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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Hardware Test Failures

Hardware Test Failures
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CIA
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Join Date: Dec 1999
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Jun 9, 2009, 03:37 PM
 
I finally bumped my machine up to 16GB, 8x2GB sticks. As a precaution I ran Hardware test off the disks that came with my MacPro. When I first installed I ran an extended test during the day and it was fine. A week later I had reinstalled my OS and had some odd issues, so on a whim I ran it in loop mode (extended test) over the weekend, but it failed after 2 passes:
4MEM/46/50000006:0x78ab6e18

Then I ran it again last night when I left work and it was still crunching away just fine today when I came in. 7 passes and no problems.

Was that one failure a glitch in the matrix, or should I be worried? I haven't noticed any odd crashes in daily use, my original issues cleared up after some software tweaks.

Comments?
Work: 2008 8x3.2 MacPro, 8800GT, 16GB ram, zillions of HDs. (video editing)
Home: 2008 24" 2.8 iMac, 2TB Int, 4GB ram.
Road: 2009 13" 2.26 Macbook Pro, 8GB ram & 640GB WD blue internal
Retired to BOINC only: My trusty never-gonna-die 12" iBook G4 1.25
     
olePigeon
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Jun 9, 2009, 05:13 PM
 
You could try taking the RAM out and reseating it.
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jun 9, 2009, 05:54 PM
 
IME, if AHT finds nothing, it doesn't mean everything is okay.

If it finds an error, there's something broken.
     
CIA  (op)
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Jun 15, 2009, 01:05 PM
 
Well, I ran it again over the weekend. Extended test, loop mode. This time it went 42 passes, and finally failed late Sunday night.
4MEM/9/40000006:0x78f7b018

It should be noted there were crazy thunderstorms in the area when it failed. Someone here at work mentioned that if you run a test long enough, something will fail no matter what. So I don't know.

Based on the two error reports, it seems like it's the same stick though. Can anyone decipher it and tell me which actual slot the stick failed in? 4MEM is consistent on both errors.
Work: 2008 8x3.2 MacPro, 8800GT, 16GB ram, zillions of HDs. (video editing)
Home: 2008 24" 2.8 iMac, 2TB Int, 4GB ram.
Road: 2009 13" 2.26 Macbook Pro, 8GB ram & 640GB WD blue internal
Retired to BOINC only: My trusty never-gonna-die 12" iBook G4 1.25
     
Big Mac
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Jun 16, 2009, 08:05 PM
 
I don't think it's true at all that lengthy testing will always result in an error message. Any failure message would automatically cause me to RMA the module in question. The odd behavior you noted when running the system is a giveaway sign of bad RAM.
( Last edited by Big Mac; Jun 16, 2009 at 08:18 PM. )

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CIA  (op)
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Jun 17, 2009, 01:10 AM
 
I would RMA the stick in question, but can't seem to figure out which one it actually is. 4MEM is consistent with both errors, how do I figure out what actual slot that is?
Work: 2008 8x3.2 MacPro, 8800GT, 16GB ram, zillions of HDs. (video editing)
Home: 2008 24" 2.8 iMac, 2TB Int, 4GB ram.
Road: 2009 13" 2.26 Macbook Pro, 8GB ram & 640GB WD blue internal
Retired to BOINC only: My trusty never-gonna-die 12" iBook G4 1.25
     
   
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