Identifying memory inside a computer, including CAS, mfr and part number.

[Ben Myers]

MemTest-86 Free 9.2 does not report information about newer memory chips as managed by newer chipsets, such as CAS timings, memory speed, memory manufacturer, and manufacturer part number. As a result, I have to open up the computer to see what memory is inside. This is no fun with an UEFI BIOS and an internal laptop battery.

Does MemTest-86 Pro provide this information for newer post 4th gen Intel chipsets, either like the older Memtest-86 versions did for older chipsets on screen or in a report generated after tests are run? Why wouldn't this information be displayed on screen as soon as the tests begin?

[David (PassMark)]

MemTest-86 Free 9.2 does not report information about newer memory chips as managed by newer chipsets, such as CAS timings, memory speed, memory manufacturer, and manufacturer part number.

Yes it does. It reads the SPD chip details. We recently added DDR5 support, which isn't even public as yet.

But some times the vendors don't include and SPD chip in their designs. This often happens if the vendor thinks a laptop will never have a RAM upgrade or repair. e.g. RAM is soldered to the motherboard. This allows them to save about 20 cents on their hardware.

There is also the RAMMon software in Windows you can use for this.

[Ben Myers]

The FREE version does? I have run it on numerous modern Lenovo laptops, with and without soldered-on memory, and Free 9.2 does not show me this information. Or maybe I do not know how to find it? Maybe I should run MemTest-86 Free 9.2 on a newer Dell post-Intel Gen 4 computer I have here to see if I can see CAS timings, memory speed, memory manufacturer, and manufacturer part number? I am perplexed.

Hadn't heard of RAMMon before. Will look into it, but the screen shot appears to show less information than what I find useful. Memory manufacturer and manufacturer part number are missing.

No matter what, I need something to deal with a non-booting system, and RAMMon won't handle this situation.

And I want to avoid prying open a computer to read labels on the memory chips, which are missing sometimes.

For me, this is a bit of a quandry. Thank you.

[David (PassMark)]

In MemTest86 there is a option called, "View detailed RAM SPD info"

A screen shot from RAMMon is below

[Ben Myers]

As I said, RAMMon is nice, but I need to boot non-Windows and non-booting systems and run a diagnostic like the MemTest86 spinoff, namely MemTest86+ (languishing for lack of interest by its developers), showing the info in attached photo .

Is "View detailed RAM SPD info" available in the free version, or only in the paid version? If in the free version, where and when do I click to find it, after all tests are complete or after interrupting an arbitrary test. I did not see a "View detailed RAM SPD info" choice in the free version. Maybe I am not seeing something? If in the paid version, posting a screen shot of what this information looks like may convince me to pay for the licensed version.

Note the wealth of information for each memory module, as displayed by the old MEMTEST86+ running on a motherboard with an early X58 chipset. That's really what I am looking for, in addition to the CAS timings.
My basic premise here is that testing is first and foremost the identification of what is being tested followed by the actual testing itself, whether memory, disk or any other computer device.

Thank you... Ben Myers

[Simon (PassMark)]

It is available in the free version, to view SPD info, you need to go the Main Menu (While its in test menu, Press Esc > Go back to Main Menu). In the System Info tab, there is option to 'View detail RAM (SPD) info'.

[Ben Myers]

No, I do not see SPD info, manufacturer or manufacturer part number when I run Memtest Free 9.0 on a Lenovo X280 laptop with a plain vanilla Intel chipset. See the attached photos.

However, when I do run it on an elderly Dell Latitude with 3rd gen Intel chipset, I see exactly the same information that I see running Memtest-86+, as shown in the photo I posted previously. This tells me that neither Memtest-86 nor Memtest-86+ have incorporated accurate detection of SPD info, memory manufacturer and mfr part number for modern chipsets. Am I missing something here?

Once again, I'll repeat the mantra of testing. First find out what you are testing and then test it... Ben Myers

[David (PassMark)]

It not directly related to "modern" or "elderly".

Some times the vendors don't include and SPD chip in their designs. So if there is no SPD chip, then the SPD data can't be collected via software. And we can't add software support for something that doesn't exist. SPD isn't required if the BIOS is hard coded to just support 1 type of RAM.

Other times vendors block access to the SMBus, which are the serial interface wires that connect the SPD chip to the CPU (or motherboard chipset, depending on the design). In this case support might be possible one day, but the vendor needs to release technical details (e.g. IO addresses and passwords / security codes).

Sometimes, the part really is so new that we haven't added support (like DDR5 up until a couple of weeks ago). But this is not the case for 4th Gen Intel chipsets.

[Ben Myers]

So you are saying that major memory manufacturers like Samsung, Hynix, and Crucial do not include SPD info? I could accept that reasoning for cheap off-brand memory made somewhere on the Pacific Rim, but not the majors.

OK, so suppose the SPD info is, in fact missing. Why does Memtest 9.0 FREE fail rto identify the memory manufacturer and part number on my Lenovo X280 with plain vanilla Intel chipset.

I'll claim again that the executable code spinning around inside Memtest 9.0 FREE is not up to date with the later Intel chipsets.

How about somebody there reads the source code to see what it does with newer chipsets? I've tried to do so with the open source Memtest-86+ and find the C code inscrutable and beyond my C programming abilities.

Seems to me that if RAMMon can read SPD and related info on my X280, MemTest86 FREE could do it, too, if able.

Or is this simply a case that Memtest-86 is a low-demand product and not worth the effort to develop it further? ... Ben Myers

[Ben Myers]

Here's some more MemTest-86 info from a 6th gen Lenovo laptop with 2x8GB Crucial DDR3L memory. The Crucial part number is displayed, but not the manufacturer. And the SPD info is missing. As I stated before, I cannot believe that Crucial would not provide SPD info programmatically, so there is a problem here.

[David (PassMark)]

So you are saying that major memory manufacturers like Samsung, Hynix, and Crucial do not include SPD info?

You are mis-understanding how it works. SPD isn't in the individual RAM chips themselves.
It is a separate (optional) chip installed on the RAM stick, or installed elsewhere on the motherboard. Same for the SMBus, it is something on the motherboard, not in the RAM chips. So it is a decision for the laptop manufacturer to include one or not.

Seems to me that if RAMMon can read SPD and related info on my X280, MemTest86 FREE could do it

Correct. So if you have a case like this, we can investigate further.

Here's some more MemTest-86 info from a 6th gen Lenovo laptop with 2x8GB Crucial DDR3L memory

Post a debug log if you want. We can probably confirm the situation for this laptop then
https://www.memtest86.com/tech_debug-logs.html

[cybertiger]

Just bought pro version.
Strange thing that It doesn't show SPD info in UI ("SPD not detected" message) but full SPD data in saved reports
I believe it is a bug

[keith]

Just bought pro version.
Strange thing that It doesn't show SPD info in UI ("SPD not detected" message) but full SPD data in saved reports
I believe it is a bug

Thanks for the reports.

The RAM page shows all available DIMM slots in the system as obtained from SMBIOS info.

If SPD is detected in the system, MemTest86 attempts to match SMBIOS slot with the SPD info according to the serial number.
In most cases, there is a match and you will see "SPD found".

In your case, however, there was no match as the BIOS did not properly write the serial number in the SMBIOS info as seen from the report:

DIMM #: 1
==============
Total Width: 72 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 16384 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Device Set: 0
Device Locator: CPU1_DIMM_A1
Bank Locator: NODE 1
Memory Type: DDR4
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 3600 MT/s
Manufacturer:
Serial Number:
Asset Tag:
Part Number:

No matching with the SPD info can be done, so "SPD not detected" was displayed.

We can try to workaround this case by matching the SMBIOS slot with the SPD info by order of detection.
This would probably work most of the time, but have the possibility of giving inaccurate slot mappings.

We can send you a test build by email.

[cybertiger]

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