4Gb not seen on Slack 12.2 with HIGHMEM64G set
 

I came across a bookmark of mine pointing to http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...=slackware+4gb and it reminded me of something.

If I run:

I get:

Under total I was hoping for more as I definitely have 4Gb installed (4 x 1Gb sticks).

I have also set:

in the kernel and recompiled.

Does anyone have any thoughts?


Mark.

How much RAM is detected by the BIOS ? Go into the BIOS options and it should be listed.

Hi H_TeXMeX_H,

The BIOS detects 4096Mb :-$


M.

Ok, so then it might be a problem with the kernel, or you didn't install the new kernel ? post the output of:

It comes back with:


M.

Maybe I will write something idiotic and stupid, but feel free to correct me.:)

I have 4 GB also, recompiled kernel with PAE support but it shows only arround 3600 MB. I guess it has something to do with integrated graphics in my case... Maybe it is something similar in your case, although 1 GB seems too much to lose...

Not idiotic at all. If I had a shared graphics board (like I think I have on my Dell Latitude D430) then that would not be a bad thought.

But alas I do not. I'm packing an ATI X1900 with 512Mb of RAM.


M.

At the lilo screen, select the correct kernel that has highmem64g compiled in, and press tab to bring up a command prompt. Here you'll see the name of the selected kernel, press space and type mem=4G, then enter.

Once loaded, type cat /proc/meminfo |grep MemTotal.

If it still isn't correct, look for a bios upgrade, and/or run memtest86. Memtest86 will report the amount of RAM it sees. If you happen to have a bad stick, the bios could pick report it's there, but the kernel won't. This has happened to me with some old rambus modules. I had 768MB installed, but the kernel only reported ~640mb. Had one stick that was partially bad.

I'm about to get a new computer with 4 GB RAM (arriving later today), and I've been reading up a little on this issue. I got the impression that the parameter HIGHMEM4G was for RAM up to and including 4 GB and HIGHMEM64G was for over 4 GB. The default config for the generic smp kernel has HIGHMEM4G=y. Am I wrong?

Hi disturbed1,

I think I might be being thick here, but at the prompt:

Do I type:

Linux_2.6.28.2 being the name of my kernel image.


M.

If that's the name of your kernel, then yes :)

What ever is listed under label = in /etc/lilo.conf

Ok, this is a bit weird. After four reboots (swapping a different RAM stick out each time, this is what I get.

Every time I remove a stick the BIOS reports 2944Mb but:

reports:

When all four are back in the BIOS reports 4096Mb again, but the result for MemTotal is the same.

I wonder why doesn't the BIOS report 3072Mb?


M.

It shouldn't, but 2944Mb is quite low IMO ;)

On this machine I have 1.5gB, 1,536mB, 1,572,864 kB. Kernel and Bios only report 1,551,868 kB.

I thought it was strange your Motherboard is reporting exactly 4096, it's usually a few kB off.

Another one has this 3,113,860 kb for 3gB (3,145,728 kB). The bios reports less than 3,072 as well, don't remember the exact amount.

I've had 6gig installed on Slackware 12.2, and all was detected. 2 2gB sticks, and 2 1gB sticks. I've pulled one of each out for other machines. Which is why I only have 3gB in it now.

Something is up if your Bios is only reporting 2944Mb. Double check your settings for RAM timings, voltage, don't overclock, bios upgrades, and run memtest86. Some faulty chipsets (VIA and AMD) have known bugs when all ram slots are full. See if it reports something close to 2048 with 2 sticks in.

Yeah... it's all a bit weird.

The BIOS is two revisions out (I thought it was up-to-date), so I'm gonna update that before I do anything else.

Well I would, if Abit will get ANY of their FTP servers working. What a Mickey Mouse setup they are! :-@

Then I'll start on MemTest86. Thanks for your help so far... I will report back later.


M.

Yeah, you know I think I remember some Abit mobos restrict the amount of RAM if all memory slots are full. Which chipset or board do you have ?