Clearing PDT, is it a good idea?

[Brian Bartley]

Hello,
Our PDT is 91% full, a tech is bringing some memory, hopefully soon. The message from the STM says "PDT is in danger of overflowing". It seems the PDT has to be cleared manually by interrupting the boot process, and entering the clear command in the console.

What is the best practice for clearing the PDT? Is there any reason not to clear it during normal reboots if it has a few entries? I wonder if I should leave it because those pages need to be de-allocated? Also I wonder what happens when it gets full? Thanks,

Brian

[Dennis Handly]

I would suggest you don't clear it until you replace your memory.

[Ron Irving · Accepted solution]

Hey Brian!!

Like Dennis said, wait until the memory is replaced before clearing PDT.

When the tech replaces the memory, he should clear it as part of the procedure. You shoulnd't clear it at all, unless you're replacing defective memory. It's a good tool to track which DIMMs are bad, or going bad.

You are correct that you can only clear the table by interrupting the boot process, entering the service menu, (type ser at the MAIN> prompt,) and typing pdt clear. This will invoke another reboot, and once the system comes back to life, you can start monitoring memory all over. The PDT process de-allocates bad memory...best not to clear it without replacing. When it gets full, bigger chance of an unscheduled outage.

Hope this helps.

[Brian Bartley]

Thanks for the replies, we got a new dimm and the pdt table is now empty. Thanks,

Brian