[Lancaster] memory error?

[jonath]

Sounds more like a hardware problem (such as power supply or some kind
of over-heating issue - perhaps a CPU/GPU has become detached or
partially detached from its heat-sink) than a problem with memory. In
my experience, memory problems are extremely rare and would (I assume)
have been the result of a problem/glitch during manufacturing and,
hence, would manifest as a problem on your computer immediately.
Nonetheless, verifying it's not a problem with memory is one of the
easiest things to rule out. Laptop memory is usually accessible by
removing a single screw and lifting up a small plastic cover
underneath the laptop.

Unfortunately, I know from bitter experience how difficult it is to
get inside these laptops. If you were feeling brave and wanted to take
things apart then there are some excellent guides on the internet
covering this. Might be an idea to hoover/clean your heat-sinks whilst
you're there.

jonathan

2009/6/19 Ken Hough <kenhough at btinternet.com>:
> Faulty memory does seem to be the most likely cause of the problem, but you
> might also check your power supply.
>
> Power supply units of 'off the shelf' PCs are often only just up to the job.
> Adding hardware can sometimes cause problems.  :-(
>
> I had one machine which would 'hang' unpredictably, often on bootup.
> After removing one of the two attached hard drives, all was well.
>
> In another similar case, replacing a power supply did the trick.
>
> Ken Hough
>
>
> On Thursday 18 June 2009 23:06:04 Richard Robinson wrote:
>> On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 07:31:36PM +0100, andy baxter wrote:
>> > Richard Robinson wrote:
>> > > On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 05:49:58PM +0100, andy baxter wrote:
>> > >> I'm getting intermittent system freezes. The whole system just locks
>> > >> up and nothing works, including ctrl-alt-f1. I've tried running a
>> > >> memory test, both from the hard disk and a usb cd drive, and in both
>> > >> cases the test program freezes with junk on the screen. There doesn't
>> > >> seem to be any pattern to this - sometimes it happens just after I
>> > >> switch on, and sometimes after an hour or so.
>> > >>
>> > >> Is it worth getting some new memory and trying that? (I've tried just
>> > >> taking the memory chip out and putting it back in).
>> > >
>> > > Some distros come with a memory checker that offers itself on grub
>> > > bootup. www.memtest86.com/ Might be worth having a go with that before
>> > > spending money ?
>> >
>> > I have tried running the grub memory checker, and it hangs after a few
>> > seconds. The same happens when I run memtest86 from a live CD.
>>
>> Curses, yes, I thought you probably would have done. I hate hardware
>> problems. If you had spares of everything, you could swap them one by one
>> ... not likely, though.
>>
>> Sorry, I can't think of anything helpful, then.
>>
>> "How many programmers does it take to change a lightbulb ?"
>
>
>
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