Memtest86 does not go beyond "getting memory controller details"

[BoBa]

Hi,

I see the same issue with a iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020, 3,8 GhZ 8-Core i7) running BigSur. It has 2x32G and 2x4G Simms installed.
I experience frequent crashes of the system and wanted to check if the RAM is OK.

Memtest86 did not start up but hangs at „getting memory controller details“ as reported by others before.

I tried the 8.4 version and the V9beta1. In the 8.4. I also added the blacklist entry as proposed in a previous post. Always the same, non working result.

Then I added this line to blacklist.cfg on the V9beta1 image:

"Mac-CFF7D910A743CAAF",ALL,EXACT,DISABLE_MP

Taking the product key from the log file:

[….] SMBIOS BASEBOARD INFO Manufacturer: "Apple Inc.", Product: "Mac-CFF7D910A743CAAF", Version: "iMac20,1" [….]

This made it work! And in deed on of the memory modules showed massive errors.

BTW, in the EFI boot select screen, I see the OSX partition and two additional boot options. Shouldn't there be only one? Both boot into the memtest image.

Maybe this should find it*s way into the V9 final.

Regards,
BB

[David (PassMark)]

Apple are aware of the UEFI bug.
They have told us it will be fixed when they roll out the next round of patches (Q1 2021 sometime).

[Stephan360]

I just thought that I would chime in here to say that there seems to be a problem with RAM sold by OWC and installed in the 2020 10-core i9 iMacs. I used Memtest86 to determine two of my four 32GB OWC RAM sticks were faulty. The replacement (and all four) RAM sticks passed fine via Memtest86. My iMac was still crashing. I replaced the 128GB of OWC RAM with 128GB of Micron RAM (via Crucial). All problems disappeared, along with an unexpected bonus of my 2020 iMac running about 20F-degrees cooler.

Even though Memtest86 did not find any problems with my 128GB OWC RAM (after the 2nd RAM replacement) there is something about OWC RAM not working well with these new iMacs that Apple/OWC is not being up front about.

I seem to be having the same issue. I also have a new 2020 10-core i9 iMac 5k (running Catalina). I replaced the 8GB of factory-installed RAM with 2 x 32GB RAM sticks from OWC yesterday. Within a couple hours, I had my first system crash. I just completed an 18-hour run of Memtest86 Beta on the system. Memtest did not detect any errors with the RAM. However, based on my initial experience, and after reading this thread and a couple forums reporting issues with OWC memory, I'm thinking that I should return the OWC sticks and switch to Micron/Crucial (which unfortunately seems to be sold out everywhere).

Eddie750 How frequently were the crashes with OWC RAM happening on your system?

[andipop]

I'm experiencing the same problem with my brand new iMac 2020 8GB Ram, but I'm running Catalina. I exchanged the text in blacklist and added the line of code as suggested above but memtest still stops at "getting memory controller details". Is this the same BIOS-issue described above and should I be patient or is it another issue under a different macOS?

[Stephan360]

I'm experiencing the same problem with my brand new iMac 2020 8GB Ram, but I'm running Catalina. I exchanged the text in blacklist and added the line of code as suggested above but memtest still stops at "getting memory controller details". Is this the same BIOS-issue described above and should I be patient or is it another issue under a different macOS?

andipop what version Memtest86 are you running? I was able to solve the issue (on my 2020 iMac also running Catalina) by creating a new bootable USB drive with the recently released Beta version, mentioned earlier in this thread, and running that. Have successfully completed tests with factory, OWC, and Micron/Crucial RAM.

[Stephan360]

Apple are aware of the UEFI bug.
They have told us it will be fixed when they roll out the next round of patches (Q1 2021 sometime).

David (PassMark) Apple made Big Sur 11.2 available to my MacBook today. Do you know whether they fixed the UEFI bug with this release?

[David (PassMark)]

We don't know if 11.2 contained the fix. Let's hope so.

[andipop]

Apple also provided an update to Catalina 11.15.7 yesterday. Now, memtest is running smoothly.
And - my new RAM showed no errors. Yeah!

[Stephan360]

I seem to be having the same issue. I also have a new 2020 10-core i9 iMac 5k (running Catalina). I replaced the 8GB of factory-installed RAM with 2 x 32GB RAM sticks from OWC yesterday. Within a couple hours, I had my first system crash. I just completed an 18-hour run of Memtest86 Beta on the system. Memtest did not detect any errors with the RAM. However, based on my initial experience, and after reading this thread and a couple forums reporting issues with OWC memory, I'm thinking that I should return the OWC sticks and switch to Micron/Crucial (which unfortunately seems to be sold out everywhere).

Eddie750 How frequently were the crashes with OWC RAM happening on your system?

Update: I declined OWC's offer to replace the RAM modules that seemed to be causing my system crashes. I was able to purchase two individual 32GB Micron/Crucial RAM modules, which I installed. I ran Memtest with no issues, and I've been running my computer for two days without any system crashes. There definitely appears to be some kind of compatibility issue with the RAM from OWC and the 2020 iMac 5ks. Thank you, Eddie750.

[eth0]

Hello everyone, I don't know if I should just reply to this thread or create my own because though I have the exactly same problem of the title (My Memtest86 hangs on "getting memory controller details") my system is entirely different from the users above. I have an AMD Ryzen 5 3600X running stock on a MSI Bazooka V2 (BIOS Version 7A38vPB, latest stable, AMD AGESA ComboAm4PI 1.0.0.6) with 2x8 RAM 2666MHz modules not from QVL list. I'm on Void Linux 64bits.

I'm getting lots of crashes on my Firefox lately so I decided to test my RAM modules but the memtest86 UEFI hangs on "getting memory controller details". If I try to run the memtest86 V4 over BIOS Legacy the test boots just fine. Could it be a faulty CPU? What yould you recommend?

Here are my logs:
MemTest86 (cópia 1).log
MemTest86.log
MemTest86 (cópia 3).log

Thank you in advance!

[David (PassMark)]

eth0,

Those three logs you posted show a crash at 3 slightly different locations in the code. So this make it less likely it is a software bug, compatibility issue, or BIOS bug. The randomness instead makes it more likely to be a hardware issue. Do you have a spare CPU or RAM stick to try. Can you try with just 1 RAM stick installed?
Normally CPUs are pretty reliable, but there have been a few posts in the forum recently with failing Ryzens.

[eth0]

eth0,

Those three logs you posted show a crash at 3 slightly different locations in the code. So this make it less likely it is a software bug, compatibility issue, or BIOS bug. The randomness instead makes it more likely to be a hardware issue. Do you have a spare CPU or RAM stick to try. Can you try with just 1 RAM stick installed?
Normally CPUs are pretty reliable, but there have been a few posts in the forum recently with failing Ryzens.

Hello, thank you for yout attention. I've tested with pretty much any possible combination of my RAM modules, they all hang at the same phase. In the next few days I'll be running the same tests changing my CPU.

Here goes the logs with the RAM slots I've used. There are two modules of 8GB.

https://v.teknik.io/v/EEJZ6

It's weird cause I can play any demanding game, but my browser keeps crashing...

[eth0]

Updating: I changed my CPU and everything is working, no crashes and it's made through the passmark test! I guess I'll be buying a new cpu then, thahnk you!

[David (PassMark)]

I changed my CPU and everything is working

So another confirmed case of a bad Ryzen 5 CPU.

[rik1p]

I'm getting the same problem.
Imac 21.5" 2017.

iMac18,1

Kaby Lake(U)

Iris Plus 640

Mac-4B682C642B45593E

10.12.4 (16E2193)

I've added the line "Mac-4B682C642B45593E",ALL,EXACT,DISABLE_MP" to the blacklist.cfg file but still hangs on "Getting memory controller info"

Attached is the log file.
Any ideas?
Works fine on 2017 5k 27" imac so I know it's something specific to this mac.
Thanks
Rik