Visible Memory

[mhorvath30]

I am running openSUSE 11.1 (x86_64) with 64 bit hardware and 4 GB of RAM. The Memory Information section of the My Computer screen only shows 2.9 GB, as if it were only a 32 bit operating system. Any ideas?

[Knurpht]

BIOS settings?

I hate to say this: run memtest. It could very well be that one of the memory bars is broken.

mhorvath30 wrote:

>
> I am running openSUSE 11.1 (x86_64) with 64 bit hardware and 4 GB of
> RAM. The Memory Information section of the My Computer screen only shows
> 2.9 GB, as if it were only a 32 bit operating system. Any ideas?
>
>
I have a 4GB system 64-bit (see below). Here's what my Computer shows for
memory.
Memory Information

Total memory (RAM): 3.9 GiB
Free memory: 3.0 GiB (+ 498.2 MiB Caches)
Free swap: 9.0 GiB
--
Russ
[openSUSE 11.2 (8 2.6.31.5-0.1-default x86_64] KDE 4.3.2 release 2, Intel
Core 2 Dual E7200. 4 GB DDR III GeForce 8400 GS, 320GB Disc (2)

[srschifano]

+1 @knurpht's suggestion

Before I would go digging in the BIOS though, do you have any other 64-bit operating system (e.g. Windows or another 64-bit distro)? If so, I would check to see if those recognize all available memory. If they do, then it's probably something related to openSUSE, although what it could be I haven't the slightest clue.

For that matter, how long have you been running openSUSE? Did you just install it, and realized it isn't recognizing all of your RAM? Or have you had this system a while, and it only just started showing a less memory?

Anyways, if you try other operating systems and they all show similar behavior, look in the BIOS for any particular memory settings like memory remapping. You might also want to look and see if a BIOS update is available/necessary.

If the BIOS doesn't turn anything up, then a memory test is probably in order. You could also try re-seating the memory modules to make sure they are making good contact with the board. If the memory test succeeds, try removing the memory modules and testing them one by one.

Knurpht wrote:

>
> BIOS settings?
>
> I hate to say this: run memtest. It could very well be that one of the
> memory bars is broken.
>
Also remember if your memory slots are full, you will loose some of the
upper memory addresses for things like video card cache, other stuff. I've
seen as much as 600MB on my older system. If like my system it can hold 8 GB
you will not see memory used for cache, etc addresses.

--
Russ
[openSUSE 11.2 (8 2.6.31.5-0.1-default x86_64] KDE 4.3.2 release 2, Intel
Core 2 Dual E7200. 4 GB DDR III GeForce 8400 GS, 320GB Disc (2)