A retired tech in Boise told me to stop reseating RAM as a first step, and it finally clicked | Computer Technicians

Wendy Kim · 2026-09-16T12:10:05.083132+00:00

I was chatting with a retired repair guy named Sal at a parts swap in Boise last weekend and he asked how I start a no-boot ticket. I said reseat the RAM, swap slots, then move on. He laughed and said that was the old way, because modern boards log memory training failures in the event log before they ever refuse to post. I tried it on the next three machines that came through my bench and two of them had clear correctable error entries pointing straight at one bad stick. Saved me maybe 90 minutes of pulling side panels and swapping parts on machines that were giving me the answer the whole time. Now I check logs first and it feels obvious in hindsight. Does anyone else here have a first step they changed after a random conversation like that?

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A retired tech in Boise told me to stop reseating RAM as a first step, and it finally clicked | Computer Technicians - The Community Guide