Linux does not recognize all RAM.

Techuser · 04-08-2017, 06:12 PM

Hello! All Linux systems I have tried so far (I use Linux Mint 17.3, 64-bits) show that my computer only has 2.9GB of RAM (this does not happen with Windows), but it actually has 4GB (the information in BIOS confirms it also). I tried both RAM modules independently (removing one and leaving the other one) and they both work. It is shown in "System information" that the modules have 1.9GB each (not sure why not 2GB), so why do they only make 2.9GB together? Can You help me?

Thanks in advance!

frankbell · 04-08-2017, 06:47 PM

What is the output of the following?

Code:

cat /proc/cpuinfo
cat /proc/meminfo
egrep "model name|address" /proc/cpuinfo

(Shamelessly stolen from here.)

Be sure to surround any terminal outpuf with "code" tags, which become available when you click the "Go Advanced" button below the compose post window.

Techuser · 04-08-2017, 07:01 PM

Thanks for your response, here is the output:

Code:

computer@computer-Aspire-5730 ~ $ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor	: 0
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 15
model name	: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual  CPU  T3400  @ 2.16GHz
stepping	: 13
microcode	: 0xa1
cpu MHz		: 2166.000
cache size	: 1024 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 2
core id		: 0
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 0
initial apicid	: 0
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 10
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm dtherm
bugs		:
bogomips	: 4322.52
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 64
address sizes	: 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor	: 1
vendor_id	: GenuineIntel
cpu family	: 6
model		: 15
model name	: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual  CPU  T3400  @ 2.16GHz
stepping	: 13
microcode	: 0xa1
cpu MHz		: 1666.000
cache size	: 1024 KB
physical id	: 0
siblings	: 2
core id		: 1
cpu cores	: 2
apicid		: 1
initial apicid	: 1
fpu		: yes
fpu_exception	: yes
cpuid level	: 10
wp		: yes
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm dtherm
bugs		:
bogomips	: 4322.52
clflush size	: 64
cache_alignment	: 64
address sizes	: 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

computer@computer-Aspire-5730 ~ $ cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal:        3008928 kB
MemFree:          856152 kB
MemAvailable:    2151856 kB
Buffers:           89860 kB
Cached:          1397600 kB
SwapCached:            0 kB
Active:          1358592 kB
Inactive:         648256 kB
Active(anon):     520520 kB
Inactive(anon):   111608 kB
Active(file):     838072 kB
Inactive(file):   536648 kB
Unevictable:          16 kB
Mlocked:              16 kB
SwapTotal:       3071996 kB
SwapFree:        3071996 kB
Dirty:               168 kB
Writeback:             0 kB
AnonPages:        519528 kB
Mapped:           294192 kB
Shmem:            112744 kB
Slab:              91376 kB
SReclaimable:      67212 kB
SUnreclaim:        24164 kB
KernelStack:        5760 kB
PageTables:        20624 kB
NFS_Unstable:          0 kB
Bounce:                0 kB
WritebackTmp:          0 kB
CommitLimit:     4576460 kB
Committed_AS:    2152380 kB
VmallocTotal:   34359738367 kB
VmallocUsed:      543112 kB
VmallocChunk:   34359187548 kB
HardwareCorrupted:     0 kB
AnonHugePages:     57344 kB
CmaTotal:              0 kB
CmaFree:               0 kB
HugePages_Total:       0
HugePages_Free:        0
HugePages_Rsvd:        0
HugePages_Surp:        0
Hugepagesize:       2048 kB
DirectMap4k:      130308 kB
DirectMap2M:     2942976 kB
computer@computer-Aspire-5730 ~ $ egrep "model name|address" /proc/cpuinfo
model name	: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual  CPU  T3400  @ 2.16GHz
address sizes	: 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
model name	: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual  CPU  T3400  @ 2.16GHz
address sizes	: 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual

AwesomeMachine · 04-08-2017, 08:00 PM

The T3400 uses socket 478. Motherboards with that socket address memory in 32 bits. The bios is probably reading the capacity off the ID on the memory DIMMs.

Techuser · 04-08-2017, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AwesomeMachine

The T3400 uses socket 478. Motherboards with that socket address memory in 32 bits. The bios is probably reading the capacity off the ID on the memory DIMMs.

What does that mean exactly?

frankbell · 04-08-2017, 09:33 PM

The amount of RAM that can be addressed with 32-bit addressing may be limited, depending on several factors. But 4 GB would normally be addressable.

Does your video chipset have its own RAM or does it use CPU RAM?

Techuser · 04-08-2017, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

The amount of RAM that can be addressed with 32-bit addressing may be limited, depending on several factors. But 4 GB would normally be addressable.

Does your video chipset have its own RAM or does it use CPU RAM?

I'm not sure how to find out. My video chipset is an "Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller".

In my BIOS I found the following information:

System Memory: 632KB
Extended Memory: 4029MB
Video Memory: 64MB

ondoho · 04-09-2017, 03:28 AM

windows & also the bios probably bundle bytes by 1000, linux uses 1024.
so, in linux: 1MB=1024kB
in windows: 1MB=1000kB
makes for bigger numbers ;-)

there are other tricks to make your resources appear to be "more" than they are.
linux doesn't try to sell you anything, so it doesn't need to use such tricks.

pan64 · 04-09-2017, 04:20 AM

looks quite similar: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...to-4175601910/

Techuser · 04-09-2017, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

windows & also the bios probably bundle bytes by 1000, linux uses 1024.
so, in linux: 1MB=1024kB
in windows: 1MB=1000kB
makes for bigger numbers ;-)

there are other tricks to make your resources appear to be "more" than they are.
linux doesn't try to sell you anything, so it doesn't need to use such tricks.

Yes, the difference is minimal though, I think it would be about 3.91GB in Linux. But it shows that I have 2.9GB!

Techuser · 04-09-2017, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pan64

looks quite similar: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...to-4175601910/

Thanks, but I could not come to any conclusions.

dave@burn-it.co.uk · 04-10-2017, 07:48 AM

Quote:

in windows: 1MB=1000kB

Not true.

sundialsvcs · 04-10-2017, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave@burn-it.co.uk

Not true.

1MB = 1024KB.

1GB = 1024MB.

1024 = 2 to the 10th power, corresponding to a binary number that is that-many bits long. It is the closest power of two to one thousand.

= = = = =

The amount of "available memory" is very dependent on exactly which motherboard is being used. Some boards have on-board hardware which uses a portion of the RAM for other purposes, e.g. video. During startup, Linux determines which areas of RAM are available for its use.

All other operating systems do the same, but not all operating systems carve-up "their" memory in the same way. The amount that is available "to user-land" therefore varies from system to system on the same hardware.

dave@burn-it.co.uk · 04-10-2017, 10:13 AM

My NOT TRUE comment was referring to the In Windows 1Mb=1000Kb
It is NOT a Windows defiinition at all it is a SALESMAN's definition
And you might like to correct the typing error in your last post .

ondoho · 04-10-2017, 11:10 AM

^ are you a windows salesman?