DSM 7.0 Memtest failed on 2 brand new Syno ECC DIMMs

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DSM 7.0 Memtest failed on 2 brand new Syno ECC DIMMs

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DS1517+, DS1515+, RS815+, RS1221+
Ran into an interesting issue...
For our brand-new RS1221RP+, we purchased 2 D4ES01-8G (yes, genuine Synology ECC SODIMM) and installed them. Ran just fine. But just to be sure, I went into the Synology Assistant and ran the memory test. Failed! err=1 (whatever that means). Then tried again. Then each module individually. Failure every time. DSM 7.0.1-42214.

I now have a ticket with Synology to investigate, and I suppose RMA two "defective" modules, but wow, it's a rare thing that RAM fails, an even rarer event that ECC RAM fails, but genuine-twice-the-price-just-out-of-the-package, and both fail? Does this smell like a problem with the test and not the RAM? Anyone else had similar experiences?

Back story: I originally purchased some Nemix ECC SODIMMs for this purpose, exact same specs (heck, chips are made by the same company as Syno's RAM, as above, 2R X 8, etc., etc.), except 16GB each. They ran just fine, no errors while running, but failed in the memory test. Since they weren't genuine, and the only RAM on Synology's compatibility list is, well, Synology's, I thought I shouldn't take a chance.
 
Ran into an interesting issue...
For our brand-new RS1221RP+, we purchased 2 D4ES01-8G (yes, genuine Synology ECC SODIMM) and installed them. Ran just fine. But just to be sure, I went into the Synology Assistant and ran the memory test. Failed! err=1 (whatever that means). Then tried again. Then each module individually. Failure every time. DSM 7.0.1-42214.

I now have a ticket with Synology to investigate, and I suppose RMA two "defective" modules, but wow, it's a rare thing that RAM fails, an even rarer event that ECC RAM fails, but genuine-twice-the-price-just-out-of-the-package, and both fail? Does this smell like a problem with the test and not the RAM? Anyone else had similar experiences?

Back story: I originally purchased some Nemix ECC SODIMMs for this purpose, exact same specs (heck, chips are made by the same company as Syno's RAM, as above, 2R X 8, etc., etc.), except 16GB each. They ran just fine, no errors while running, but failed in the memory test. Since they weren't genuine, and the only RAM on Synology's compatibility list is, well, Synology's, I thought I shouldn't take a chance.
Its not faulty RAM probably. There is a recognized bug in DSM 7.x when it comes to mem test.

------ Synology Feedback Start -------
Good Afternoon,

Thank you for your continued patience throughout this whole process!

I was able to remote into your unit via SSH and I was able to check the memory test results.

Our developers have recently confirmed that after upgrading to DSM 7.0-41890 and DSM 7.0.1-42218 the memory test will present a false error stating that the there were errors detected during the memory test.

According to the logs via SSH, the memory test results show that the RAM passed the test.

The main reason for this issue is because the Apparmor rule of findhostd doesn't have permission to read-write /var/log/memtester.log, which is used to record the result of memory test.

This will cause the system to consider the memory test failed no matter the if real result is passed or not.

Based on our developers findings, I believe it is safe to say that your unit's memory is working as expected and you should not encounter any performance issues.

------ Synology Feedback End -------
 
@Rusty, thanks so much! The NAS is not in production yet, I will downgrade it to DSM 6.x, try again, and report the results.
@Telos, your comment is also appreciated, sort of! :) Gotta keep smiling, glad you are!
 
Ok, I know that downgrade to 6.x is not officially supported, and I was hoping that I could take the DSM7-configured disks out of the NAS, throw a spare one in, and install 6.x. No go. Something in the firmware of the NAS now says it is DSM7, even if no disks are installed.

On a DS1515+ (more convenient, for testing at this point) I've tried the reset button, mode 2 How do I reset my Synology NAS? (For DSM 6.2.4 or above) - Synology Knowledge Center
but I never get the 3 beeps, and when I try to reinstall, it won't accept 6.x. Even without drives, the NAS says it is DSM 7.x.

I've seen several methods using SSH, etc., and I could do that, but was hoping to avoid it.

Any suggestions?
 
Thanks @Rusty, yes, tried a few other things, unsuccessfully, but eventually bit the bullet, ran through that procedure (well done, I must say!), and it works. Like many things, I spent more than twice the time trying to find a simpler fix - maybe I'll learn someday!
...on to the memory test...and hopefully a report later today
 
Maybe the memory test is not yet “streamlined” for the new “genuine” RAM, and had a nervous breakdown.
I hear they are waiting for enough funds to pay R&D to update the memory test for their expensive RAM. Wonder where they could make a quick buck 🤔

🤣
 
I hear they are waiting for enough funds to pay R&D to update the memory test for their expensive RAM. Wonder where they could make a quick buck 🤔

🤣
🤣. Well, if that's Syno's strategy, it worked with us. I wouldn't have purchased Syno branded if the 3rd party gamble was successful. Early results: one 8GB Syno module tested fine...now testing the 3rd party RAM I started with, and then the other 8GB Syno. Of course, not a bad idea to have some of the RAM as Syno-branded in case there are any other issues that arise and the system needs to be stripped to completely compatible before in-depth troubleshooting.
 
Apparent Synology philosophy is to fail 3rd-party memory, so you will rush out and buy the Synology labeled RAM. Then, having discovered that even that failed, they admit a "bug" which presumably will be fixed in a future release.

Overheard... 🤷‍♂️

Synology: When we gamed the memtest to fail 3rd-party RAM, we introduced a bug that also failed Synology RAM. We will rectify that bug in a future release so that Synology RAM does not fail the memtest.
Unknown: What about 3rd-party memtest failures?
Synology: That was not a bug. 3rd-party memory is bad.
 
Synology: That was not a bug. 3rd-party memory is bad.
Dating myself here...early in my career, working on a DEC VAXeln system (anybody know what that is? Dave Cutler's last OS at DEC before moving to MS to work on NT). Something was not behaving, dug deep, even into the source code of the OS (yes, it was supplied on microfiche), found the problem, reported it to DEC. Their response: That's not a bug, that's a feature! That one's been very useful on occasion!
 
Here's the report i promised:
  • I successfully downgraded the NAS to 6.2.x and ran memory tests on the 2 Synology D4ES01-8G RAM as well as the 3rd party memory I purchased earlier. All passed! The 3rd party memory is 16GB ECC NEMIX MSE21300-628, purchased from Amazon.
  • After all that, Synology got back to me on my ticket: "The good news is that this is very likely a false positive. In DSM 7.0.1, there was a bug that was accidently introduced, in which even though the memory test of the installed memory succeeds, a failure is displayed. You can resolve this issue with memory tests by installing the attached patch file." I downloaded and installed the patch on one of my DSM 7 NAS, and ran a memory test on one that had failed previously. Passed. DM me if you want patch details.
  • The time it took to troubleshoot, research and resolve this probably cost more than the RAM! At least now I can move ahead. But if Synology wants to play seriously in the enterprise space, they must realize that "accidently introduced" gaffs cost their customers real money, in time, and can level the actual cost difference between them and real enterprise players who are usually (though not always) more careful. [end of soapbox]
The critical information from this forum was key to resolving this, and the snide comments lightened the load. Many thanks to all!
 
In DSM 7.0.1, there was a bug that was accidently introduced
See? I nailed it. I was the first one to tell you it's not "streamlined". Glad that you "streamlined" it 😁

I totally agree with your enterprise comment. They can play that game with us, home users. But it's a different ballgame when it comes to enterprise customers.
 

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