[ILUG] [Q] is it possible for memory _slot_ to fail?

[Frank Duignan]

Sure, slots can fail - the mechanics can go awry, tracks can crack etc.  The
fact that your bios no longer holds its setting is also worrying.  It may
just be a simple matter of the battery being flat though I think the
settings are in flash memory these days.  Sounds to me like you've now got
an unstable and untrustworthy board.  If it was me I'd replace it (if
possible).

On 11/3/06, Brian Foster <blf at blf.utvinternet.ie> wrote:
>
> c.10 days ago I came home, found the main breaker tripped,
> and subsequently discovered the dishwasher's pump had failed
> and the power supply on my computer was fried.  I presume the
> pump's failure was the initial event (it'd been making weird
> noises).  I haven't done anything about the pump yet, but
> yesterday replaced the power supply.
>
> however, when I powered up the machine, all I got was 3 long
> beeps.  nothing else (in particular, nothing on the display).
> half-guessing and half-remembering beeps like that mean the
> BIOS is very unhappy, and a typical cause is memory, I pulled
> one of the two 256MiB PC133 DIMMs.  by chance, I pulled the
> right one, the machine came up (sort of, more on this later).
>
> ah, Ok, I lost a DIMM.  no big deal.  back to the shop, bought
> a replacement, inserted it, and 3 long beeps again.  eh?
> I presume it unlikely I bought a bad/wrong DIMM, and so now
> wonder if the slot / socket / associated circuity / whatever
> might have been damaged (fried?)?  assuming I didn't damage
> something when I pulled the original DIMM, is such a thing
> possible?
>
> I realize I could play swap DIMMs with the other socket (I
> only have two slots) and work out whether or not the DIMMs
> that caused beeps really are bad or not, but I'm reluctant
> to do that, and I've more serious problems anyway ....
>
> the BIOS/CMOS isn't holding the settings anymore for hdb,
> which whilst the Slave is actually my main HDD, and the
> one nominally booted.  that is, the settings are no longer
> programmed in, and when I reprogram, they vanish on the
> next reset.  I can force hdb to boot by manually probing
> it with the BIOS, but that's a PITA.  any suggestions?
> (both HDD drives (ATA), hda and hdb, seem to be fine.)
>
> and both the DVD-rewriter and CD-rewriter aren't responding,
> (e.g, when I press the open button, nothing happens, and
> neither was detected by Linux when booting).  this is a bit
> weird, as I checked when when I installed the power supply
> that they flashed their lights.  now they don't appear to
> be powered.  since they are on the same Y-cable for power,
> I'm going to guess, ATM, I just knocked the Y-cable loose
> whilst playing with the DIMMs (physically possible), but
> this problem has me even more annoyed than the hdb problem,
> since it means I've no backup drives!
>
> grumble ....   anyways, the main question again:  is it
> possible to loose a DIMM memory _slot_ when a power supply
> fries?  is there anything I should look for when I open up
> the case (mainly to investigate the DVD/CD problem)?
>
> cheers!?
>         -blf-
>
> --
> Experienced (20+ yrs) kernel/software Eng: | Brian Foster   Montpellier,
> • Unix, embedded, &tc;  • Linux;  • doc;  | blf at utvinternet.ie   FRANCE
> • IDL, automated testing, process, &tc.   |  Stop E$$o (ExxonMobile)!
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