Memory
 

Quick Question. I have 2GB of RAM in my box, but when I type in "top" in the console, and I look at my memory line, it looks something like this:

Mem: 904144k total, 371252k used, 532892k free, 37040k buffers

Now...I could be stupid (probably)... but that looks like 1 GB to me... not 2. Any ideas?

Recompile kernel with highMem option enabled.



Cheers,
Tink

Recompile kernel..... *gulp*

Why wasn't this done with the initial install?????? I mean, bloody 'ell, I'm running dual Xeon 64-bit processors! Why doesn't the default kernel support 2GB of RAM?

*catches breath*

Ok, I'm sorry. Care to guide me through not blowing up my system on a kernel recompile in Mandrake Linux 9.2? I really, *really* don't want to mess this one up. How could Mandrake not detect that I had 2GB of memory at install?

=(

Are both of your processors seen? I'm not familiar with Mandrake so I'm not sure if it comes SMP enabled. If not you can kill 2 birds with one stone.
the command to check is
in case you're not sure.

Then have a gander here http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=49035

for a quick read about kernel recompiling....then fire the questions away

Alright... I'm going to type out letter for letter what your command shows up here:

processor :0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 2
model name : Intel (R) Xeon (TM) CPU 2.40 GHz
stepping : 9
cpu MHz : 2386.938
cache size : 512 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 2
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 slflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2
bogomips : 4757.91

So.... are both supported?

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.... why does this have to be so bloody hard?????

I'm stuck right here:

Now we need to edit the Makefile to make sure your new kernel is copied to the appropriate directory.

If you are using 8.1 or later, open /usr/src/linux/Makefile in a text editor, scroll to line 74 and
uncomment the the line #export INSTALL_PATH=/boot.
For 8.0 you must leave this line commented.

So...cd /usr/src/linux

pico Makefile

scroll to line 74 and
uncomment the the line #export INSTALL_PATH=/boot.
For 8.0 you must leave this line commented.


Now for the fun

make menuconfig (make your changes here...when done, save your new configuration)
make dep (sets all the kernel dependencies)
make clean (removes un-needed files)
make bzImage (builds the kernel)
make
make install (installs, moves and renames all the needed files and updates lilo)
make modules (builds all the kernel modules)
make modules_install (installs the modules)

I tried skipping the "Makfile" part because it seeemed slackware related, and I couldn't find that file on Mandrake. So then I moved onto the "make menuconfig", and I get a "No rule to make target 'menuconfig', Stop." error. It happens when I try any of the other "make" things as well.

This is killing me. I hate this @#^@$^ learning curve.

The part that gets me the worst is that you guys are probably laughing your butts off on the other end of the keyboard, too.

Dosen't look like it. But this isn't surprising or a big deal. Linux is designed to work with most of the normal setups ou there out of the box. You're lucky enough (and yes I'm jealous :D ) to have this monster and you'll need to take a bit of time to use it to it's fullest. Changing to SMP support and High Mem is only a matter of clicking a couple of buttons, but there's alot more optomizing you can do if you're going to recompile the kernel. You have to decide how far you're willing to go this first time.

No we're not laughing!
This is a big pain in the butt until you get used to it.

You have to be root to run make menuconfig
you have to have Ncurses 2+ installed.
Try using make xconfig as well. Much nicer interface

Well... considering I probably want to do it right the first time, I probably should.

However, I really, *really* need to figure out just what the heck I'm doing first. It's this "overview" that I don't have in my mind right now. I don't know how much sense that makes to you, but when you see things from the "ground", you don't really get a very good picture. When you're flying overhead, however, everything all starts to make sense.

That's how it is with Linux (and learning in general, for that matter). Right now, I'm sitting on the ground, trying to feel my way around, knowing nothing, and relying on my air support (you) to try and guide me through this very... difficult process.

I know how much of this is on my part for it to just "click", but... right now I feel pretty hopeless. I need to have this box configured, operational, secure, and launched for a large-scale site in a month, and I'm starting to get scared that I won't be able to make that happen.

I was running as root in the shell. I'm not sure what Ncurses 2+ is, or how to install it. In case you were following me in my other thread... I can't seem to get anything "installed". This is day 2 in Linux, and I'm 'bout to drive myself insane.

What would xconfig be? Another prog to install, or some text editor or something? In fact, nevermind that... I'll look it up on google. If you could help with the Ncurses 2+ though, I'd appreciate that.

Note that I'm not a completely worthless slob who can't do anything for myself. I've been looking up all this information since the butt-crack of dawn, but almost everything I find seems to distro-specific, or once I run into a bump, I get lost - mainly because I haven't a clue what they're asking me to do, or why I'm doing it.

Makes perfect sense. The fact that you're on a deadline isn't helping either I'm sure. To simplify the process here's how I do it:

Take a sheet of paper and jot down the make and model of all periphial hardware in the box.
Open a terminal, and su to root
Make sure you have the kernel source unpacked correctly. It should be in /usr/src with a symlink to it at /usr/src/linux.

Change to source dir cd /usr/src/linux

Type make menuconfig or make xconfig.

Leave that window open and post back with success or failure.

I'll be happy to point you toward the settings you'll need to change.

I'd bet my eyeteeth that Mandrake installed Ncurses. The problem could very well be the kernel source tree. Refer to my above post and see if it makes sense, or if you're missing something.

You're a godsend, dude. Here's my hardware, and I'll be back with a report in a few mins of posting this, as well:

Quantity Part # Part Description
1 J2219 Kit, DOC/CDSK, Document Object Model, V3.6, World Wide
1 6878T Cord, Power, 125V, 10FT, SJT, Unshielded
1 3W752 Kit, Cable, SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface), P1750
1 661HP Printed Wiring Assy, CD-INTRPSR, SABRE
1 J3014 Printed Wiring Assy, Planar (Motherboard), PE1750, Server, Server Chassis, DELL, 533
1 W0212 Power Supply, 320W, Redundant
1 P0247 Printed Wiring Assy, Interface, Backplane, 1X3, PE1650, MSI
1 U0621 Processor, 80532K, 2.4GHZ, 512K, 533, Decision One
1 4N454 Keyboard, 104, United States, NMB, Low Cost, Midnight Gray
1 W1668 Kit, Mouse, Personal System 2, 2BTN, Wheel, LOGITECH
1 U0621 Processor, 80532K, 2.4GHZ, 512K, 533, Decision One
4 9U174 Dual In-Line Memory Module, 512, 266M, 64X72, 8K, 184, 1U
1 0R397 Compact Disk Drive, 650M, IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics), Internal, Third Height, 24X, Black, TEAC
1 8G157 Display, Cathode-Ray Tube, 17, Dual, M782, Midnight Gray, Dell Americas Organization
1 X0356 Assembly, Printed Wiring Assy, Riser, 1750, 2X64/133, MSI
1 D1878 Floppy Drive, 1.44M, 3.5" Form Factor, Third Height, Bezel, NEC
1 C3690 Hard Drive, 36GB, S, U320, 15K, 80P, SEAGATE
1 X0885 Card (Circuit), Network, Ethernet, INTEL, PRO1000XT

I don't know how much this means to you, but let me summarize:
2 GB of 4x512MB modules of RAM
2x2.4 GHz Intel Xeon Processors
36 GB, 15,000 RPM Seagate SCSI HDD
LSI 53C1030 controller

Unfortunately, I do not have exact model numbers (I don't think). I could probably call Dell on them, however, if you need them.

Alright, in my /usr/src directly I have only *one* directory - /RPM/

Inside /RPM/ I have:
BUILD/
RPMS/
SOURCES/
SPECS/
SRPMS/


Nothing is in BUILD/

In RPMS/, I have:
athlon/
i386/
i486/
i586/
i686
k6/
noarch/

Inside SOURCES/ I have nothing, and inside SRPMS, I have nothing

I'm not sure which i* the Xeon is, either...

I do not have a /linux/ directory anywhere around here.