Hi I am a complete newbie to openSUSE as well as Linux, so please bare with me.
I just installed additional RAM to this machine on which I am running openSUSE 11.2 (Gnome desktop system). Out of the 4Gb, only 3.2Gb show when I open up system monitor.
I am running 64bit I think, when I type “uname -a” into the terminal, I get:
Linux linux-73xk 2.6.31.5-0.1-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT 2009-10-26 15:49:03 +0100 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Please offer some assistance on how the full 4Gb can be recognized, thanks.
You can open up a terminal session and type the command free to see how your memory usage is going. There is another thread on the subject here you might want to read:
> Basically it is normal to see the cache memory usage go up and only if
> the swap partition starts being used are you really running out of
> memory.
i don’t think llblwskydrgn (OP) is talking about memory use of his oS/GNOME, but the overall memory his system is supposed to have. he plugged in 4 GB of RAM, but only 3.2 are reported by some GNOME monitor.
in my case only 3.1 GB are shown (i’ve also got 4 GB), and i assume it’s the bios eating the rest. i’ve got an integrated video card, and even though that’s disabled, i’m afraid it eats some RAM. i don’t really know how much memory bios & co are supposed to take away from the available RAM. would be nice to learn it can’t be that much, and then figure out how to get the missing amount back…
I just installed additional RAM to this machine on which I am running openSUSE 11.2 (Gnome desktop system). Out of the 4Gb, only 3.2Gb show when I open up system monitor.
Yes I see now that you are missing .8 GB of memory. You did not mention what video card you are using and if it is built in and is using mapped memory from you main supply. For what it is worth, I show on 7.8 GB present out of eight and so just as malcolmlewis suggests, this is a motherboard setting and the missing memory can be in use with video as set by your BIOS.
Interestingly enough I was in my Windows boot when I noticed that I too only had 3.2GB on a 64bit OS. It was indeed a BIOS motherboard setting. It was called memory map and it needs to be enabled.
I am using an Asus P5Q if that helps
>
> Interestingly enough I was in my Windows boot when I noticed that I too
> only had 3.2GB on a 64bit OS. It was indeed a BIOS motherboard setting.
> It was called memory map and it needs to be enabled.
> I am using an Asus P5Q if that helps
>
>
interesting. i’ll have to look into my BIOS again, see if i can find such
a setting. how much memory did you gain?
If you want to update a PC or Laptop BIOS, you are going to consult the driver web page for the model and brand of your computer. Most name brand companies (like Dell & HP) provide such files and information. If you have built a clone of some sort, you are going to visit the web page for the motherboard manufacturer. I have been successful in updating the BIOS in Dell laptops and most major manufactures of motherboards.
You need to know that in general, updating a computer BIOS when you are not having any known trouble is a bad idea. Even if you have a problem, it needs to be a bad one in my opinion. The basic reason is that doing a BIOS update is always taking a chance that something could go wrong. If the BIOS becomes corrupted, your computer will not boot. Some computers maintain more than one copy and there are other safe guards, but you got to ask yourself, do you feel Lucky? Well do you pilgrim?
*Take it from someone that has BRICKED a couple of motherboards before, you should really need that BIOS update. Bricking a motherboard or any PC is the action of doing a BIOS update that fails, for any reason and the PC, which was working OK, will no longer boot. If the PC is out of warranty, you will likely be **S.O.L. *and it is very sad to take a working PC and turn it into a worthless brick. Be for warned of this danger.
Hi.
Sorry for the late answer. I should look more often in the 64bit subforum. You have to call the BIOS setup and look in the Advanced Chipset settings (might be under North Bridge Configuration) for the Memory Remap Feature. If it is disabled you get only 3.2 GB out of your RAM. So enable it! It is called “Memory Remap Feature” on AMI Bios. It might have a different name on other BIOS or just be missing (on some cheap mainboards). In that case, updating the BIOS might fix the problem (read the description of BIOS updates first to find out what they do exactly).
Hi, sorry for neglecting my own topic, but I’m bringing it back from the dead!
The problem came up again and I did a google search and was surprised to find a topic created by me about the exact same problem. Well, now I am running openSUSE 11.4 and it is still just displaying 3.2GB out of 4.
I booted into the BIOS settings and I have Phoenix BIOS 1.0.11, my processor is a Pentium Dual Core E2160 @ 1.8GHz.
When I go into “System Info” it shows that I have 4096MB installed.
Under my “Advanced Chipset Features,” I have the settings: Init Display First, Video Memory Size, DVMT Mode, and DVMT/FIXED Memory Size.
I know I’m late, but thank you for all the responses, I’ll look into seeing if upgrading my BIOS is a viable solution.
Your chipset on your motherboard may only allow the OS to use 3.2 GB. Since you have the same problem in Windows as in Linux, I’m guessing that this might be so.
I have this problem too on a laptop that I have (Dell D820, I’ve upgraded the CPU to 64-bit and the RAM to 4GB). No matter what I do I can only see 3.2GB of RAM, it’s a result of some of the chipsets that are inside that laptop (so I’m told) and hence I’ll only ever be able to see 3.2GB of RAM. There’s nothing in the BIOS that I can change, and I’ve upgraded to the latest and greatest one that Dell provides for that laptop.
Maybe it’s some sort of 32-bit limitation (and I have 32-bit chips in the box) … I dunno. You might also be stuck with 3.2GB no matter what. I’m just sayin’.
Can anybody link me to documentation about why this occurs or something that states the limitations?
I am running openSUSE 11.4 on a Dell Vostro 200, the processor is an Intel Pentium Dual Core 1.80GHz. BIOS is Phoenix 1.0.11 as previously stated.
I am curious as to why this is the case for my particular machine and want to understand more in-depth if possible.
Thank you all.