How To Install memtest86 on Debian 11

In this tutorial we learn how to install memtest86 on Debian 11. memtest86 is thorough real-mode memory tester

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install memtest86 on Debian 11.

What is memtest86

memtest86 is:

Memtest86 scans your RAM for errors.

This tester runs independently of any OS - it is run at computer boot-up, so that it can test all of your memory. You may want to look at `memtester’, which allows testing your memory within Linux, but this one won’t be able to test your whole RAM.

It can output a list of bad RAM regions usable by the BadRAM kernel patch, so that you can still use you old RAM with one or two bad bits.

This is the last DFSG-compliant version of this software, upstream has opted for a proprietary development model starting with 5.0. You may want to consider using memtest86+, which has been forked from an earlier version of memtest86, and provides a different set of features. It is available in the memtest86+ package.

A convenience script is also provided to make a grub-legacy-based floppy or image.

There are three methods to install memtest86 on Debian 11. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install memtest86 Using apt-get

Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt database, We can install memtest86 using apt-get by running the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install memtest86

Install memtest86 Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, We can install memtest86 using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install memtest86

Install memtest86 Using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Debian. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating apt database, We can install memtest86 using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install memtest86

How To Uninstall memtest86 on Debian 11

To uninstall only the memtest86 package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove memtest86

Uninstall memtest86 And Its Dependencies

To uninstall memtest86 and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Debian 11, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove memtest86

Remove memtest86 Configurations and Data

To remove memtest86 configuration and data from Debian 11 we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge memtest86

Remove memtest86 configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

We can use the following command to remove memtest86 configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge memtest86

Dependencies

memtest86 have the following dependencies:

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install memtest86 package on Debian 11 using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.