Individual Test Descriptions
MemTest86 executes a series of numbered test sections to check for errors. These test sections consist of a combination of test algorithm, data pattern and cache setting. The execution order for these tests were arranged so that errors will be detected as rapidly as possible. A description of each of the test sections follows:
Test 0 [Address test, walking ones, 1 CPU]
Tests all address bits in all memory banks by using a walking ones address pattern. This test is performed by a single CPU core.
Test 1 [Address test, own address, 1 CPU]
Each address is written with its own address and then is checked for consistency. In theory previous tests should have caught any memory addressing problems. This test should catch any addressing errors that somehow were not previously detected. This test is performed by a single CPU core.
Test 2 [Address test, own address]
Same as test 1 but the testing is done using multiple CPUS, if applicable.
Test 3 [Moving inversions, ones&zeros, Parallel]
This test uses the moving inversions algorithm with patterns of all ones and zeros. Cache is enabled even though it interferes to some degree with the test algorithm. With cache enabled this test does not take long and should quickly find all "hard" errors and some more subtle errors.
Test 4 [Moving inversions, 8 bit pattern]
This is the same as test 3 but uses a 8 bit wide pattern of "walking" ones and zeros. This test will better detect subtle errors in "wide" memory chips.
Test 5 [Moving inversions, random pattern]
Test 5 uses the same algorithm as test 4 but the data pattern is a random number and it's complement. This test is particularly effective in finding difficult to detect data sensitive errors. The random number sequence is different with each pass so multiple passes increase effectiveness.
Test 6 [Block move, 64 moves]
This test stresses memory by using block move (movsl) instructions and is based on Robert Redelmeier's burnBX test. Memory is initialized with shifting patterns that are inverted every 8 bytes. Then 4mb blocks of memory are moved around using the movsl instruction. After the moves are completed the data patterns are checked. Because the data is checked only after the memory moves are completed it is not possible to know where the error occurred. The addresses reported are only for where the bad pattern was found. Since the moves are constrained to a 8mb segment of memory the failing address will always be less than 8mb away from the reported address. Errors from this test are not used to calculate BadRAM patterns.
Test 7 [Moving inversions, 32 bit pattern]
This is a variation of the moving inversions algorithm that shifts the data pattern left one bit for each successive address. The starting bit position is shifted left for each pass. To use all possible data patterns 32 passes are required. This test is quite effective at detecting data sensitive errors but the execution time is long.
Test 8 [Random number sequence]
This test writes a series of random numbers into memory. By resetting the seed for the random number the same sequence of number can be created for a reference. The initial pattern is checked and then complemented and checked again on the next pass. However, unlike the moving inversions test writing and checking can only be done in the forward direction.
Test 9 [Modulo 20, Random pattern]
Using the Modulo-X algorithm should uncover errors that are not detected by moving inversions due to cache and buffering interference with the algorithm.
Test 10 [Bit fade test, 2 patterns]
The bit fade test initializes all of memory with a pattern and then sleeps for a few minutes. Then memory is examined to see if any memory bits have changed. All ones and all zero patterns are used.
Test 11 [Random number sequence, 64-bit]
This test is the same as Test 8, but native 64-bit instructions are used.
Test 12 [Random number sequence, 128-bit]
This test is the same as Test 8, but native SIMD (128-bit) instructions are used.
Test 13 [Hammer Test]
The row hammer test exposes a fundamental defect with RAM modules 2010 or later. This defect can lead to disturbance errors when repeatedly accessing addresses in the same memory bank but different rows in a short period of time. The repeated opening/closing of rows causes charge leakage in adjacent rows, potentially causing bits to flip.
This test 'hammers' rows by alternatively reading two addresses in a repeated fashion, then verifying the contents of other addresses for disturbance errors. For more details on DRAM disturbance errors, see Flipping Bits in Memory Without Accessing Them: An Experimental Study of DRAM Disturbance Errors by Yoongu Kim et al.
Starting from MemTest86 v6.2, potentially two passes of row hammer testing are performed. On the first pass, address pairs are hammered at the highest possible rate. If errors are detected on the first pass, errors are not immediately reported and a second pass is started. In this pass, address pairs are hammered at a lower rate deemed as the worst case scenario by memory vendors (200K accesses per 64ms). If errors are also detected in this pass, the errors are reported to the user as normal. However, if only the first pass produces an error, a warning message is instead displayed to the user.
Test 14 [DMA Test]
The DMA test exercises the DMA subsystem to initiate memory transfers without CPU intervention. This test is designed to detect memory errors that are exposed during DMA-based memory accesses initiated by peripherals such as mass storage devices (eg. hard drives).
This test first initializes the contents in a scratch partition in the MemTest86 USB flash drive by performing a DMA-based transfer from memory to disk. Once initialized, the data is verified by performing multiple iterations of DMA-based transfer from disk back to memory. An error is detected If there are any data mismatches between what was written and read from disk.
