Submitted by WillShelbyOBE t3_120omnj in explainlikeimfive
WeirdSysAdmin t1_jdiotok wrote
Reply to comment by IHOP_007 in ELI5: Why does "turning it off and on again" work so well for troubleshooting? by WillShelbyOBE
Adding to this, RAM in desktop computer is typically NOT error correcting. That is usually something we only put in server hardware due to cost.
Error correcting RAM basically has an extra storage chip on it that continually checks for memory corruption.
RAM is actually insanely sensitive to environmental changes. Something like an electrical fluctuation can cause values stored in RAM to change. This can even be caused by planetary scale things like solar flares or little things like temperature changes.
fede142857 t1_jdiw0cv wrote
> Something like an electrical fluctuation can cause values stored in RAM to change. This can even be caused by planetary scale things like solar flares or little things like temperature changes.
Relevant article I read years ago from Oracle Linux Blog: Attack of the Cosmic Rays!
fryingpas t1_jdj15na wrote
Thus the Row Hammer attack.
SirWigglesVonWoogly t1_jdj2qge wrote
The fact that computers work consistently when bits are about the size of atoms is absolutely incomprehensible to me.
Boagster t1_jdje9ff wrote
I've been a computer geek my whole life - like, I learned the alphabet using the keyboard of my family's 1989 Dell and a passion for them just continued to grow from there.
Not only can I not fathom that they work consistently, I can't fathom how we ever figured out how to get semiconductors to perform logic equations. I've probably spent days worth of time trying to wrap my head around it and I just can't.
GoldenAura16 t1_jdjk4zc wrote
It drives me crazy that I can understand the HOW, but not the WHY of the thing. As an engineer I love knowing the how and the why, but with computers its just....static and frustration.
Boagster t1_jdjkem3 wrote
See, there's your problem. You mixed static with your computer.
GoldenAura16 t1_jdjkijk wrote
I thought I was mixing computer with my static....this explains everything!
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