Mode

Two modes are available:

• Regular mode tests the amount of memory and is limited by the amount of physical memory available to the system under test.

• Page mode tests assign virtual memory one page at a time. Each page is mapped to the temporary file /tmp/vmem.page and is then paged out to storage once test data is written. Next, the temporary page is paged back into memory for a read and compare.

When the Stress Test Execution option is selected, the vmemtest allocates the entire assigned system memory (through valloc), writing from beginning to end. The memory is then read back and compared with the original pattern, one long word at a time.

Reserve

The Reserve option specifies the amount of memory to reserve from being tested by vmemtest. The reserved space is used for other processes running concurrently with the or SunVTS tests. The Reserve option can be used to reserve memory in addition to the default. This option applies only to a specific instance. Trying to reserve more memory than what is assigned to be tested by this instance will cause the test to fail.

Test Amount

An amount can be specified to test the virtual memory, instead of the default. Specifying a number greater than the available memory, can cause vmemtest or other running tests to fail.

vmemtest Configuration

The amount of memory listed in the Configuration field is equivalent to the sum of the used and available swap space amounts returned by the swap -s command. It indicates the amount of virtual memory found, rounded up to the nearest Kbyte.

Contiguous Errors

Specifies the number of memory errors that occur on successive memory locations before testing stops.

Test Method

• The default selection is the Sequential test. The whole memory is tested from the beginning address to the end address in a sequence.

• Address Random test: Randomly selects memory addresses to test.

• Page Striding test: Non-contiguous memory test, implemented sequentially and non-sequentially.

  --Sequential test: tests from the first page to the last page, withn a specified test range. Only one word is tested per page.

  --Non-sequential test: tests randomly from first to last page, within a specified memory range. Goes back and forth testing one word per page until all pages are tested.

• Block Copy test: Writes and reads data between two memory blocks. Each memory block is half the memory to be tested.

• File Caching test: Aimed at improving performance through the use of file caching in the Solaris kernel. This test is useful for large memory configurations. This test takes 30 to 70% less time than the Sequential test method.

Predefined Pattern

Select one of the following patterns to use for the test:

• Address--uses the virtual addresses of the tested memory locations.

• walk_1--uses a pattern that starts with 0x80000000 through 0x00000001

• walk_0--uses a pattern that starts with 0x7fff7fff through 0x7fff7ffe

• 0x00000000--uses all ones and zeros for testing

• 0x5aa55aa5--uses 0x5aa55aa5 and 0xa55aa55a patterns

• 0xdb6db6db--uses 0xdb6db6db and 0x24924924 patterns

• Checkerboard--uses 0x55555555 and 0xaaaaaaaa patterns.

• UserDefined--uses the pattern that is specified in the User Defined Pattern area (see below).

User Defined Pattern

Only used if the Predefined Pattern is set to UserDefined. The pattern specified should be in the form of an 8-digit, hexadecimal number such as 0x2a341234.

Instance

Specifies how many copies of the vmemtest test to run.

Functional

(Offline)

Runs the full set of tests.

mode=Page|Regular

Specifies which mode of the vmemtest to run. Choose:

• Page--tells the write/read memory test to proceed one system memory page at a time.

• Regular--uses the valloc option to allocate the entire assigned memory, which is read and compared one long word at a time.

reserve=n

Specifies the amount of MB of virtual memory to reserve in addition to the default amount.

amount=n

Specifies the number of MB of memory to be tested instead of the default (maximum) amount.

bdinfo=n

Provides the board number information for all the CPU/memory boards in the system. For example, if board 0 and board 5 have memory, then the bdinfo=33 (2**5+2**0).

cerr=n

Specifies the maximum number of contiguous errors to be dumped when a memory error occurs.

type1=value

pp1=pattern

type1 is sequential test. The value is Enabled or Disabled. Select from:

address,walk_0,walk_1,Checkerboard,

0x00000000,0xffffffff,0x5aa55aa5,

0xdb6db6db,random,UserDefined

type2=value

pp1=pattern

type2 is File cache test. The value is Enabled or Disabled. Select from:

address,walk_0,walk_1,Checkerboard,

0x00000000,0xffffffff,0x5aa55aa5,0xdb6db6db,

random,UserDefined

type3=value

pp3=pattern

type3 is Random address test. The value is Enabled or Disabled. Select from:

Checkerboard,0x00000000,0xffffffff,

0x5aa55aa5,0xdb6db6db,UserDefined

type4=value

pp4=pattern

type4 is page_striding test. The value is Enabled or Disabled. Select from:

Checkerboard,0x00000000,0xffffffff,

0x5aa55aa5,0xdb6db6db,UserDefined

type5=value

pp5=pattern

type5 is march_c test. The value is Enabled or Disabled. Select from:

Checkerboard,0x00000000,0xffffffff,

0x5aa55aa5,0xdb6db6db,UserDefined

type6=value

type6 is Block_Copy test. The value is Enabled or Disabled.

up=hex_address

Only used if the pp argument is set to UserDefined. The pattern specified should be in the form of a 8-digit, hexadecimal number such as 0x2a341234.