bad RAM? prove it with a crash dump?

[Sean]

On 7/05/2010 2:50 AM, Sean C. Farley wrote:
> On Thu, 6 May 2010, Atom Smasher wrote:
>
>> i suspect i've got bad RAM but memtest has run through several dozen
>> iterations without a problem. my (3 year old) laptop will run for a
>> few days or weeks and then crash/freeze/hang. i've enabled crash dumps
>> and i'm wondering if/how the dump might be able to (dis)prove that the
>> RAM is bad. any ideas?
>>
>> thanks...
>
> Do not discount other hardware problems: video cards, bad capacitors and
> power supplies. Sadly, I mention these as a subset of my experience. :(
> I have even had a faulty left mouse button that would lock my X server
> (many years ago). While holding the button down (scrolling through a
> menu), the mouse would release and acquire too quickly for the server.
>

And to add the most obscure, the USB wireless kb/mouse adapter (or the 
keyboard/mouse itself) randomly crashing any operating system.

Completely new PC with all components except that, reinstalled OS, 
change of OS, and it still crashed randomly. Swap the logitech adapter 
and the wireless keyboard/mouse that were locked to it, and all 
stability problems disappeared.


> Unfortunately, it is harder to find the problem in a laptop where you
> cannot easily (if at all) switch out pieces of hardware to find the
> problem.
>
> Have you investigated whether or not the laptop is overheating?
>
> Sean