From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from lists.gentoo.org (pigeon.gentoo.org [208.92.234.80]) by finch.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B844E1385B3 for ; Sat, 22 Aug 2015 11:48:10 +0000 (UTC) Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 4B2B1E0918; Sat, 22 Aug 2015 11:48:03 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-wi0-f171.google.com (mail-wi0-f171.google.com [209.85.212.171]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 22160E090E for ; Sat, 22 Aug 2015 11:48:01 +0000 (UTC) Received: by widdq5 with SMTP id dq5so11319419wid.1 for ; Sat, 22 Aug 2015 04:48:00 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=subject:to:references:from:message-id:date:user-agent:mime-version :in-reply-to:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=e6wjvb/lDLw8beP7WyyjaEuDy7d+n8YB+lgdl6UPuEo=; b=WD2jw61GIdHXAZ0XuQULGO+qvAsWTNeiDN5gfm1ygIQv5Av3IrYRwq2IM3TfsL4HNb XxscXqk9j1peEEq9PrGzTKQ24fZjRJ8KhR1evzSEVWwr54Ya7HWf/+iEHF+KuWDL21H/ +3xr+QBJbWOY6qKRigLYBQSIQ0ktsHLPXCciufSXdHYBH1BGT/xEDfn88IuqTxJRKnwl 1lBmDZB3JFGs8Se32nUTslB+R3ffWxTuaoOgljXQNUd9rN2rZILQ115ipEMUjh7vy/4e GTOpeRjGRqJ8JzgdR8dJJtg0DAOxQZAXkIO9MeY6juQGQ+aLNa+jAaMYTr6r5YH3ZE1r p5kg== X-Received: by 10.194.172.233 with SMTP id bf9mr24265662wjc.107.1440244080799; Sat, 22 Aug 2015 04:48:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [172.20.0.41] ([105.210.59.77]) by smtp.googlemail.com with ESMTPSA id r8sm7046997wiz.2.2015.08.22.04.47.59 for (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128); Sat, 22 Aug 2015 04:47:59 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Epic list of total FAIL. To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org References: <55D637E0.3080409@verizon.net> <55D8303D.5000806@gmail.com> <201508221225.28017.michaelkintzios@gmail.com> From: Alan McKinnon X-Enigmail-Draft-Status: N1110 Message-ID: <55D86168.8010703@gmail.com> Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2015 13:47:52 +0200 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/38.2.0 Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <201508221225.28017.michaelkintzios@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Archives-Salt: 1f925fdb-f3b4-46ca-9e8b-6b2f3a1dfd5e X-Archives-Hash: da35293683deef15bc64932713b3b4c3 On 22/08/2015 13:25, Mick wrote: > On Saturday 22 Aug 2015 09:18:05 Dale wrote: >> Fernando Rodriguez wrote: >>> On Saturday, August 22, 2015 1:52:00 AM Alan Grimes wrote: >>>> That said, I spent the day doing diagnostics: >>>> >>>> >>>> Findings: >>>> >>>> 1. There were a hell of a lot more memory errors than I had seen before. >>>> 2. There was a smudge on one of the dimm's contacts and some of the >>>> usual dust on the CPU-facing one. >>>> 3. The motherboard was not developed by sane engineers. In a sane world, >>>> there are two types of variables: measured variables and controlled >>>> variables. >>>> The RAM voltage would appear to be a controlled variable but it is also >>>> a measured variable. In order to achieve a close approximation of 1.5v, >>>> I had to set it to 1.530 volts. WTF... >>>> >>>> 4. an AMD K10 processor cannot successfully drive 8-ranks of high >>>> density ram at 2x800 mhz -- BUT IT WILL TRY!!! I found all dimms to be >>>> good either individually or in pairs, but the entire ram compliment of >>>> four dims cannot be run at full speed at once with the CPU/motherboard I >>>> have installed. >>> >>> Findings 3 & 4 sound like a faulty or underrated PSU...or a bad >>> motherboard. Start by unplugging everything that you don't need to boot >>> from a live CD and run some tests. >> >> It sure does. A weak power supply will certainly cause some issues. > > I also concur that the most likely cause of this problem is the PSU but first, > I would clean the RAM contacts. > > Then try a replacement PSU if you have a spare one, or take your multimeter > and measure the output, checking for lower voltage values and fluctuations. > If you get bad measurements, then take your soldering iron out and for a few > pence inspect and replace any domed, or all capacitors on the secondary > (output) side. A multimeter is not really a valid test. If say the 5V rail is dodgy, then the output will still be a solid 5V. What's happening is that the PSU regulator circuitry can't keep up so the output averages 5V (that's what the transformer gives out) with large amounts of high-frequency ripple superimposed. Your multimeter average's that out and displays ... 5V! When things get really bad the output may dip momentarily when load is drawn, but by that stage the PSU has been struggling for a long time already. Use an oscilloscope instead, and you see immediately what condition the output is in. Few IT techs just happen to have an expensive oscilloscope just lying around, so a good recommendation is to replace the PSU anyway every 2 years or so - more if the thing runs hot. I consider these as wearing items, sorta like oil filters -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckinnon@gmail.com