PE R510 Memory config [MEMTEST Lane Failure]

Hi,

What slots are the DIMMs in? If you swap the DIMMs on the A side and B side does the error follow?

I will swap the A side memory with the B side, to see what happens.

All the sticks are the same manufacturer and were all new. The cpu of course was not new. I ordered another cpu, but I am not sure if I can try this by the weekend. Thanks

I swapped out the B side cpu with a new cpu. The same memory errors to the same side (B). Exact same error.

I swapped the B side memory with the A side memory. The same memory errors occur on the same side (B). Exact same error. I swapped 3 out of the 4, not all 4 on one side (only the white tabbed memory slots were swapped).

So it is not the memory and it is not the cpu. Motherboard? Which I will probably not even attempt to switch out... is it a setting in bios, memory configuration?

Is the system BIOS up to date? It sounds like there could be an issue with the system board or the new processor. If you can swap the processors and see if the error moves that will help narrow it down.

There were some memory updates in the latest version, so it may help to update.

PS > get-wmiobject win32_bios

SMBIOSBIOSVersion : 1.9.0
Manufacturer : Dell Inc.
Name : Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 1.9.0
SerialNumber : XXXXXX
Version : DELL - 1

There is a newer version on the Dell site: PowerEdge R510 BIOS Version 1.12.0  link

There seems to be an update in the firmware in version 1.11.0 for a memory issue. The R510 server does contain a 2x Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5620 @ 2.40GHz

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
History of Previous Release Notes 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System:         Dell PowerEdge R510
Version:        1.11.0
Release Date:   08/15/2012
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* Updated Memory Reference Code to version 2.40. This BIOS update corrects the
  following issues:
        - Multi-Bit Errors and Machine Check Errors resulting from Intel erratum
          BD123 on systems running Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series with C-states enabled.
        - Intermittent system hangs at POST during memory initialization with
          three DIMMs Per Channel memory configurations.


Full release notes link

Thanks for the help, I will probably upgrade the firmware on the next system update.

I did the firmware upgrade, and it did not fix the memory issue. I can only use 80GB out of 128GB and the same errors exists that are posted in the previous posts.

In that case it is either the new CPU or the system board that is most likely the issue.

Hi Josh,
I'm having the same problem as OP. I have an R510 which I just put a new CPU into and I am getting the same error. I swapped memory modules around and the error remained on bank B2. I followed your advice and upgraded the BIOS. When that did not work I swapped the CPUs to see if the error would switch banks, but it remained on B2.

I believe at this point i've narrowed the issue down to the motherboard. I have two questions:
- Is there any other testing I can do to rule any thing else out before ordering a replacement motherboard?
- From other discussions I've read on the dell community forum the R510 is a trichannel memory configuration. Is there anything inherently wrong with leaving banks A2-3&B2-3 empty and just using A1,A4&B1,B4? I ask because the BIOS complains that it's an "unsupported memory configuration".

Thanks!

There are not any valid memory configs that skip B2. Page 117 downloads.dell.com/.../poweredge-r510_owner%27s%20manual_en-us.pdf