Alan W. Smtih
Explorer
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2014
- Messages
- 54
Preface: This is one of those things that feels so obvious that I'm afraid I'm missing something.
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I'm about to start an MemTest86 run as recommended in jgreco's "Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system" procedures.
Section 1.2 "MemTest86 Overview" of the User Guide has the following (emphasis mine):
##########
Memory errors are often pattern sensitive and may be very intermittent. Detecting these errors is technically challenging and is an imperfect science. MemTest86 uses advanced algorithms that have been refined for more than 20 years. These testing techniques are highly effective at detecting difficult to find memory errors. In addition, MemTest86 has the capability to test all available memory.
Memory testing programs execute from memory and therefore are not able to test the memory that is occupied by the test program itself. When running the BIOS version, MemTest86 is able to move itself to a different portion of memory and then tests the memory that it previously occupied. The UEFI version, due to platform limitations, is unable to remap itself to different portions of memory in order to run tests in the section of memory it was occupying. The UEFI firmware itself also takes up some space compared to a traditional BIOS. So slightly less RAM can be tested compared to the BIOS version.
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Unless I'm missing something, that means:
- BIOS version provides 100% test coverage
- UEFI version does not provide 100% test coverage
I get it's a tiny amount, but still... If the ability to test 100% of my system exists, I want to do that and not "slightly less" than 100%. Given that criteria, the BIOS version is the only way to go, right?
-
I'm about to start an MemTest86 run as recommended in jgreco's "Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system" procedures.
Section 1.2 "MemTest86 Overview" of the User Guide has the following (emphasis mine):
##########
Memory errors are often pattern sensitive and may be very intermittent. Detecting these errors is technically challenging and is an imperfect science. MemTest86 uses advanced algorithms that have been refined for more than 20 years. These testing techniques are highly effective at detecting difficult to find memory errors. In addition, MemTest86 has the capability to test all available memory.
Memory testing programs execute from memory and therefore are not able to test the memory that is occupied by the test program itself. When running the BIOS version, MemTest86 is able to move itself to a different portion of memory and then tests the memory that it previously occupied. The UEFI version, due to platform limitations, is unable to remap itself to different portions of memory in order to run tests in the section of memory it was occupying. The UEFI firmware itself also takes up some space compared to a traditional BIOS. So slightly less RAM can be tested compared to the BIOS version.
##########
Unless I'm missing something, that means:
- BIOS version provides 100% test coverage
- UEFI version does not provide 100% test coverage
I get it's a tiny amount, but still... If the ability to test 100% of my system exists, I want to do that and not "slightly less" than 100%. Given that criteria, the BIOS version is the only way to go, right?
