Checking for RAM

[NIKK]

how can i tell if both of my ram cards are in place? if i go to hardware info in pcontrol center it never seems to change. Ive tried things like "hard info" or cat /proc/cpumem but that just gives me large numbers of KB that dont seem to amount to anything. All i want to know is how many supposed ram cards i have , and how big each chip is. thanks ( by the way, i wasnt sure if this was a hard ware problem, or a software problem )

[µT6]

well, this is hard to answer

how much do you know you have installed?

can you open the machine to verify if ram modules are properly placed?

can you run the command free in a konsole and paste the results?

[johnmart]

Hi NIKK,

Is this what you want?

It is in PcLinuxOS Control Center / Hardware / Browse and Configure Hardware
hth  

[µT6]

under normal circumstances that is all, but i have a machine that reports there 8.5 gbs of ram but i only have 1.2 gbs in it so it is not entirely right

[johnmart]

under normal circumstances that is all, but i have a machine that reports there 8.5 gbs of ram but i only have 1.2 gbs in it so it is not entirely right

So PCC gets it wrong, but the terminal command free gets it right?
Seems OP wants to check the physical state of the ram chips.
If PCC gets it wrong.......well I am mainly a GUI guy. 

[NIKK]

Yep, thats what i meant. i dont trust it anymore because it often reports the wrong size.
$ free
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:        740920     652636      88284          0      56620     320924
-/+ buffers/cache:     275092     465828
Swap:      4088504      58680    4029824


i physically have 2 512 ram chips installed, but my PC doesnt seem to be running as if both were in.

[µT6]

if we compare your results to mine, knowing i have 1 gb ram module

[john@localhost ~]$ free
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:       1014200     940964      73236          0      21624     296048
-/+ buffers/cache:     623292     390908

it seems like you have shared ram with your video card, around 256 mbs of ram, do you have a integrated video card?  maybe a nvidia?

[NIKK]

Yes, not the best really, im not even sure if i have the right drivers for it because it doesnt seem to be doing a very good job. GeForce FX5500 D256M by the way. Im not even sure if its making a difference. But yes, i have a GFX card in.

[NIKK]

so can you interpret all of those numbers for me?

[sparerep]

Here's another way of looking at it.

Open a terminal.

Then, su to root, run 'lshw -class memory', look for "System Memory"

Like this:

[tom2@t1 ~]$ su
Password:
[root@t1 tom2]# lshw -class memory

*-memory:0
       description: System Memory
       physical id: 18
       slot: System board or motherboard
      size: 4GiB
     *-bank:0
          description: DIMM 800 MHz (1.2 ns)
          physical id: 0
          slot: A0
          size: 2GiB
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 800MHz (1.2ns)
     *-bank:1
          description: DIMM 800 MHz (1.2 ns)
          physical id: 1
          slot: A1
          size: 2GiB
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 800MHz (1.2ns)

I have 2 2GB sticks.

Tom

[µT6]

the command free, the first number, total, shows 740920, that is given in kilobytes, not in megabytes, divide it by 1024 and you will get megabytes

that will give you 723 mbs

not sure if your video card is onboard or connected to agp port, if the video card is stealing 256 mbs more, like some gforce models to reach 512 mbs, then you would have 979mbs

you should have 1024 total or close to that, no idea why some systems steal 8 or 16 mbs sometimes but i have seen it alot under windows and linux, in your case i don't see that difference

did you assembled the machine?  is it using ddr or ddr2 memory?

is single channel or dual channel the mainboard?

if the ram is ddr, is all ddr400 or one ddr333 and other ddr400?

[zorlac]

Try
free -m

[The Chief]

Gee...  My magical laptop seems to run quite nicely with NO ram!

[µT6]

ram is overrated this days, as you have proved, it is not necessary, all you need is cache and love, lots of love 

[docnascar]

Gee...  My magical laptop seems to run quite nicely with NO ram!

I get the same thing, PCC HW list shows nothing for memory except cache. I should be getting two memory DIMMS (2x4g)

lshw didn't work for me, because it was not installed (maybe because I have mini?). You have to install lshw from the synaptic. After I installed it, I could see my DIMMS from lshw but PCC still shows nothing.

Does PCC maybe use something a command to read the DIMMS that may not be installed on some folks PC's?