How to check RAM for error using Ubuntu Live CD?
Publisher: Psychz Networks, February 03,2020Sometimes your machine/server may randomly shut down, crash or can give you the blue screen of death. The problem could be bad memory or hardware related. But, in most cases, it is the RAM that is broken. RAM problems are difficult to diagnose as they can range from annoying program crashes or crippling reboot loops. Thankfully the Ubuntu Live CD has some tools to help you figure it out.
To access the memory testing tool, you just need to drop the CD/USB in the drive and use the Test memory feature from the boot menu. However, this is only possible for users (Colocation clients) who can have physical access to their machines. If you are a dedicated/bare metal server user, you can log in to your dashboard, create an IPMI session to access your machine and attach an ISO from our repository. The repository contains several versions of Ubuntu to choose from. You can use the following link to know how to connect to your machine via IPMI https://www.psychz.net/client/kb/en/how-to-access-your-dedicated-server-ipmi.html Once you are connected to your machine via IPMI, you can now mount Ubuntu ISO of your choice of version. Follow the link to know how https://www.psychz.net/client/kb/en/how-to-mount-iso-via-ipmi-management-web-interface.html
The Ubuntu Live CD includes a tool called Memtest86+ that tests your computer’s RAM. Memtest86+ has to be run outside of a graphical Ubuntu session and it only takes a few keystrokes.
Note: We recommend using the Universal USB Installer
Step 1
Turn On or restart the system. Go to BIOS settings to make sure that your system is loading in BIOS mode and not UEFI mode. (memtest86+ is a 16-bit program and it works in BIOS mode, but not in UEFI mode.)
Step 2
Boot up your computer with a Ubuntu Live CD or USB drive.
Step 3
Use the down arrow key to select the "memtest86+" option and hit Enter. This will initiate testing your RAM immediately.
If you suspect that a certain part of memory is the problem, you can select certain portions of memory by pressing “C” and changing that option. You can also select specific tests to run. However, the default settings of Memtest86+ will exhaustively test your memory, so we recommend leaving the settings alone. Memtest86+ will run a variety of tests that can take some time to complete, so start it running before you go to bed to give it adequate time.