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Old 01-25-2014, 04:25 PM   #1
kenw232
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Slackware 14.1 cannot see more then 4GB or memory


Anyone know why my slackware guest in VMware ESX4 cannot see more then 4GB of memory? I have tried to set the guest mem to 5GB or 6GB and boot with lilo.conf having:
append=" mem=5120M vt.default_utf8=0"
append=" mem=6144M vt.default_utf8=0"

But no matter what it never sees more then 4GB or memory. It's a custom built 3.10.18 kernel. 64bit.

uname -a gives:
Linux server 3.10.18 #13 SMP Sat Dec 14 15:53:39 EST 2013 x86_64 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5520 @ 2.27GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
 
Old 01-25-2014, 05:16 PM   #2
ReaperX7
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Does your Virtual machine have PAE extensions enabled?
 
Old 01-25-2014, 05:17 PM   #3
dlachausse
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Does it work with GENERIC or HUGE? The problem could stem from the fact that it is custom built.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 05:18 PM   #4
Ser Olmy
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A list of available memory is fetched from various ACPI tables. Could you post the output from dmesg? The very first messages that appear when the kernel boots could provide clues as to why memory above 4 Gb isn't detected/used.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 05:19 PM   #5
Ser Olmy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ReaperX7 View Post
Does your Virtual machine have PAE extensions enabled?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlachausse View Post
Does it work with GENERIC or HUGE? The problem could stem from the fact that it is custom built.
I don't think either of these settings are valid for 64 bit kernels.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 05:43 PM   #6
kenw232
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ser Olmy View Post
A list of available memory is fetched from various ACPI tables. Could you post the output from dmesg? The very first messages that appear when the kernel boots could provide clues as to why memory above 4 Gb isn't detected/used.
Here is the beginning of dmesg.

[ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpuset
[ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpu
[ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpuacct
[ 0.000000] Linux version 3.10.18 (root@central) (gcc version 4.8.2 (GCC) ) #13 SMP Sat Dec 14 15:53:39 EST 2013
[ 0.000000] Command line: auto BOOT_IMAGE=Central ro root=801 mem=5120M vt.default_utf8=0
[ 0.000000] KERNEL supported cpus:
[ 0.000000] Intel GenuineIntel
[ 0.000000] Disabled fast string operations
[ 0.000000] e820: BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009f7ff] usable
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000000009f800-0x000000000009ffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000ca000-0x00000000000cbfff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000dc000-0x00000000000e3fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000e8000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x0000000000efffff] usable
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000f00000-0x0000000000ffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000001000000-0x00000000bfeeffff] usable
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000bfef0000-0x00000000bfefefff] ACPI data
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000bfeff000-0x00000000bfefffff] ACPI NVS
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000bff00000-0x00000000bfffffff] usable
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000e0000000-0x00000000efffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec0ffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fffe0000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x000000017fffffff] usable
[ 0.000000] e820: remove [mem 0x140000000-0xfffffffffffffffe] usable
[ 0.000000] Notice: NX (Execute Disable) protection missing in CPU!
[ 0.000000] e820: user-defined physical RAM map:
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009f7ff] usable
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x000000000009f800-0x000000000009ffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000000ca000-0x00000000000cbfff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000000dc000-0x00000000000e3fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000000e8000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x0000000000efffff] usable
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x0000000000f00000-0x0000000000ffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x0000000001000000-0x00000000bfeeffff] usable
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000bfef0000-0x00000000bfefefff] ACPI data
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000bfeff000-0x00000000bfefffff] ACPI NVS
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000bff00000-0x00000000bfffffff] usable
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000e0000000-0x00000000efffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec0ffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000fffe0000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x000000013fffffff] usable
[ 0.000000] SMBIOS 2.4 present.
[ 0.000000] DMI: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 09/22/2009
[ 0.000000] Hypervisor detected: VMware
[ 0.000000] e820: update [mem 0x00000000-0x00000fff] usable ==> reserved
[ 0.000000] e820: remove [mem 0x000a0000-0x000fffff] usable
[ 0.000000] e820: last_pfn = 0x140000 max_arch_pfn = 0x400000000

This might help too

central(/temp): dmesg | grep ACPI
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000bfef0000-0x00000000bfefefff] ACPI data
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000bfeff000-0x00000000bfefffff] ACPI NVS
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000bfef0000-0x00000000bfefefff] ACPI data
[ 0.000000] user: [mem 0x00000000bfeff000-0x00000000bfefffff] ACPI NVS
[ 0.000000] ACPI: RSDP 00000000000f6a40 00024 (v02 PTLTD )
[ 0.000000] ACPI: XSDT 00000000bfef074a 0004C (v01 INTEL 440BX 06040000 VMW 01324272)
[ 0.000000] ACPI: FACP 00000000bfefee98 000F4 (v04 INTEL 440BX 06040000 PTL 000F4240)
[ 0.000000] ACPI: DSDT 00000000bfef0938 0E560 (v01 PTLTD Custom 06040000 MSFT 03000001)
[ 0.000000] ACPI: FACS 00000000bfefffc0 00040
[ 0.000000] ACPI: BOOT 00000000bfef0910 00028 (v01 PTLTD $SBFTBL$ 06040000 LTP 00000001)
[ 0.000000] ACPI: APIC 00000000bfef08b2 0005E (v01 PTLTD ? APIC 06040000 LTP 00000000)
[ 0.000000] ACPI: MCFG 00000000bfef0876 0003C (v01 PTLTD $PCITBL$ 06040000 LTP 00000001)
[ 0.000000] ACPI: SRAT 00000000bfef07ce 000A8 (v02 VMWARE MEMPLUG 06040000 VMW 00000001)
[ 0.000000] ACPI: Local APIC address 0xfee00000
(there is more then this)

And I don't think PAE matters for 64bit kernels. I can't test with generic or huge right now. Note in this case I'm booting with mem=5120M, and the kernel only ends up seeing 4GB which is what I slightly expect because 1GB is reserved for PCI devices or something. But I increased it to 6GB and mem=6144M and it still only sees 4GB which I don't think should happen. I should see 5GB then.

Last edited by kenw232; 01-25-2014 at 05:45 PM.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 05:59 PM   #7
wildwizard
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I just tested with VB and that works fine with a standard Slackware kernel.

If you run a custom kernel then there is nothing we can do to help as we have no idea if you configured it correctly.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 06:03 PM   #8
kenw232
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What is VB? And how can it not work fine if its 64bit, it just confuses me.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 06:04 PM   #9
wildwizard
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kenw232 View Post
What is VB?
Virtual Box
 
Old 01-25-2014, 06:08 PM   #10
kenw232
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I think its an ESX4 issue then.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 06:09 PM   #11
Ser Olmy
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VirtualBox != VMware. As far as hypervisors go, you'd be hard pressed to find two products that are more different.

I don't really see how one could possibly configure a 64 bit kernel "wrong" with regards to memory. There aren't even any options, just "Sparse Memory". Having said that, there could be PCI(e), ACPI or perhaps even APIC options affecting the way memory is detected. You should at least try booting with the default kernel, perhaps directly from the installation DVD/ISO, and see if the problem persists.

How did you generate the configuration for your custom kernel? Did you run make oldconfig using a Slackware .config file, or did you start from scratch?
 
Old 01-25-2014, 06:21 PM   #12
kenw232
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Started from scratch with make menuconfig and went through each option I wanted one by one. Im going to see if ESX 5 has the same issue tomorrow.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 07:21 PM   #13
dlachausse
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Is there any reason you haven't tried a standard Slackware kernel yet? It would rule out whether it's your configuration or VMWare.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 07:36 PM   #14
ReaperX7
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As stated with a custom kernel we can't help you. Unless you are running a Slackware-released or Slackware-based kernel, getting help is impossible because we have no idea how your kernel is configured. Sorry, but at this time we can only recommend that you install a Slackware kernel and try again, and then return for help if you have problems.
 
Old 01-26-2014, 04:29 AM   #15
kenw232
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Thanks for your help everyone, I got it to finally go. I was mostly at least forgetting to run lilo after a change to the lilo.conf file. I'm still missing 1GB though. I have to specify 6GB to get 5GB, but this is a vmware thing I think where it reserves but does not loose 1GB.
 
  


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