C++/VB - Can the kernel reserve memory at boot time ?

Asked By Ryu

31-Jan-10 12:40 PM

Hello,
I have a bad memory (from 589MB to 605MB according to memtest86+)
I'd like to know if the kernel can reserve this portion of memory; then it
will not be used anymore ?
Is it possible under Windows 7 ?

I Found that the Linux kernel have the parameter 'memmap' for this !
Unfortunately I cannot find the same thing for Windows :(

Any ideas to solve my memory corruption problem ?

31-Jan-10 01:24 PM

If some of the memory went sour, there is danger that more of it will. Just
replace the module, it is only
$50 or so.

31-Jan-10 02:20 PM

Yes, but I'd like to find a software solution. The memory bank is a 1GB
DDR1; old and expansive now !
I am a bit surprised that the windows kernel has no solution to protect the
system from such problem (I have tryed the memory checking program from
Windows, but it just report problem and bring no solution)
With msconfig, it is possible to set the maximum use of memory, but not a
specific zone :(

I am wondering if the kernel has an advanced malloc function ?



The Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:24:57 -0800, Alexander Grigoriev wrote??:

31-Jan-10 04:23 PM

Windows kernel has no such option because there is no value in the option.
it is palliative treatment; your memory may fail on you in other places. Just
bite the bullet and replace the memory. Or just set maxmem.

See if your BIOS can exclude some memory. Windows gets memory map from BIOS.

Oh, and I just checked on eBay that you can get DDR1 1GB for $25 or about
that.

31-Jan-10 06:00 PM

Actually, it does have the option.  Unfortunately, it is not documented.
There are calls MmMarkPhysicalMemoryAsBad and MmMarkPhysicalMemoryAsGood to
do this, which have been used for fault tolerant environments.   I have never
seen any doc's that tell you how to use them, but they are in there, they
were even in the Windows XP DDK includes.

I agree with Alexander in this case the right thing to do is replace the
memory.


--
Don Burn (MVP, Windows DKD)
Windows Filesystem and Driver Consulting
Website: http://www.windrvr.com
Blog: http://msmvps.com/blogs/WinDrvr






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31-Jan-10 06:28 PM

I suppose the OS could call them after getting ECC error notifications. In
any case, the time that OP would spend to make a driver that would call that
costs and takes more than just buying a replacement module.

01-Feb-10 10:13 AM

Thanks for all the remarks !
Seems I have no choice to replace it !

Too bad, I solved the problem for the Linux OS (memmap=17M$589M), but not
for Windows...



The Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:28:32 -0800, Alexander Grigoriev wrote??: