reparing memory
when I look in the system information my computer is only running on 2.8GB ram, but there are 4GB, how do I fix this?
Thanks ps. I am a beginner at linux, and just started learning Ole |
Most likely you are running a 32 bit version of Linux, I would recommend to go for a 64 bit version.
Alternatively you can install a PAE kernel, but newer Mint versions should use such a kernel by default. |
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~$ cat /proc/meminfo |
I use Linux Mint 13 64 bit
I looked in system information under ram Ole |
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~$ cat /proc/meminfo |
MemTotal: 2824044 kB
MemFree: 1352644 kB Buffers: 32132 kB Cached: 738448 kB SwapCached: 27940 kB Active: 802112 kB Inactive: 492888 kB Active(anon): 458112 kB Inactive(anon): 75944 kB Active(file): 344000 kB Inactive(file): 416944 kB Unevictable: 0 kB Mlocked: 0 kB SwapTotal: 7811068 kB SwapFree: 7639524 kB Dirty: 52 kB Writeback: 0 kB AnonPages: 501676 kB Mapped: 102600 kB Shmem: 9636 kB Slab: 76132 kB SReclaimable: 51468 kB SUnreclaim: 24664 kB KernelStack: 2640 kB PageTables: 21384 kB NFS_Unstable: 0 kB Bounce: 0 kB WritebackTmp: 0 kB CommitLimit: 9223088 kB Committed_AS: 2053380 kB VmallocTotal: 34359738367 kB VmallocUsed: 324176 kB VmallocChunk: 34359411708 kB HardwareCorrupted: 0 kB AnonHugePages: 0 kB HugePages_Total: 0 HugePages_Free: 0 HugePages_Rsvd: 0 HugePages_Surp: 0 Hugepagesize: 2048 kB DirectMap4k: 197184 kB DirectMap2M: 2684928 kB the other I cant copy |
MemTotal is total "usable" RAM which is 2824044 KB i.e. around 2.7 GB.
MemFree is the amount of physical RAM, left unused by the system, which is 1352644 KB i.e. 1.29 GB. Total: MemTotal + MemFree = 4176688 KB i.e. around 3.98 GB. So in your case, the MemFree i.e. 1.29 GB is not in use, that is why you see only 2.7 or 2.8 GB of physical memory. To find out how system calculates the free memory (see here). Hope this helps. |
thanks for your help
Ole |
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cat /proc/meminfo |
Some computer can't actually support 4GB, even if they have a 64 bit CPU and often even though the manufacturer claims 4GB support.
Usually that means installing 4GB gives you 3 and fraction GB usable, but it can be as low as the 2.8GB usable reported in this thread. But some systems have a BIOS option for memory "remap" (often called other things, so it may be hard to identify). With that BIOS option enabled you can use almost all of your 4GB, but with it disabled you have much less usable. Try to find that BIOS option on your system. Quote:
The OP have either a hardware restriction or an incorrectly set BIOS option. |
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@johnsfine:
As per explaination of /proc/meminfo (on various websites): Quote:
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Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. Total memory available is exactly what it says, total memory available. Free memory is part of that total. He has ~2.8 gig available because he has a 32-bit system board that reserves memory above that boundary for hardware addresses. This is a well-known limitation of 32-bit architecture. The fact he has a 64-bit CPU is irrelevant, in the transitional period between 32-bit and 64-bit, there were many boards with 32-bit chipsets that supported 64-bit CPUs. Yes, it sounds stupid, but it's true. The amount reserved varies, but usable memory can vary from 2.8 to 3.5 depending on how the board is configured. A lot of these boards were designed when most people didn't have more than 256 or 512, so it was never an issue.
The other possibility of defective RAM is possible, but unlikely, since when that happens you usually have an even increment, like 1024, 2048, etc, that works, while the rest doesn't. |
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MemTotal: 16375376 kB MemTotal shows the total amount of memory available to the system. |
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