[sf-lug] memtest

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Alex Kleider (a_kleider at yahoo.com):

> am I to conclude that memtest is only a boot option, and that testing
> memory is NOT something that can be done from the command line of an
> already running Linux system?

Well, that would be sort of like doing a medical checkup of someone
while he or she is running a footrace, wouldn't it?  I mean, think about
it:  The memory-tester needs to write test data to RAM in a variety of
patterns, and then read it back and make sure it comes back the same.  
That obviously could not work if anything else could conceivably change
the contents of RAM between those two steps, so the memory-tester needs
to _be_ the operating system.