I have a Dell Poweredge 4300 with dual PIII 550s but Ubuntu only sees one of them

i have looked every where i could think of to find out what i needed to do

i used synaptic and installed the Linux-686-smp this didnt help

I uninstalled the Linux-686-smp

used apt-get to install the package

if i type 'apt-get install linux-686-smp' I am prompted that the latest kernel is installed

when i type "cat /proc/cpuinfo' I only see one CPU

Yes i have rebooted the system

I AM A NOOB trying to learn but not sure what i am doing wrong

Any help would be appreciated thanks

smp is what you want - make sure you select it from grub. Can't remember if it defaults to that if you add it later.
Runs fine on our quad Xeon (PIII).

i dont have a backup
i dont know how to back up my kernal yet

there is no option in grub for SMP
Do i just add one if so where is the new kernal so i can point it in that direction

I Just re installed the linux-686-smp this is what was in the terminal


" (Reading database ...76367 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace Linux-686-SMP 2.6.15.25 (using .../linux-686-smp_2.6.15.25_i386.deb ...
Unpacking replacement linux-686-SMP ...
Setting up linux-686-SMP (2.6.15.25)...

when i rebooted there was no change in grub or in ubuntu

all help is appreciated

i cant figure it out i done a file search and cant even find the kernel im using to boot now or the new one

i did find the Linux-686-smp_2.6.15.25_i386.deb file

is this the file i need to point grub to?

the best i can tell grub should already have the new kernel after i installed the SMP kernel seance it doesnt is there a way to point GRUB at the new kernel manually

Probably, since apt said it's "replacing" the kernel, you do have SMP kernel installed already. And if it was a replacing-operation, you only have one Grub entry. When Grub starts you should see the kernel version, and if it equals the one you installed, you're running it. Kernel image is usually located (in Ubuntu) in /boot like /boot/vmlinuz for example (could be of some other name too, and perhaps linked to vmlinuz). Anyway the kernel files are under /boot and if you take a look at /boot/grub/menu.lst you'll see, among other things, the kernel configurations (lines starting with "root" and so on..you'll find them).

I don't have dual-core myself, but make sure you don't have to install any extra software packages from apt, and make sure you have the appropriate modules loaded. Also try to google for your processor type + Ubuntu (or Linux in general) to see if somebody has information about how he got it working (shouldn't be too big a problem).

Another thing is that you might need some extra kernel parameters during bootup. You can try these by pressing esc at Grub if the kernel list is not visible, and then e to edit the commands. To save the appropriate settings after you've verified they work, edit /boot/grub/menu.lst if necessary.

By the way, what does
exactly say?

EDIT: as you (should) know, dual core is of any help only if the program you're running is multi-threaded. I have no idea if this affects the contents of /proc/cpuinfo, but as /proc is a virtual filesystem for getting a "peek inside the kernel", and at least my /proc/cpuinfo changes (the clock part of it) if I compare it when I'm running something big or having the system idle (cpu clock scaling), I wouldn't be surprised if your cpuinfo showed two cpus only when you're actually using both of them - i.e. running multi-threaded programs.

Maybe you'll want to run some performance tests to actually be sure if you're working with one or two cores (it's still one unit, not two cpus). As I have noticed myself, the information in /proc changes all the time depending on what's going on in the system, so I would definitely try other means of finding out if the other kernel is in use or not.

And after all of this, Google is a great friend.

This is a DELL poweredge 4300 dual PIII 550MHz machine there is only one CPU showing up in Sys monitor and CAT /proc/cpuinfo i ma not at the machine at this time but i believe the CAT /proc/cpuinfo says

CPU ID :0
Vendor ID :Genuine Intel
CPU Family :6
Model :7
Family Name :Pentium III (Katimai)
Frequency : 546MHz

i dont remember the rest ro the log but this is close but there is only one CPU showing up in the list

everywhere i have looked says the kernel should end with SMP to be a SMP kernel in grub mine doesn't

Only the kernel needs to be installed. /proc/cpuinfo will show all the processors (0 and 1 in your case) after a reboot with the SMP kernel.
Yes, the kernel name should have SMP in it - what does "ls /boot/vm*" show ???.

Generally the package manager (I used Synaptic) will add entries to the menu.lst for the new kernel - and its associated recovery mode. I *think* it adds the new kernel to the top, and hence becomes the new default - I'll check when I get to the office.

the complete cat /proc/cpuinfo is

Test@ubuntu:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 7
model name : Pentium III (Katmai)
stepping : 3
cpu MHz : 546.430
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 mmx fxsr sse
bogomips : 1094.25



this is what is after ls /boot/vm* comand

Test@ubuntu:~$ ls /boot/vm*
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-386 /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-686
/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-386
Test@ubuntu:~$

You don't have a SMP kernel installed unless they are naming them strangely try this grep -i smp /boot/config-2.6.15-26-386 or -27-386 if running that one to see if the CONFIG_SMP=y is there if not then install the -smp kernel if necessary by specifying the exact name. For example.

Then to install the 2.6.16.2 one.

Reboot and select it from the grub menu and your second processor should show up.

Sorry, my bad. Just had a look on the machine at work - you need that vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-686 kernel. It is SMP enabled, but doesn't have SMP in the name.
Boot that, and do a "uname -a".
Else let's see the contents of /boot/grub/menu.lst (without the comments and blank lines please).

Test@ubuntu:~$ grep -i smp /boot/config-2.6.15-27-686

CONFIG_BROKEN_ON_SMP=y
# CONFIG_X86_BIGSMP is not set
CONFIG_SMP=y
CONFIG_ENABLE_ALT_SMP=y
CONFIG_SUSPEND_SMP=y
CONFIG_X86_FIND_SMP_CONFIG=y
CONFIG_X86_SMP=y
Test@ubuntu:~$



## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-27-686
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-686 root=/dev/md0 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-27-686
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-27-686 (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-686 root=/dev/md0 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-27-686
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-27-386
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-386 root=/dev/md0 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-27-386
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-27-386 (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-386 root=/dev/md0 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-27-386
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-26-386
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-386 root=/dev/md0 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-26-386
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-26-386 (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-386 root=/dev/md0 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-26-386
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-23-686
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-23-686 root=/dev/md0 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-23-686
savedefault
boot

title Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-23-686 (recovery mode)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-23-686 root=/dev/md0 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-23-686
boot

title Ubuntu, memtest86+
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
boot

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

I had to run sudo update-grub to get the kernels to show up in the menu.list

they are there now but they are not a option in grub on boot up
they also will not boot if i edit the kernel line with the grub editor
it tells me ERROR (something) file not found

the only kernel listed in the grub editor is
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-386 root=/dev/md0 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-27-386
savedefault
boot


hope this gives someone a idea what i am doing wrong
thanks for all the help so far

i cant get the options from /boot/grub/menu.list
to show up in grub while booting
i thought this was the file that grub built the menu options from

Hopefully this is a typo otherwise it is the wrong file it should be /boot/grub/menu.lst.
Ok then hit the c key when the grub screen comes up on boot to get to the command line for grub and boot it from there with these commands typed in then enter key after each line.

This is all very odd.
Changes to the menu.lst should show immediately on the next boot - everything on a "title" line should be an option to select.
The menu.lst you showed should give you the -686 (i.e. SMP enabled) kernel as default. You didn't give us the line with "default" on it, but it should be "default 0".

Mmmm - just had a look at update-grub; seems it uses hiddenmenu. Demolitionn do you actually see a grub selection list ???. If not hit <ESC> as soon as you get to grub (blank screen probably).
What is on that list (on boot).