Hello,

I'm wondering if I must recompile my kernel when adding like 1Go RAM
I had 256Mo before

WHat should I do with the linux system when upgrading my ram?
Is the new ram kit automatically added in the system's registers
I'm a newbie pls help

I don't have installed my new ram kit yet
Before i want to understand how is it handled by the kernel
So that i won't have a bad surprise

I think you will find the kernel will grab all the ram it needs. I determines the amount on booting you should not have to tell it how much

Ok thx i will now try to place them inside my box
We'll see I think you are right

What distro / version do you have installed?

Most likely you will need to recompile the kernel to enable large memory support.

I have SuSE 8.2 kernel 2.4.20-100
So you think it won't detect my new ram auto matically?

And if so do I need to recompile before the ram installation or the system will boot withtout problem??

I was in this situation. SuSE 8.2 wouldn't recognize the additional RAM. In fact I ran into some trouble booting the system after adding the RAM. The "run-of-the-mill" or "out-of-the-box" kernel doesn't like anything more than 880MB. I'm running RH9 right now and so far it's been good with the 1.5GB that I have (the only distro so far that installed and recognized the whole amount). So far SuSE 8.2 and Mandrake 9.1 would not recognize the extra RAM and caused some crazy installation issues as well... Mandrake 9.2 RC2 is noticeably different - like Redhat 9 it recognized everything. I believe SuSE 9 will have large RAM support precompiled.

... Come to think of it, the latest kernel upgrade (2.4.20-20.9 in RH9) won't recognize the full 1.5GB either.

I made a mistake it's not 1GB kit it's 500MB kit with 2*256 sorry!!
So now I have 768MB of RAm
BIOS detects it
I also see this amount at SuSE boot log
But i see no real advance in speed and loading until now
Yeah i will wait the 9.0 that comes out this 24 October
Or perhaps i will learn how to recompile my kernel to add this large ram
Thanks