Modules that work in a PC, but failing SIMCHECK units

This application note discusses the reasons why SIMCHECK may fail modules that may be functional on system boards.

Each of the SIMCHECK test systems perform several stringent tests on the modules in question, therefore, possibilities for modules to fail the tester, but pass in the system board should not be considered impossible. Among the various tests performed include voltage variation tests, which may cause a failure in the module, but may not otherwise occur immediately in a PC. Other tests include data bit pattern tests and our March tests, which will catch errors with data patterns that may not be generated immediately by the PC. Due to the astronomical number of data patterns that can be written to a module, data pattern errors are some of the most complex and difficult errors to detect, by ANY test device. Fortunately, however, it is common for these errors to occur between adjacent cells, therefore our test algorithms will be able to detect most of these intercell disturbances.

As new memory trends occur in the market, it is often easy to see newer and different memory types being used in each PC. These memory devices are not always supported immediately in our SIMCHECK firmware; therefore, it will usually be necessary for us to make program updates. Information on what each of our program updates contain can be found in our firmware development log on our website. Program upgrades are recommended once every few months. If the module in question still reports problems after an update, it may be that the module may not be supported in the firmware yet. In this case, we recommend contacting us and providing the specific symptom that was reported by the tester along with module specification (if available) and a sample of the memory device.

We will gladly try to verify and correct problems occurring with memory devices if you should decide to send samples of modules that are not supported in our firmware, or otherwise causing problems that are not detected.

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