MemTest86 test screen is misaligned/off-screen

[keith]

Problem:

Certain users may report the test progress window being misaligned or off-screen when the memory tests are running, as shown in the following screen capture:




The text is not centred and partially off screen.

This is caused by a BIOS firmware issue which incorrectly sets the absolute positioning of text on the screen (i.e. a bug in your computer's BIOS).

Solution:

To workaround this issue, there is a configuration file parameter, CONSOLEMODE, in the Pro version which allows the user to change the console mode to one of the supported values.

Changing the console mode effectively changes the resolution (ie. number of rows and columns) of the console, which may fix the screen positioning as a side effect.

If you are running on a USB flash drive, you can determine all supported console modes by looking at the log file:

2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Number of console modes: 9
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 0: 80 x 25
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 1: 80 x 50
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 2: 80 x 25
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 3: 480 x 113
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 4: 100 x 31
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 5: 128 x 40
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 6: 160 x 53
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 7: 200 x 63
2018-03-21 08:41:53 - Mode 8: 240 x 75

To change the console mode, edit the mt86.cfg file and set CONSOLEMODE to one of the supported values. For example,

CONSOLEMODE=3

After selecting console mode 3, it looks like this (for this particular machine).

[yangshulian]

Is there any way to change this situation in the free version? thx！

[David (PassMark)]

You can ask your vendor of your computer to fix the firmware bug.
Or it might already be fixed with a BIOS firmware upgrade.
(not very helpful I know, as most vendors are happy to ship buggy software)

[bluewanderer]

I think I have this same problem on a new Acer 4k laptop using Memtest8x 10.5 Free. I worked around it by going into "settings" and choosing the resolution "3800x2400". Then when it switches to run the test I can see everything, although it is very small.

Is this worth reporting to Acer? Is there any other software likely to have this problem?

[David (PassMark)]

You can attempt to report it to Acer, but I don't think they are going to care.
It shouldn't effect any Windows software.