Rob Hudson wrote:
Bob Miller wrote:
Googling for the text of the error message implies that it usually
indicates flaky RAM or motherboard.
Have you seen that message many times or just once? Is it Intel or
AMD?
Just once. This is an AMD Thunderbird 1 GHz machine. The message
saying "Bank 1" suggests RAM to me too.
Can RAM just suddenly go bad? I've had this machine for years
without any problems. But replacing a stick of RAM is cheap.
It is possible, depending on the age. Usually ICs are designed
to run for more than 10 years, and often 20 or more. The usual
life limit is electromigration.
On an IC the current density is extremely high, thousands of
times higher than in high tension power lines. It is high
enough that the aluminum flows due to all those electrons
bumping into the atoms. This is called electromigration.
Aluminum flow creates voids in the metal. The result is
a hard fail.
I'll keep an eye on the logs.
-Rob
A more likely cause of the fail is that the RAM got hit by
a cosmic ray or an alpha particle. That causes a lot of
electrons (or holes) to be formed and can easily flip a
memory bit. The result is a soft fail.
Newer memories are more susceptible to this because they
are smaller, so it takes less charge to flip the bits.
If the problem doesn't recur, don't worry about it.
But if you are buying new hardware and your computer
absolutely has to be reliable, I recommend ECC. Costs
more, but it will correct single bit errors. That's
generally all you need.
--
Allen Brown
work: Agilent Technologies non-work: http://www.peak.org/~abrown/
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Q: How many Zen Buddhists does it take to change a light bulb?
Lowest level of enlightenment:
Two---One to change it , and one to not change it.
Next level:
Only one---He both changes and does not change the lightbulb.
Highest level:
None---The universe provides the lightbulb and does all the
spinning. The Zen Buddhist just stays out of the way.
(James Fisher of UNIX Systems Labs)
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