Just how reliable is the linux memtest?

[xeddog]

I have a machine that I have recently upgraded from Ubuntu 13.10 to 14.04 and very shortly (if not immediately) after that I have started having issues with the machine freezing. I ran memtest for 24 hours and according to it, my machines memory is fine. So I was just wondering - How reliable is memtest in finding defective memory???

Thanks,

X

[HiImTye]

it's very reliable, but if in doubt, replace the memory

[The Cog]

I think it gives the memory a pretty good hammering. It sounds to me as though you should be suspecting perhaps some software in the latest release - graphics drivers and wifi drivers come to my mind straight away.

If you're using Ubuntu, it might be worth trying Lubuntu or Xubuntu instead for a while - I gather that Ubuntu/unity is quite hard on the graphics card. If the problems go away under XFCE or LXDE desktop then I think that would be a clear pointer to graphics issues.

[xeddog]

HiImTye - Hello again. I thought about replacing the memory, but I have to keep in mind that this is a backup machine to my backup machine. I don't think it would be practical to spend the money on it any more.


Cog - I did try Xubuntu a while back. Somewhere around 13.04 if I remember correctly. It was fine but just a little too plain. But I also think that Unity is the direction Ubuntu is going (duh!), and will be going for quite some time so if I want to stick with whateverbuntu, Ubuntu will have to be it. There are a couple of things that really annoy me about Unity, but it's ok. My backup machine is running Mint 16. I tried it with Cinnamon first, then Mate. I didn't really see much difference between the two so I just left it with Mate installed.


I read another thread about someone having problems with a machine that he upgraded from Ubuntu 13.10 to 14.04 having hangup issues as well. His problems, though, seemed to be quite a bit more severe than mine. He was running a laptop and had Radeon graphics drivers installed, and he said he tried Intel drivers too. I don't quite understand how he could do that, but hey. He was also experiencing crash problems with Chromium which I don't use.

The bottom line seems to be that memtest is pretty good at finding memory problems. So that being the case, I will look elsewhere for now.


Thanks,

X