List of Motherboards with issues when running MemTest86 in multi-CPU selection modes

[wb8eye]

GA-990FXA UD5-R5 m/b 5Gig 8 core AMD
Runs single cpu mode on cpu 0 and cpu7
else hangs. ctrl/alt/del won't even work.
Will not execute if cache disabled on any cpu.
Just paid for pro and it will not test the issues I wished for, mainly cache integrity
as Win 10 event log lists cache problems as red flag errors.

[David (PassMark)]

A request has been made to ASUS to make the fix available across their range of boards. We don't know the status (but it was several weeks ago now that the request was made), or if any action will be taken.

We only had updated firmware for 1 board, the M5A97 R2.0. And we aren't sure if we are allowed to distribute it.

[Cyra]

Sounds like ASUS.

I tested parallel mode on an ASUS X99 Deluxe (latest 3101) as well as ASUS X99-A USB 3.1 (latest 3101) and they also freeze early on in the pass every time.

So, it sounds like every ASUS X99 motherboard also has this very annoying and easy to reproduce problem. Hope ASUS fixes it at some point as my 128GBs of RAM takes 49 hours per pass.


David, can you provide the 2603 and 9001 files, or do a diff on them to see if this is something we can fix ourselves with UEFI Tools or the like?

I'll file a tech support case with ASUS for my boards and cross my fingers.

edit: tech case started.

[David (PassMark)]

ASUS got back to us and has confirmed is is a firmware bug in the M5A97 R2.0 motherboard. We tested updated firmware and confirmed it does correct the problem.

The new firmware version we tested was called "M5A97-R20-ASUS-9001.CAP"

However the current public release on the ASUS site seems to be BIOS M5A97-R20-ASUS-2603.CAP. (Version 2603 from July 2015). So who knows if this 9001 release will ever be made public, or if it gets renamed before being released.

Still, nice to know it really was a firmware bug and not something wrong in MemTest86.

Seemingly they aren't proactively fixing other motherboards. We asked them to make the same correction to the other ASUS motherboard with the same problem, like the M5A97 Evo R2.0, but they instead asked us to fill out more customer feedback forms
We don't have test hardware for these other boards, so can't test a fix in any case.

[cowbawx]

-Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming GT
-BIOS "F6"
-Intel i7-6700k

MemTest 6.3.0 Free

-Single Cpu - Runs fine on CPU0, all other CPUs goes to start the test and restarts right away
-Parallel - Runs on CPU0 but says "[CPU Error] Could not start CPU 1-7"
-Round Robin - runs the first 2 ests on CPU0 then hangs PC
-Sequential - just like Round Robin

[David (PassMark)]

MemTest V7 beta is now out. This release has a work around / detection method for the above UEFI bug.

The behaviour in V7 is to try and detect the above bug and if detected the machine will only be run in single threaded mode. If the machine seems bug free, and supports threading, we run in multithreaded mode.

This means that V7 will now default to multithreaded testing. Running in parallel mode significantly decreases the test time as compared to running in single CPU mode and should also help to detect more errors faster.

We have also reported the problem to ASUS and they have indicated that they have a look at it with a view to fixing it.

We are sure at this point if this will also solve the problem with the ASRock boards and Gigabyte board. Fingers crossed it will.

[David (PassMark)]

Update: We have purchased a ASUS M5A97 based machine to test on in house.
So hopefully we'll find find a work around for the BIOS bug.
(and then hope the same work-around also fixes the Gigabyte BIOS issue)

We should have a new software release to try out in a couple of weeks (mid May 2016)

[stibi]

Hi,
similar problem with stock settings - only CPU0 is working:
Gigabyte Z170X-UD3 BIOS F6
Intel i5-6600K
Kingstone 4x4GB (2x kit 8GB) HX430C15SB2K2/8
MemTest86 V6.3.0 Free Build: 1000 (64-bit)
Log file https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4l...ew?usp=sharing

In MemTest86 Version 4.3.7 test passed 7times with all CPUs (parallel) over night.

Stibi

[keith]

Tony,

Thanks for the details. Yes, if possible, please e-mail us a copy of the log file.

[TonyK132]

Add me to the list of systems that fail using MemTest 6.3.0. I'm booting from a memory stick. Here's my system:
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 vers 4.0
Bios F3 dated 5/28/15 (latest)
AMD FX 9590 8-processor CPU
16GM Corsair Vengeance Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1866 MHz (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory (CMZ8GX3M2A1866C9R)
h100i cooler
Samsung SSD + HDDs

I have not been able to complete even 1 test using 1 processor. It always seems to stop on test 3 using CPU 0. If I try to use a different processor (ie, CPU1, etc), then nothing happens, it just hangs. If I run the Microsoft Memory Test, that works fine, but it does not give me the option to use other processors.

I've been running this test off and on for the past 3 wks. I even bought new memory since the Ballistic memory I had been using was not listed as supported even though it seems to work OK in normal operation.

Let me know if you are interested in getting my log file to see what's going on. It seems it is too big to add in-line to this message, and the system will not accept a TXT file.

I have not tried to contact Gigabyte, although from what I've read in this forum they are not likely to admit to a problem.

Comments?
Thanks,
Tony

[NikoKiko]

Hi
here are my finds

-Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7
-BIOS "F6"
-Intel i7-6700k

MemTest 6.3.0 Free

-Single Cpu - Runs fine on CPU0, all other CPUs goes to start the test and restarts right away
-Parallel - Runs on CPU0 but says "[CPU Error] Could not start CPU 1-7"
-Round Robin - runs the first 3 tests on CPU0 then restarts maybe the moment it tries to go to the next CPU
-Sequential - just like Round Robin

MemTest 4.3.7

no such problems

[MuMMeL]

Mainboard: Supermicro X9DRW-iF
BIOS: R3.2
CPU: 2x XEON E5-2680 V2
Reset on Parallel Test
Freeze: Round Robin
works ok: single CPU Test

We buy the pro version to test our compiler server. And this is a pain in you the know what i mean.

Christian

[mig]

Another board with the same/similar issue

Asus M5A97 Evo R2.0 wiht BIOS version 2603

CPU: AMD FX-8300
RAM: 4x8=32GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3-1866

everything OK outside Parallel/Robin parameter (MEM is good with single CPU test and is working when using Parallel but in old MT86 4.3.7)

[Phoenix365]

Hi everybody,

-Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5
-BIOS "F4"
-Intel i7-6700k
-Freeze on Parallel, Sequential, Round Robin. Freeze on Single for all CPUs except CPU0

Runs fine on CPU0, all others insta-crash and reboot

[asterx]

Hi,

Freeze on Parallel, Sequential, Round Robin.
Freeze on Single for all CPUs except CPU0

is happening on the Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P v2.0 motherboard with the FC BIOS and AMD Phenom II x4 945 CPU too.