Using Badram/Badmem in Fedora 6 or 7?

[James Wilkinson]

A while back, M. Fioretti wrote:
> I would like to install FC6 or FC7 (*) on an almost new computer in
> which one stick of RAM just started showing faults in memtest86.

No chance that you can return the memory or the computer under consumer
protection laws, I suppose?
> 
> Badram seems the perfect solution. I have found how to run memtest86
> to find the options needed by badram, but I haven't found any specific
> information about using this patch in Fedora.
> 
> 1) Is it included in the FC kernel?

As you'd probably have found by now, no it isn't.

> 2) If not, what is the exact procedure to use it with FC6 or 7?

Are you familiar with building your own kernel? I'd recommend getting
that going right before applying a patch.

Normally, you'd unpack the kernel, cd to the
/whatever/kernel-2.6.20.x.y.banana directory, and run
bzcat /path/to/badram-patch.bz | patch -p1

> 4) Can it be done at install time, or is it necessary to install
>    without the faulty memory module, then run the procedure (2) above,
>    then reinsert the defective stick?

You would need to use the patched kernel whenever using the dodgy
memory, unless it's at a relatively high address. For example, if the
errors occurred around 712 MB, you could boot with mem=700M as a kernel
option (you may need to use noprobe, too). That *is* supported by the
default kernel and will allow you to boot and run with 700 MB of memory.
(If the error is above 900 MB, I'd stick to this solution.)

James.

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