Memory upgrade works fine in Windows 7, but crashes Linuxes

[okie2003]

I tried upgrading my Dell Latitude E6510 from 4 GB RAM to 8 GB Ram. In preparation for this I installed Netrunner (Kubuntu Precise 12.04) 64 bit on a partition. I run netrunner (Kubuntu Precise 12.04) 32 bit with 3.2.0-38-generic-pae kernel for my working install. The short story is that both netrunners and a partition with Mint 13(?) (Kubuntu Precise 12.04) will boot and run for anywhere from 2 minutes to 5 minutes before locking up or rebooting. Knowing that I might have bad memory I put in one 4 GB at a time and they worked fine in each slot. I booted into a native install of Windows 7 (can't remembr when I last did that) with the full 8 GB and ran all the updates for Windows, anti-virus, and printers. I opened an application or two. I was there for 30 to 40 minutes and all was well. I booted back into Linux without touching the hardware and CRASH!

I think the problem may be over heating in Linux. What can I use to monitor temps? Any suggestions for a fix? I am going home and will try to boot from a flash drive or a CD and see what happens.

[okie2003]

Update

I continue to believe that there is nothing wrong with the RAM and have further demonstrated this. I took one 4GB stick and installed it with an old 2GB stick. I ran this way in Linux Saturday and Sunday without any problems. Sunday night I switched the 4GB stick with the other 4 GB stick and ran Sunday night and Monday in Linux without any problems. Late Monday afternoon I swapped the 2GB stick for the remaining 4GB stick and rebooted into Linux. The computer locked up within 90 seconds. I powered down and rebooted into Windows 7 without touching the memory. I have been running with 8GB in Windows for more than an hour running the webcam, playing a DVD, and I am currently typing this in Windows 7 (and not liking it).

It certainly seems to NOT be a problem with the RAM.

[okie2003]

Further update: 8GB runs fine on an old Mint9 Gnome partition.

Does this narrow the problem to KDE?

[claydoh]

No, the desktop has little to do with hardware at that level. More likely a compatibility issue between your hardware and the kernel used. Trying a newer version of the OS might help, at least you can try a live session to see.

However, the laptop was Ubuntu certified for 10.04 (and could be had with it pre-installed), so it is odd that you are having such an issue. I could not quickly locate any reports on similar issues with your Dell.

[okie2003]

Claydoh, thanks for the response. Yes, Mint 9 (Ubuntu 10.04) works fine with the 8GB. So I tried your advice and installed Mint KDE 12.10. It did not work. Mint Cinamon (12.10) did not work either. It ran for a few (5?) minutes. The error message said something about kernel panic and all four processors failure.

It looks like I am running out of options.

[okie2003]

Found this on a Dell forum, but no reply: I have a Dell Latitude E6510 (Intel Core i5 520M, 2GB PC3-10700 RAM, Intel HD Graphics, Dell A07 BIOS, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit). My company recently purchased me 8GB of RAM (2x 4GB PC3-10700 modules), however a weird situation is occuring:
I can boot Windows 7 Pro 64-bit with either of the new 4GB modules individually (4GB at a time).
I can boot Windows 7 Pro 64-bit with either of the new 4GB modules in combination with the original 2GB module (6GB total).
I can NOT boot Windows 7 Pro 64 bit with both of the new 4GB modules together (8GB total). With this combination of modules the BIOS recognizes the modules, starts the boot loader, and starts to boot Windows 7 Pro 64-bit... however it enters "system repair" mode, runs a quick diagnostic check, and finds NO errors.
I am hoping someone can shed some light on this perplexing situation.

The common denominator could be 64 bit. I have Win 7 Pro 32 bit. But I cannot run 32 bit Linux with the 8GB installed.

[jlittle]

The common denominator could be 64 bit. I have Win 7 Pro 32 bit. But I cannot run 32 bit Linux with the 8GB installed.

The Linux 32 bit may have the PAE extension which allows it to use all 8 GB.

Regards, John Little

[okie2003]

John, thanks for the reply. Yes I am running 3.2.0-38-generic-pae kernel in my 32 bit install of 12.04 Precise. I think that is why I cannot use the full 8GB even in my 32 bit install. My Mint 9 (10.04), which worked fine with 8 GB, did not have the PAE kernel and I assume my Win 7 Pro 32 bit does not have the Windows equivalent of the PAE.

I will try 13.04 when it comes out. Would that aspect of the Ubuntu kernel differ from the Debian kernel? I was under the impression that Ubuntu did make some kernel modifications.

[okie2003]

I have been running kubuntu-13.04-beta1-desktop-amd64.iso on flash drive for about an hour and it looks like it is working fine. Kernel 3.8.0-12-generic. Looking forward to installing when it goes final.