PAE kernel no recognizing 4gig

[mlc.au]

I have very recently install 4Gb DDR2 memory to one of my laptops(HP NX6320).  The laptop BIOS  is showing 4096Mb(4gig) installed.  However, using the PAE kernel(2.6.37.2pclos1.pae) PClos is only showing 3.2gig. I think that this number is typical for a 32bit (non-pae) OS. The shared display is 128mb max. I'm using Kinfocentre/memory for the figures. In fact 'top' shows the same as does all memory aware monitoring apps.  My understanding was that the pae kernel should recognize installed memory to 64gig.  Any thoughts as to why its not working as expected?

[AS]

Hi,

pae kernels has always recognized 4 Gb for me, what tool are you using to find available memory ?

from command line try:
free
and
uname -a

AS

[mlc.au]

As I mentioned in my post, I was using Kinfocentre/memory, top and free.  All gave installed memory as 3321mb (3.2gig) using the 2.6.37.2-pclos1.pae kernel.

[Texstar]

Got an internal onboard video card snatching some memory for itself?

[mlc.au]

Hi Texstar,
yes but it a max of 128mb.  Without doing all the maths, that should put it at about 3.9gig.
Thanks for the reply.

[TerryH]

I tried a pae kernel version mid last year as I upgraded my RAM to 4GB.  When I ran 'free' it showed slightly less RAM when using the pae kernel as compared to the bfs kernel.  Both were around 3.2 GB.

[Texstar]

For 4 gig the BFS shows 3,453,026,304. The PAE shows 3,913,692,944 on my system. In the kernel config I select PAE then use the default options presented.

CONFIG_HIGHMEM=y
CONFIG_X86_PAE=y
CONFIG_ARCH_PHYS_ADDR_T_64BIT=y
CONFIG_ARCH_DMA_ADDR_T_64BIT=y
CONFIG_NUMA=y
CONFIG_NODES_SHIFT=3
CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_BOOTMEM=y
CONFIG_ARCH_HAVE_MEMORY_PRESENT=y
CONFIG_NEED_NODE_MEMMAP_SIZE=y
CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_ALLOC_REMAP=y
CONFIG_ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_ENABLE=y
CONFIG_ARCH_DISCONTIGMEM_DEFAULT=y
CONFIG_ARCH_SPARSEMEM_ENABLE=y
CONFIG_ARCH_SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL=y
CONFIG_ILLEGAL_POINTER_VALUE=0
CONFIG_SELECT_MEMORY_MODEL=y
CONFIG_DISCONTIGMEM_MANUAL=y

[TerryH]

....waiting

[mlc.au]

Using 'kinfocentre/memory' mine's showing 3,401,695,232 (3.17Gib).  uname -a = 2.6.37.2-pclos1.pae

[TerryH]

Thanks Tex.

[Old-Polack]

[root@fatman ~]# uname -r
2.6.37.2-pclos1.pae



Seems to be working fine here.  

[Texstar]

[root@fatman ~]# uname -r
2.6.37.2-pclos1.pae



Seems to be working fine here.  

I guess it depends on your memory and motherboard. Your is showing a bit more than mine but I'm using the on board ATI video on my system with tear free mode so I assume it is snatching some memory up.

[AS]

Hi,

Could be interesting to see what your systems reports from running: dmidecode --type memory
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,88350.msg738081.html#msg738081

the following is the output on my system, which correctly recognize the 4 Gb RAM:

Code: [Select]

# dmidecode --type memory
# dmidecode 2.10
SMBIOS 2.4 present.

Handle 0x0011, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
        Location: System Board Or Motherboard
        Use: System Memory
        Error Correction Type: None
        Maximum Capacity: 4 GB
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x0012, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0011
        Error Information Handle: No Error
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 2048 MB
        Form Factor: SODIMM
        Set: 1
        Locator: JDIM1
        Bank Locator: Not Specified
        Type: DDR2
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 800 MHz
        Manufacturer: CE00000000000000
        Serial Number: xxxxxxxxx
        Asset Tag: xxxxxxx
        Part Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Handle 0x0013, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0011
        Error Information Handle: No Error
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 2048 MB
        Form Factor: SODIMM
        Set: 1
        Locator: JDIM2
        Bank Locator: Not Specified
        Type: DDR2
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 800 MHz
        Manufacturer: CE00000000000000
        Serial Number: xxxxxxxxx
        Asset Tag: xxxxxxx
        Part Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

AS

[Old-Polack]

Interesting how different systems/modules determine what information is important to report and what is not. My RAM is a matched set of 2 GB DDR2 cards described by the manufacturer as;

Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT25664AA80A - Retail

[root@fatman ~]# dmidecode --type memory

Code: [Select]

# dmidecode 2.10
SMBIOS 2.4 present.

Handle 0x0005, DMI type 5, 24 bytes
Memory Controller Information
        Error Detecting Method: 64-bit ECC
        Error Correcting Capabilities:
                None
        Supported Interleave: One-way Interleave
        Current Interleave: One-way Interleave
        Maximum Memory Module Size: 1024 MB
        Maximum Total Memory Size: 4096 MB
        Supported Speeds:
                70 ns
                60 ns
        Supported Memory Types:
                Standard
                EDO
        Memory Module Voltage: 3.3 V
        Associated Memory Slots: 4
                0x0006
                0x0007
                0x0008
                0x0009
        Enabled Error Correcting Capabilities:
                None

Handle 0x0006, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
        Socket Designation: A0
        Bank Connections: 1
        Current Speed: 32 ns
        Type: Other Unknown EDO
        Installed Size: 2048 MB (Double-bank Connection)
        Enabled Size: 2048 MB (Double-bank Connection)
        Error Status: OK

Handle 0x0007, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information                                                                                                                   
        Socket Designation: A1                                                                                                             
        Bank Connections: 2                                                                                                                 
        Current Speed: 32 ns                                                                                                               
        Type: Other Unknown EDO                                                                                                             
        Installed Size: 2048 MB (Double-bank Connection)                                                                                   
        Enabled Size: 2048 MB (Double-bank Connection)                                                                                     
        Error Status: OK                                                                                                                   

Handle 0x0008, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
        Socket Designation: A2
        Bank Connections: 3
        Current Speed: 32 ns
        Type: Other Unknown EDO
        Installed Size: Not Installed
        Enabled Size: Not Installed
        Error Status: OK

Handle 0x0009, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
        Socket Designation: A3
        Bank Connections: 4
        Current Speed: 32 ns
        Type: Other Unknown EDO
        Installed Size: Not Installed
        Enabled Size: Not Installed
        Error Status: OK

Handle 0x0025, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
        Location: System Board Or Motherboard
        Use: System Memory
        Error Correction Type: None
        Maximum Capacity: 2 GB
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Number Of Devices: 4

Handle 0x0026, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0025
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 2048 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: A0
        Bank Locator: Bank0/1
        Type: Unknown
        Type Detail: None
        Speed: 800 MHz
        Manufacturer: 
        Serial Number: 
        Asset Tag: 
        Part Number: 

Handle 0x0027, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0025
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 2048 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: A1
        Bank Locator: Bank2/3
        Type: Unknown
        Type Detail: None
        Speed: 800 MHz
        Manufacturer: 
        Serial Number: 
        Asset Tag: 
        Part Number: 

Handle 0x0028, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0025
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: No Module Installed
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: A2
        Bank Locator: Bank4/5
        Type: Unknown
        Type Detail: None
        Speed: 800 MHz
        Manufacturer: 
        Serial Number: 
        Asset Tag: 
        Part Number: 

Handle 0x0029, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0025
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: No Module Installed
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: A3
        Bank Locator: Bank6/7
        Type: Unknown
        Type Detail: None
        Speed: 800 MHz
        Manufacturer: 
        Serial Number: 
        Asset Tag: 
        Part Number: 



[mlc.au]

Here's mine,
Kinfocentre gives; Total physical memory: 3,401,695,232 = 3.17GiB
uname -r = 2.6.37.3-pclos1.pae

I'm still happy, its just interesting. 

# dmidecode 2.10
SMBIOS 2.4 present.

Handle 0x000A, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
        Location: System Board Or Motherboard
        Use: System Memory
        Error Correction Type: None
        Maximum Capacity: 4 GB
        Error Information Handle: No Error
        Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x000B, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x000A
        Error Information Handle: No Error
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 2048 MB
        Form Factor: SODIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM #1
        Bank Locator: Not Specified
        Type: DDR2
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 667 MHz
        Manufacturer: 7F7F9E0000000000
        Serial Number: 00000000
        Asset Tag: Not Specified
        Part Number: VS2GSDS667D2     

Handle 0x000C, DMI type 17, 27 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x000A
        Error Information Handle: No Error
        Total Width: 64 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 2048 MB
        Form Factor: SODIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM #2
        Bank Locator: Not Specified
        Type: DDR2
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 667 MHz
        Manufacturer: 7F7F9E0000000000
        Serial Number: 00000000
        Asset Tag: Not Specified
        Part Number: VS2GSDS667D2