. |
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RE:Results of Running OS X Memory Test Utility - |
November, 04, 2002 4:21 PM |
Tony.Scaminaci |
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I'll bet your machine was back at the login screen because it rebooted all by itself. This tester should never cause a reboot but if it finds bad memory, anything could happen depending on the type of memory failure. You'll probably have to monitor it periodically to catch what happens. And the log option does work (I think it's -l but check Charles's docs). The only question is, will the log file get written correctly in the event of a memory error? If an error can cause a machine to reboot, it's possible that the log file might not have an entry due to the reboot. Best advice is to monitor the run. Tony |
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RE: OS X Memory Test Utility is Available |
November, 04, 2002 4:09 PM |
Tony.Scaminaci |
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For those of you with hot CPU's (> 50C), there are four things that you can try to cool them down further. 1. Make sure that there is thermal grease between the CPU chip and the heatsink. This gives the maximum heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink. Thermal grease is present on most of the upgrade cards but I would double-check with the vendor just to be sure. Or, you could take off the heat sink and add your own thermal grease. 2. Increase the size of the heatsink. May not be practical to do this in many cases, but I'm really surprised at the wimpy heat sinks many of the G4 upgrade cards come with. Sonnet did a great job on their 450/G4 card. The heat sink is as big as the entire card. And that's the size you really need to keep the G4 reasonably cool. If you've ever seen the heat sink on the Sawtooth motherboards, it 's HUGE. My machine idles near room temperature most of the time. 3. Add a fan to the heat sink or increase the air flow capacity of the fan if one already exists. Mechanical problems will likely interfere with this fix as well. Alternatively, you could add another high-capacity fan to blow across the upgrade's heat sink. I did this on my 7200 and it reduced the CPU temp about 10C. Ben, your CPU is headed toward oblivion with the temps you reported. You need a good 20C drop. Add a BIG fan! And for those of you with those fast and hot SCSI drives (I have them too), the drives raise the ambient temp inside your system. There's only one cure for those hot drives - more fans. Tony |
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Results of Running OS X Memory Test Utility - None |
November, 04, 2002 11:08 AM |
earlyd416 |
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I ran the memtest. Trouble with running it is that it takes a long time. So, I head off to do other things... I come back after a disappointing football game to find my computer at the OS X GUI login screen. Don't know a damn thing about what happened. Sigh! So, does the log option work? Is it "-l"? BTW, I followed your instructions and the Down-Arrow and Option-Return worked like a champ. Didn't know you could do that. Where did U learn that? I have forgot most of the UNIX I knew years ago when I graduated from airplan design to managing large aircraft programs. How do I relearn it for my Mac use? TIA. --Dwight |