[r60] memory parity error

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joshrob · #1 Post by **joshrob** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:48 pm

hi,

i've read almost all replied threads here mentioning about this, quite common as i can see, bluescreen error.

my r60 i about 3 months old. as i remember, i once got this parity error bluescreen sometime in december 2006 shortly after i bought it, did a memtest, found no errors and forgot about the issue, because till now it was ok.
couple of days ago, after upgrading open office - this was the only major change in software/drivers since december - to the newest 2.1.0, i started getting memory parity error.

i've updated the bios to the latest version, but it didn't help.
i've took out the added memory chip, as advised, and now have only the standard 512megs (works noticeably slower, for sure), i'm testing and waiting for a bluescreen hopefully not to come again

i've the question, though. i've noticed that the two ram chips i have are quite different. one, ibm-preinstalled is "PC2-5300S CL5 667MHz" and the other is "SOD PC2-4300" (no freq. given - but as i see in google PC2 chips are 533MHz)

from the times when i had my 386DX desktop i remember that memory chips should generally be the same, frequency, model or even vendor.

could this difference be a reason of memory parity error?

#2 Post by **rkawakami** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:00 pm

The PC2-4300 (533Mhz) you have installed is slower than the PC2-5300 (667Mhz) module, which is the minimum speed you can use according the the published R60 specs.

Even though it may work sometimes (and appears to have for the last few months for you), you are probably exceeding the guaranteed timing for that module. In other words, it's being overclocked and thus subject to possible intermittent failure.

As to why you are getting "parity" errors on a system that does not use parity memory, I have no idea

.

joshrob · #3 Post by **joshrob** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:24 pm

hi! thanks for such quick reply

rkawakami wrote:The PC2-4300 (533Mhz) you have installed is slower than the PC2-5300 (667Mhz) module, which is the minimum speed you can use according the the published R60 specs.

actually it was not me, who installed it, but the guy at a store where i bought my r60. personally i'd have strong objections about mixing memory chip types/frequencies and till today i wasn't even aware that i had two different types installed.

rkawakami wrote: Even though it may work sometimes (and appears to have for the last few months for you), you are probably exceeding the guaranteed timing for that module. In other words, it's being overclocked and thus subject to possible intermittent failure.

As to why you are getting "parity" errors on a system that does not use parity memory, I have no idea .

hmm... could you please tell me something more, about... "r60 not using memory parity"? i thought all ram chips should... have parity(? i'm not exactly sure is it sth one can have

) if this is going to be not a usual-invalid-memory-chip-issue... /sigh/

#4 Post by **rkawakami** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:35 pm

According to the "tabook" (a document published by IBM/Lenovo detailing the features and specification of the latest Thinkpad models), the R60 uses "non-parity" memory modules. These are the most common types of modules used in most PCs.

The parity bit (9th bit, in addition to the normal 8-bit byte; also sometimes called "ECC") is used for automatic error checking and/or correcting. Typically used only in high end or mission-critical applications (servers, for example), the parity bit is not something that I've seen used in most laptops recently. Usually you can tell if the module is equipped with a parity bit as it will have 9 or 18 memory chips on it (or some multiple of 9). I'm not aware of any DDR2 SODIMM module that does support parity, as I don't have any systems which require that type of memory.

My guess is that whatever error that Windows saw, it thought it was due to a parity issue and thus displayed that error.

joshrob · #5 Post by **joshrob** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:42 pm

rkawakami wrote: The parity bit (9th bit, in addition to the normal 8-bit byte; also sometimes called "ECC")

So in short non-ECC momory is that with no parity checking. i've checked the chip i took out of my TP - it has 8 small chips on it, so non-ECC it is.

/btw i've checked tepmerature. mobmeter shows around 56 deg. C/

So if it is not memory... motherboard?

#6 Post by **rkawakami** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:50 pm

Well, I'd say it's both

The PC2-4300 module is too slow for the motherboard timings which expects to use PC2-5300 memory. Replace the PC2-4300 with another PC2-5300 module and your errors should go away.

joshrob · #7 Post by **joshrob** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:56 pm

rkawakami wrote:Well, I'd say it's both

this is called a mixed condition

thanks for the replies, i'll get back after a little talk with the guy who sold mi improper ram chip, heh

regards,
jakub

joshrob · #8 Post by **joshrob** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:41 am

my nmi parity error update #1

i took out the 533Mhz ram chip. i had no errors for over 48hours, so i took the ram chip to the shop where i've bought it along with my r60 and asked for replacement (monday noon). and i was a happy bsod-less windows user till tuesday late evening when i unfortunately got another nmi parity error. now i have only one ram chip installed (ibm "original") and can no longer swap ram chip and make another tests. i called the shop again today early morning, they said that before i'll bring my r60 for servicing i should restore windows installation to make sure this is not a software issue. it's generally ok for me, but i ask myself how it can be a software issue if the only serious software i have installed is PS , FLASH, apache server and mysql batadase - all that a webdeveloper has to have in his workplace, no games, no freeware testing and stuff. and after a system restore i'll install all the same software i have now. install unfortunately because as i've just noticed automatic scheduled backups has overwritten my hand-made one, with all the basic software already installed and activated.

regards,
jakub

#9 Post by **rkawakami** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:03 pm

Hmm... sorry that the memory module "fix" did not work. I would recommend the following course of action:

- run memtest86+ on your original IBM module for at least four or five hours. (Note: I use memtest86+ and not the earlier version. If you can, run both.)
- if it passes, run DOS PC Doctor (scroll down about 1/4 of the way on that page; look under Diagnostics heading) on the systemboard and CPU. When loaded, select the test, press the F2 (Options) button and change the Pass Count to 20 or 30. This forces the diagnostic to repeat that many times.

Some info I found Googling:
http://onthebrightside.net/NMI_error/index.html

Is there any particular program/action which seems to cause the BSOD?

joshrob · #10 Post by **joshrob** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:33 pm

rkawakami wrote:Is there any particular program/action which seems to cause the BSOD?

rather no. it BSODed once while i was googling, once while working in PS, once while just writing some source code in context. so it's not a temperature-related thing.

thanks for the links

i'll run memtest for a night, and get back in the morning.

regards,
j.

joshrob · #11 Post by **joshrob** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 5:12 am

rkawakami wrote: - run memtest86+
- if it passes, run DOS PC Doctor

memtest (not "plus"), 22 passes over night.
pc doctor, one full system test and pass, and 25 passes of motherboard and cpu. no errors at all.

joshrob · #12 Post by **joshrob** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 3:28 am

Code: Select all

UPDATE #2

hi everyone,

after further weeks of testing i think i finally figured out what is causing my memory parity error

/a moment of suspense

/

WLAN card.

yes, after turning it off and switching to traditional LAN i had no single bluescreen for about 2-3weeks.
last 10 days i've spent on WLAN but connected to other PC via windows network sharing - also no bluecreens at all.

following the link http://onthebrightside.net/NMI_error/index.html rkawakami (thanks very much

) posted here, i'm betting the thing causing this error in my case is the D-LINK 524 WLAN router i own.

now i'm back on WLAN-DLINK connection and waiting for a bluescreen to show up and confirm my theory.

and if that happens, can anyone tell me what may happen if i turn these in my bios (which is, as claimed here http://onthebrightside.net/NMI_error/index.html, the remedy for dlink issue) off:
- PCI BUs Mastering
- PCI Serial Generation

regards,
jakub

Zender · #13 Post by **Zender** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 6:32 pm

The problem is very probably in drivers for the intregrated wifi:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62875

Driver update staes it should fix the NMI Parity Error, see Summary of changes on that page.

joshrob · #14 Post by **joshrob** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:26 am

Zender wrote:The problem is very probably in drivers for the intregrated wifi:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62875

Driver update staes it should fix the NMI Parity Error, see Summary of changes on that page.

thanks very much for the info about new drivers.

i've downloaded and installed them immediately.

regards,
jakub

[r60] memory parity error

[r60] memory parity error

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