I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop and I'm running Ubuntu 10.04, 64bit on it. I just installed 8GB of ram and the bios sees it correctly yet Ubuntu 10.04 does not. When I issue the free -m command I get the following:

Mem: 3889 736 3153
-/+ buffers/cache: 380 3509
swap: 11394 0 11394

I'm aware of the PAE software and I installed Ubuntu 10.04 with an active Internet connection so it could download it but it still doesn't see it all. Can someone tell me what I need to do to make Ubuntu 10.04 see the complete 8GB?

What does 'uname -a' return? and 'grep lm /proc/cpuinfo'

PAE is only relevant on 32-bit.

This is what I get from the uname -a command:

Linux Prisoner2 2.6.32-24-generic #39-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jul 28 05:14:15 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux


This is what I get from the second command:

lags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt lahf_lm ida arat tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid

The fact that the BIOS can detect and report 8GB of ram does not mean the BIOS has enabled the 8GB of ram for the OS to use. It doesn't even mean it is possible for the BIOS to enable that ram. Even if the chipset on the motherboard only supports three and a fraction GB max ram, the BIOS can still detect that a larger amount is plugged in. (Using dmidecode in Linux, you can also detect what is plugged in, but detecting it doesn't mean you can use it).

I'm pretty sure from your description that your problem is in the BIOS or motherboard (not in Linux). You can confirm that by looking at the "BIOS-provided physical RAM map" as I described in my post at:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...0/#post3865990

Pay attention to the last line of that map.

There might be a BIOS setting you can change that will enable the rest of the ram. The name and location of that setting varies by BIOS. For an example, see the following thread starting at post 7
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...7/#post3579575

There I guessed the correct BIOS setting to change based on an online copy of the motherboard manual. Do you have a URL for a manual describing your BIOS menu?

This is the last line in my output but I have no idea what it means.

0.000000] BIOS-e820: 0000000200000000 - 000000023c000000 (usable)

What is before that in the map?

I expected the last line to tell everything that matters for the current issue, but it doesn't.

Something very strange is going on with that system.

Do you have any hardware reporting program, such as /sbin/lshw or /usr/sbin/dmidecode installed?

A description of all your individual DIMMS can bw found in the section of lshw output labeled *-memory or in the section of dmidecode output labeled Physical Memory Array

Please post one of those chunks of info so we can tell whether there is something strange in the physical memory that may be related to the strange way the BIOS is presenting usable memory to Linux.

BTW, the actual meaning of the last line of the map that you quoted is: There is 960MB of ram usable at physical addresses starting at 8GB. This seems to imply there is not ram available immediately before that address (previous one or maybe a few lines would clarify that).

What you normally see in the last line of that map is one of two things depending on whether physical mapping over 4GB is enabled:

1) The last line shows a reserved chunk ending at 0000000100000000, meaning physical addresses above 4GB are not enabled, meaning the max ram capacity is three an a fraction GB (maybe even less)

or

2) The last line shows a usable chunk starting at 0000000100000000, meaning physical addresses above 4GB are enabled. The size of that usable chunk would be the total of all ram above 4GB plus most of that part of the first 4GB of ram that was blocked by reserved physical addresses. For example, one of my systems has 12GB of ram. That last line is
That shows 8GiB plus 768MiB of usable ram starting at physical address 4GiB. That system has 3325.98 MiB of ram in the first 4GiB of physical addresses, meaning 770.02 MiB of the first 4GiB of ram is blocked by reserved physical addresses. 768 of that 770 is usable because it is mapped to higher physical addresses, so only 2.02MiB of the 12GiB is actually lost.

SMBIOS 2.6 present.
37 structures occupying 1565 bytes.
Table at 0x000DC010.

Handle 0x0000, DMI type 0, 24 bytes
BIOS Information
Vendor: TOSHIBA
Version: 2.40
Release Date: 05/20/2010
Address: 0xE4320
Runtime Size: 113888 bytes
ROM Size: 4096 kB
Characteristics:
ISA is supported
PCI is supported
PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported
PNP is supported
BIOS is upgradeable
BIOS shadowing is allowed
ESCD support is available
Boot from CD is supported
ACPI is supported
USB legacy is supported
BIOS boot specification is supported
Targeted content distribution is supported
Firmware Revision: 3.80

Handle 0x0001, DMI type 1, 27 bytes
System Information
Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
Product Name: Satellite P505
Version: PSPGSU-0DL002
Serial Number: 6A140083W
UUID: 00D8DA49-EF78-DF11-A753-C80AA9B7DA76
Wake-up Type: Power Switch
SKU Number: Not Specified
Family: Not Specified

Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 15 bytes
Base Board Information
Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
Product Name: Satellite P505
Version: Not Applicable
Serial Number: 6A140083W
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Features: None
Location In Chassis: Not Specified
Chassis Handle: 0xFFFF
Type: Unknown
Contained Object Handles: 0

Handle 0x0003, DMI type 3, 21 bytes
Chassis Information
Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
Type: Notebook
Lock: Not Present
Version: N/A
Serial Number: None
Asset Tag: No Asset Tag
Boot-up State: Safe
Power Supply State: Safe
Thermal State: Safe
Security Status: None
OEM Information: 0x545A3143
Height: Unspecified
Number Of Power Cords: Unspecified
Contained Elements: 0

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 42 bytes
Processor Information
Socket Designation: CPU 1
Type: Central Processor
Family: <OUT OF SPEC>
Manufacturer: Intel
ID: 55 06 02 00 FF FB EB BF
Version: Genuine Intel(R) CPU
Voltage: 3.3 V
External Clock: 133 MHz
Max Speed: 3200 MHz
Current Speed: 2400 MHz
Status: Populated, Enabled
Upgrade: Slot 1
L1 Cache Handle: 0x0005
L2 Cache Handle: 0x0006
L3 Cache Handle: 0x0007
Serial Number: Not Specified
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: Not Specified
Core Count: 2
Core Enabled: 2
Thread Count: 4
Characteristics:
64-bit capable

Handle 0x0005, DMI type 7, 19 bytes
Cache Information
Socket Designation: L1 Cache
Configuration: Enabled, Socketed, Level 1
Operational Mode: Write Through
Location: Internal
Installed Size: 32 KB
Maximum Size: 32 KB
Supported SRAM Types:
Burst
Pipeline Burst
Asynchronous
Installed SRAM Type: Asynchronous
Speed: Unknown
Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC
System Type: Data
Associativity: 8-way Set-associative

Handle 0x0006, DMI type 7, 19 bytes
Cache Information
Socket Designation: L2 Cache
Configuration: Enabled, Socketed, Level 2
Operational Mode: Write Through
Location: Internal
Installed Size: 256 KB
Maximum Size: 1024 KB
Supported SRAM Types:
Burst
Pipeline Burst
Asynchronous
Installed SRAM Type: Burst
Speed: Unknown
Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC
System Type: Unified
Associativity: 8-way Set-associative

Handle 0x0007, DMI type 7, 19 bytes
Cache Information
Socket Designation: L3 Cache
Configuration: Enabled, Socketed, Level 3
Operational Mode: Write Back
Location: Internal
Installed Size: 3072 KB
Maximum Size: 8192 KB
Supported SRAM Types:
Burst
Pipeline Burst
Asynchronous
Installed SRAM Type: Burst
Speed: Unknown
Error Correction Type: Unknown
System Type: Unknown
Associativity: Unknown

Handle 0x0008, DMI type 9, 17 bytes
System Slot Information
Designation: PCI Express Slot J6C2
Type: x1 <OUT OF SPEC>
Current Usage: Unknown
Length: Long
Characteristics:
5.0 V is provided
3.3 V is provided

Handle 0x0009, DMI type 10, 6 bytes
On Board Device Information
Type: Video
Status: Disabled
Description: IGD

Handle 0x000A, DMI type 10, 6 bytes
On Board Device Information
Type: Ethernet
Status: Disabled
Description: GigaLAN

Handle 0x000B, DMI type 11, 5 bytes
OEM Strings
String 1: PSPGSU-0DL002,TI105861W0E,13L01
String 2: JD1xTpsDAFtM9
String 3: DfRKqNq4GzANi
String 4: UsMh4r9YGX15D

Handle 0x000C, DMI type 12, 5 bytes
System Configuration Options
Option 1: NVR:00720A02
Option 2: DSN:100524PBN400B7H0PKNL
Option 3: DSN:00000000
Option 4: DSN:SANYO0D3F2010/04/21

Handle 0x000D, DMI type 15, 29 bytes
System Event Log
Area Length: 16 bytes
Header Start Offset: 0x0000
Header Length: 16 bytes
Data Start Offset: 0x0010
Access Method: General-purpose non-volatile data functions
Access Address: 0x0000
Status: Valid, Not Full
Change Token: 0x00000002
Header Format: Type 1
Supported Log Type Descriptors: 3
Descriptor 1: POST error
Data Format 1: POST results bitmap
Descriptor 2: Single-bit ECC memory error
Data Format 2: Multiple-event
Descriptor 3: Multi-bit ECC memory error
Data Format 3: Multiple-event

Handle 0x000E, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
Location: System Board Or Motherboard
Use: System Memory
Error Correction Type: None
Maximum Capacity: 16 GB
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Number Of Devices: 4

Handle 0x000F, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 4096 MB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: 1
Locator: M1
Bank Locator: Bank 0
Type: <OUT OF SPEC>
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
Manufacturer: 84B0
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: 0000
Part Number: OCZ3M13334G

Handle 0x0010, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 4096 MB
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: 1
Locator: M2
Bank Locator: Bank 1
Type: <OUT OF SPEC>
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 667 MHz (1.5 ns)
Manufacturer: 84B0
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: 0000
Part Number: OCZ3M13334G

Handle 0x0011, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: Unknown
Data Width: Unknown
Size: No Module Installed
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: 1
Locator: M3
Bank Locator: Bank 2
Type: <OUT OF SPEC>
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: Unknown
Manufacturer:
Serial Number:
Asset Tag:
Part Number:

Handle 0x0012, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: No Error
Total Width: Unknown
Data Width: Unknown
Size: No Module Installed
Form Factor: SODIMM
Set: 1
Locator: M4
Bank Locator: Bank 3
Type: <OUT OF SPEC>
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: Unknown
Manufacturer:
Serial Number:
Asset Tag:
Part Number:

Handle 0x0013, DMI type 18, 23 bytes
32-bit Memory Error Information
Type: OK
Granularity: Unknown
Operation: Unknown
Vendor Syndrome: Unknown
Memory Array Address: Unknown
Device Address: Unknown
Resolution: Unknown

Handle 0x0014, DMI type 18, 23 bytes
32-bit Memory Error Information
Type: OK
Granularity: Unknown
Operation: Unknown
Vendor Syndrome: Unknown
Memory Array Address: Unknown
Device Address: Unknown
Resolution: Unknown

Handle 0x0015, DMI type 19, 15 bytes
Memory Array Mapped Address
Starting Address: 0x00000000000
Ending Address: 0x001FFFFFFFF
Range Size: 8 GB
Physical Array Handle: 0x000E
Partition Width: 0

Handle 0x0016, DMI type 20, 19 bytes
Memory Device Mapped Address
Starting Address: 0x00000000000
Ending Address: 0x000FFFFFFFF
Range Size: 4 GB
Physical Device Handle: 0x000F
Memory Array Mapped Address Handle: 0x0015
Partition Row Position: Unknown
Interleave Position: Unknown
Interleaved Data Depth: Unknown

Handle 0x0017, DMI type 20, 19 bytes
Memory Device Mapped Address
Starting Address: 0x00100000000
Ending Address: 0x001FFFFFFFF
Range Size: 4 GB
Physical Device Handle: 0x0010
Memory Array Mapped Address Handle: 0x0015
Partition Row Position: Unknown
Interleave Position: Unknown
Interleaved Data Depth: Unknown

Handle 0x0018, DMI type 23, 13 bytes
System Reset
Status: Enabled
Watchdog Timer: Present
Boot Option: Do Not Reboot
Boot Option On Limit: Do Not Reboot
Reset Count: Unknown
Reset Limit: Unknown
Timer Interval: Unknown
Timeout: Unknown

Handle 0x0019, DMI type 24, 5 bytes
Hardware Security
Power-On Password Status: Disabled
Keyboard Password Status: Unknown
Administrator Password Status: Disabled
Front Panel Reset Status: Unknown

Handle 0x001A, DMI type 25, 9 bytes
System Power Controls
Next Scheduled Power-on: 12-31 23:59:59

Handle 0x001B, DMI type 26, 20 bytes
Voltage Probe
Description: Voltage Probe
Location: Processor
Status: OK
Maximum Value: Unknown
Minimum Value: Unknown
Resolution: Unknown
Tolerance: Unknown
Accuracy: Unknown
OEM-specific Information: 0x00000000

Handle 0x001C, DMI type 27, 12 bytes
Cooling Device
Temperature Probe Handle: 0x001D
Type: Fan
Status: OK
OEM-specific Information: 0x00000000

Handle 0x001D, DMI type 28, 20 bytes
Temperature Probe
Description: Temperature Probe
Location: Processor
Status: OK
Maximum Value: Unknown
Minimum Value Unknown
Resolution: Unknown
Tolerance: Unknown
Accuracy: Unknown
OEM-specific Information: 0x00000000

Handle 0x001E, DMI type 29, 20 bytes
Electrical Current Probe
Description: Electrical Current Probe
Location: Processor
Status: OK
Maximum Value: Unknown
Minimum Value: Unknown
Resolution: Unknown
Tolerance: Unknown
Accuracy: Unknown
OEM-specific Information: 0x00000000

Handle 0x001F, DMI type 30, 6 bytes
Out-of-band Remote Access
Manufacturer Name: Intel
Inbound Connection: Disabled
Outbound Connection: Enabled

Handle 0x0020, DMI type 32, 20 bytes
System Boot Information
Status: No errors detected

Handle 0x0021, DMI type 129, 8 bytes
OEM-specific Type
Header and Data:
81 08 21 00 01 01 02 01
Strings:
Intel_ASF
Intel_ASF_001

Handle 0x0022, DMI type 136, 6 bytes
OEM-specific Type
Header and Data:
88 06 22 00 FF FF

Handle 0x0023, DMI type 150, 14 bytes
OEM-specific Type
Header and Data:
96 0E 23 00 01 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Strings:
ABSOLUTE(PHOENIX) CLM

Handle 0x0024, DMI type 127, 4 bytes
End Of Table

[ 0.000000] BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 0000000000000000 - 000000000009c400 (usable)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 000000000009c400 - 00000000000a0000 (reserved)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000000dc000 - 00000000000e0000 (reserved)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000000e4000 - 0000000000100000 (reserved)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 0000000000100000 - 00000000bf27c000 (usable)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf27c000 - 00000000bf282000 (reserved)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf282000 - 00000000bf3ee000 (usable)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf3ee000 - 00000000bf40f000 (reserved)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf40f000 - 00000000bf46f000 (usable)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf46f000 - 00000000bf470000 (reserved)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf470000 - 00000000bf4f1000 (ACPI NVS)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf4f1000 - 00000000bf70f000 (reserved)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf70f000 - 00000000bf717000 (usable)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf717000 - 00000000bf71f000 (reserved)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf71f000 - 00000000bf77f000 (usable)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf77f000 - 00000000bf79f000 (ACPI NVS)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf79f000 - 00000000bf7cc000 (usable)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf7cc000 - 00000000bf7ff000 (ACPI data)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf7ff000 - 00000000bf800000 (usable)
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: 00000000bf800000 - 00000000c0000000 (reserved)

Do I understand you correctly: the last line of that map is
and the second to last line is
That doesn't make sense. If that is really true, it would imply some kind of BIOS bug.

I'm also quite confused by some of the DMI info you posted. Can you explain any of these discrepancies?

The DMI info you posted includes
Product Name: Satellite P505
Version: PSPGSU-0DL002
So I looked up a spec sheet http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/cont...P505-S8025.pdf
In that is says there are two physical slots for ram and the max total capacity is 8GB.
But elsewhere in your DMI info it says there are four physical slots for ram and the max total capacity is 16GB (and it says you have two of the four slots occupied, 4GB per slot).

Your posted DMI info also includes
On Board Device Information
Type: Video
Status: Disabled
Description: IGD

On Board Device Information
Type: Ethernet
Status: Disabled
Description: GigaLAN

This is a laptop, so I find it hard to believe the onboard Video and Ethernet would be disabled.

I don't understand any of it. I'm still trying to figure out how you're able to read that information and make sense out of it. LOL!!! I only posted the first huge paragraph of information for the physical memory. I can post a lot more if you think it would help. I do have two slots for RAM and I have them both full, each with a 4GB Corsair but I didn't think I had four slots. My video card is obviously working or I wouldn't be able to have this conversation with you but I did remove the nouveau video driver that is installed by default on computers with Nvidia video cards.(I'm still trying to get the Nvidia driver to work on this laptop.)

I still don't have any decent guess why the BIOS fails to tell the OS about the second 4GB of ram.

You didn't say anything to confirm that the text you quoted in post #8 really comes immediately before the line you quoted in post #5, with nothing in between. What should be in between is whatever the BIOS reports about your missing 4GB of ram.

Also, I noticed in the DMI info that your BIOS is version 2.4. I see on the Toshiba site that you can download BIOS version 2.6 for that laptop
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/t...ily=1073768663

I don't know anything about flashing the BIOS for that laptop (how to do it or whether it is safe to do it).

The BIOS map you quoted seems to indicate a BIOS bug, and there is some chance it is a bug that is fixed in the next version of the BIOS.

BTW, did you have 64 bit Windows on that laptop before installing Ubuntu? If so, did you delete Windows, or did you just shrink it and install Ubuntu as dual boot? I'm curious whether 64 bit Windows can use the missing ram. It shouldn't be able to. The same flawed ram map from the BIOS should be seen by any OS. But it is possible Toshiba hacked something into their OEM copy of Windows to see the missing ram.

as a mandriva user I had a similar problem mandriva only reading 3.2 of 4 gig of ram that was fixed by selecting a server kernel.
does ubuntu use pre-compiled kernels? if yes have a look for one that suits your hardware.

Yes and he already has an appropriate kernel.

Updating the BIOS to the newest version solved the problem! Thanks to everyone that helped me out!

Agree with the above comment Updating the BIOS to the newest version solved the problem..