Dell Precision T5500 Ram error

[another random person]

TL;DR: Dell precision Memory failure error, how to update Dell Motherboard Bios/fix the memory error/get windows to use all 72 GB ram. 

 

So I have recently acquired a Dell T5500 with the dual CPU riser. It has been fully populated with 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3 ECC Ram.

My issue is that at boot, the system posts the error message "Alert! Memory failure detected in DIMM 3" and windows proceeds to detect all 72GB of ram but states that only 40GB is useable. 

I have done a lot of Googles and found basically nothing except that this maybe being "Just a Dell thing" 

 

Here's what I've done so far to troubleshoot:

1. Remove RAM stick : The error just moves to a different slot (DIMM 1)

2. Remove the DIMM 1 stick : A RAM population error appears since I have to populate DIMM 1 before other slots 

3. Remove all RAM sticks: 2-3-1 error beep code for missing memory

4. Attempt Bios update: System restarts, alerts and does not update

5: Attempt Bios update from Bootable USB made with Dell's tools: No option provided for bios updates

6: Attempted a repopulation of RAM in "Optimal Configurations" as per the service manual: Same issues with DIMM 3 or DIMM 1 alerting

 

Also windows appears to allocate all the missing ram to GPU shared so thats a thing too so my next step may be to boot with Ubuntu and check. 

 

If anyone has a suggestion or fix that would be amazing

[Needfuldoer]

Enter the service tag into http://www.dell.com/support and it will give you all the downloads relevant to your particular machine.

 

Which BIOS are you running now?

 

Which CPUs?

 

Have you tried reseating both processors?

 

Do all your DIMMs work if you only try a couple at a time (one for each CPU)?

[another random person]

On 6/2/2022 at 1:56 AM, Needfuldoer said:

Enter the service tag into http://www.dell.com/support and it will give you all the downloads relevant to your particular machine.

I've done that and I has given me the most recent bios version A18 which is what is displayed in the bios. 

 

On 6/2/2022 at 1:56 AM, Needfuldoer said:

Which CPUs?

Dual Xeon X5670

 

On 6/2/2022 at 1:56 AM, Needfuldoer said:

Have you tried reseating both processors?

I am yet to try that but all other system processes work and the system is rock stable under load so I don't believe it to be the cause. As a last resort I will attempt that though. 

 

On 6/2/2022 at 1:56 AM, Needfuldoer said:

Do all your DIMMs work if you only try a couple at a time (one for each CPU)?

I have done every DIMM configuration as per the Dell service manual regarding the section on optimal DIMM slot population configurations to no avail, it always returns either a DIMM 3 or DIMM 1 Memory failure or "Non optimal memory configuration see service manual" 

 

I also can't seem to get the bios to write to a USB to boot from for the life of me. I'm starting to suspect a bios level or even a motherboard hardware issue as all the RAM has been tested to be working great in other systems and the CPUs are fully tested. 

 

Do you know of any way to flash the bios update into bootable usb form? 

[Needfuldoer]

1 hour ago, another random person said:

Do you know of any way to flash the bios update into bootable usb form? 

Sounds like you should be able to run the downloaded .exe inside FreeDOS.

 

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=8vjhv