--- title: "Memory Test" slug: "memory-test" updated: 2026-07-02T08:37:48Z published: 2026-07-02T08:37:48Z canonical: "docs.fmad.io/memory-test" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.fmad.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Memory Test For server hardware particularly as hardware ages is DDR memory failures over time. These can show up as un-explainable problems and unusual behaviour, sometimes its very predictiable other times it seldom occurs. The procedure below describes how to run a memory test on the system to confirm no issues. ## Step 1) Download Memtest86 Free Memtest86 Free version is free to download, the current version is v11.7 Link to the download page is shown below [https://www.memtest86.com/downloads/memtest86-usb.zip](https://www.memtest86.com/downloads/memtest86-usb.zip) Copy this file onto the FMADIO system in the directory ```plaintext /mnt/store0/tmp2/ ``` ## Step 2) Extract zip Unzip the tarball as follows ```plaintext unzip memtest86-usb.zip ``` Example output ```plaintext fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ unzip memtest86-usb.zip Archive:  memtest86-usb.zip  inflating: memtest86-usb.img  inflating: readme.txt  inflating: imageUSB.exe  inflating: ReadMe_imageUSB.txt  inflating: MemTest86_User_Guide_UEFI.pdf   creating: Help/   creating: Help/HTML/  inflating: Help/HTML/zoom_pageinfo.js  inflating: Help/HTML/hmkwindex.htm  inflating: Help/HTML/cicon_loadindex_ani.gif  inflating: Help/HTML/jquery.js  inflating: Help/HTML/usage.htm  inflating: Help/HTML/imageusb-banner.jpg  inflating: Help/HTML/search.php  inflating: Help/HTML/zoom_search.js  inflating: Help/HTML/hmcontent.htm  inflating: Help/HTML/settings.js  inflating: Help/HTML/introduction_and_overview.htm  inflating: Help/HTML/hmcontextids.js  inflating: Help/HTML/contacting_passmark_software.htm  inflating: Help/HTML/purchasing_information.htm  inflating: Help/HTML/helpman_navigation.js  inflating: Help/HTML/search_template.html  inflating: Help/HTML/system_requirements.htm  inflating: Help/HTML/gui.jpg  inflating: Help/HTML/helpman_settings.js  inflating: Help/HTML/default.css  inflating: Help/HTML/zoom_index.js  inflating: Help/HTML/hmftsearch.htm  inflating: Help/HTML/highlight.js  inflating: Help/HTML/cicon9.png  inflating: Help/HTML/helpman_topicinit.js  inflating: Help/HTML/index.html fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ ``` ## Step 3) Mount the USB Image Mount the memtes86-usb.img USB image using the following command ```plaintext sudo losetup -fP memtest86-usb.img ``` Then find the loopback device. NOTE: need to use the absolute path as FMADIO shell by default ignores all loopback block devices ```plaintext /usr/local/bin/lsblk | grep loop  | tail ``` Example output ```plaintext fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ /usr/local/bin/lsblk | grep loop  | tail loop177       7:177  0   308K  1 loop  /tmp/tcloop/libevent loop178       7:178  0   6.5M  1 loop  /tmp/tcloop/glibc_i18n_locale loop179       7:179  0   248K  1 loop  /tmp/tcloop/tmux loop180       7:180  0   2.1M  1 loop  /tmp/tcloop/net-snmp loop181       7:181  0     8K  1 loop  /tmp/tcloop/libestr loop182       7:182  0  69.1M  1 loop  /tmp/tcloop/fmadio200v4_current loop183       7:183  0     1G  0 loop |-loop183p1 259:16   0   256M  0 part |-loop183p2 259:17   0   255M  0 part `-loop183p3 259:18   0   512M  0 part fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ ``` The mount point is the first loopback partition mount, in this case its NOTE: this will vary depending on the system and firmware version ```plaintext /dev/loop183p1 ``` Mount this loopback device ```plaintext sudo mkdir memtest ``` Then ```plaintext sudo mount /dev/loop183p1 /mnt/store0/tmp2/memtest ``` The expected output of the directory is shown below ```plaintext fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ ls -al memtest total 64 drwxr-xr-x    4 root     root         16384 Jan  1  1970 ./ drwxrwxrwx   13 root     root          4096 Jun 25 00:39 ../ drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root          4096 May  4 01:50 EFI/ drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root          4096 May  4 01:50 help/ -rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root         35815 May  4 01:50 license.rtf fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ ``` ## Step 4) Copy the EFI image to System Ensure an EFI directory is present on the boot system partition. On older systems the directory is not there ```plaintext sudo mkdir /mnt/system/EFI/ ``` Copy the EFI image to the FMADIO system partition ```plaintext sudo cp -R /mnt/store0/tmp2/memtest/EFI /mnt/system/EFI/memtest86 ``` Ensure it copied correctly ```plaintext ls -al /mnt/system/EFI/memtest86/BOOT ``` Expected output ```plaintext fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ ls -al /mnt/system/EFI/memtest86/BOOT total 6808 drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root          8192 Jun 25 00:42 ./ drwxr-xr-x    3 root     root          8192 Jun 25 00:42 ../ -rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root       1369640 Jun 25 00:42 BOOTAA64.efi -rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root       1553960 Jun 25 00:42 BOOTIA32.efi -rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root       1631784 Jun 25 00:42 BOOTX64.efi drwxr-xr-x    2 root     root          8192 Jun 25 00:42 Benchmark/ -rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root          5949 Jun 25 00:42 blacklist.cfg -rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root          6823 Jun 25 00:42 mt86.png -rwxr-xr-x    1 root     root       2355408 Jun 25 00:42 unifont.bin fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ ``` ## Step 4a) Copy EFI Shell For Gen2 and Gen3 FMADIO system by default EFI boot is not included. Download the following file [https://firmware.fmad.io/download/tmp/shellx64.efi](https://firmware.fmad.io/download/tmp/shellx64.efi) Confirm MD5sum ```plaintext md5sum shellx64.efi ``` Expected result ```plaintext 37586bf70c618caa7c30c66a73dcd840  shellx64.efi ``` Copy the file to ```plaintext sudo cp shellx64.efi /mnt/system/ ``` ## Step 5) Force BIOS boot Force the system to boot into the system BIOS, using the below IPMITool command ```plaintext sudo ipmitool chassis bootdev bios ``` Expected output ```plaintext fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ sudo ipmitool chassis bootdev bios Set Boot Device to bios fmadio@fmadio200v4-636:/mnt/store0/tmp2$ ``` ## Step 6) Reboot system Start the BMC KVM to monitor the boot process Reboot the system, ensure it loads the BIOS page when completed ```plaintext sudo reboot ``` When it completes BIOS screen looks per below ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(458).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) ## Step 7) Boot into EFI Shell Navigate to the Save & Exit page ### FMADIO Gen4 Systems boot UEFI: Built in EFI Shell ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(459).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) ### FMADIO Gen2 and Gen3 Systems Use the Launch EFI Shell from file system device per below ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(467).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) This will drop a prompt similar to below. NOTE: on Gen4 systems press ESC to cancel the usual boot process ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(460).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) ## Step 8) Navigate to memtest86 dir Continue to the copied device ```plaintext fs0: ``` ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(461).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) ```plaintext cd EFI/memtest86/BOOT ``` ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(462).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) ## Step 9) Launch memtest Run the BOOTX86.EFI image per ```plaintext BOOTX64.EFI ``` It will start similar to below ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(463).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) Then the full memtest will run as shown below ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(464).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) Progress of the test is shown in the top Green PASS % ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(465).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D) Do note it will take 10H or longer for the full test to complete. ## Step 10) Wait for Result It will take ~10 hours for the complete test to run. It van be left to run overnight The final output result is shown below. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/b9aab0c4-36d0-4616-9673-30b661455571/Images/Documentation/image(466).png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-13T18%3A30%3A19Z&se=2026-11-13T19%3A30%3A19Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=CnLXvoc2QA8xTohyDyK5nleeQjeTWrPl3urx5K14gYo%3D)