ML350 G5 crashes with specific memory configuration

[Intellisys]

Server configuration:
2x 146GB SAS RAID1
2x 300GB SAS RAID1
5GB RAM (2x1GB + 2x1GB + 2x512 on slots 1+5,2+6,3+7 respectively)

After a new Windows 2008x64 installation the server was crashing randonly (BOSD) without any log and without beeing able to get a file dump. We tried all hardware tests before installation (all passed) plus the windows memory diagnostics.

Most posts indicated a controller failure, but we finally succeeded to solve the problem when we removed the 2x512 modules.

Any ideas? It was a real nightmare!

[B. Hulst]

How about the timing of the memory?

Perhaps the combination of the 1GB and 512MB chips is not possible.

Check the BIOS settings for the memory timing and speed. (Set them to a safe or optimal mode.)

[Intellisys]

Thank you for your prompt reply.
I did not find any way to configure memory timing through BIOS. I will take a better look again.
I checked ML350G5's documentation and it does not mention anywhere that the memory combination I used is invalid.

[Shiraj Fernando]

Hi,

Just an idea.

Ensure that your System ROM is up to date. There are some memory relates fixes found in the revision history of the ML350 G5 System ROM.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=1121586&swItem=MTX-e0d43d49df3c4be3b2709e8d3e&prodNameId=3279711&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&taskId=135&mode=5

Also you can try the following.

1.Remove all memory modules from the server.
2.Install the 2x512 modules on bank A (slot 1+5)
3.Test the modules with memtest86 (http://www.memtest.org/)
4.If no errors are indicated add another pair of 1GB modules to bank B.
5. Repeat the test for the next pair of modules.

Regards,
Shiraj.