Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Linux doesn't detect all my RAM, why?

0 views
Skip to first unread message

Andreas Schyman

unread,
Oct 9, 1998, 3:00:00 AM10/9/98
to
Hey all,
I've got a minor problem here. The thing is that I have 80 mb RAM, it all
detects in BIOS and Win98, but Linux only detects 64 mb. The modules I have are
2x32 and 2x8 mb, all 72 pins EDO. To me it appers that Linux only detects the
2x32 mb modules. Does anyone know if I can fix this in any way?
The message I get in the boot-log goes:
... kernel: Memory: 64108k/66496k available (736k kernel code, 384k reserved,
1268k data)
I'm running the RedHat 5.0 with kernel 2.0.32.
If anyone could help me with this problem I'd be most grateful. I haven't gone
through the HOWTO's yet, but I will...

Please send answer by both mail and newspost.
Thanks, Andreas
ledb...@home.se

Peter Granroth

unread,
Oct 9, 1998, 3:00:00 AM10/9/98
to
Andreas Schyman <ledb...@home.se> writes:

add the following line to /etc/lilo.conf, run /sbin/lilo
afterwards, and reboot:

append="mem=80M"

--
------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Peter Granroth + Microsoft is NOT the answer +
+ mailto:dev...@granroth.ml.org + Microsoft is the question +
+ http://granroth.ml.org + The answer is NO +
------------------------------------------------------------------

Alan Litchfield

unread,
Oct 9, 1998, 3:00:00 AM10/9/98
to
Andreas Schyman wrote:
>
> Hey all,
> I've got a minor problem here. The thing is that I have 80 mb RAM, it all
> detects in BIOS and Win98, but Linux only detects 64 mb.

<<Thanks JM Paden, I just copied your reply from around 30 postings
earlier (c: >>

The following is from Linux...@vger.rutgers.edu mailing list
Frequently Asked Questions (with answers)
Part: linux-admin-FAQ-2

Begin quote:

2. Linux Hardware Frequently Asked Questions

Question 2.1. How do I get my Linux box to recognize more than 64 MB of
RAM?

To get the kernel to recognize more than 64 MB of RAM, either specify
it at boot time by adding
mem=XXXM after the image name (label) you want to boot with, or set it
as parameter, thus making
it permanent, by adding append="mem=XXXM" to your /etc/lilo.conf file
(do not forget to rerun lilo
after this).

here is a fragment from bootparam(7)

`mem=...'

The BIOS call defined in the PC specification that returns the amount
of installed memory was only
designed to be able to report up to 64 MB. Linux uses this BIOS call at
boot to determine how much
memory is installed. If you have more than 64 MB of RAM installed, you
can use this boot arg to tell
Linux how much memory you have. The value is in decimal or hexadecimal
(prefix 0x), and the
suffixes `k' (times 1024) or `M' (times 1048576) can be used. Here is
a quote from Linus on usage of the
`mem=' parameter.

``The kernel will accept any `mem=xx' parameter you give it, and if it
turns out that you lied to it, it
will crash horribly sooner or later. The parameter indicates the
highest addressable RAM address, so
`mem=0x1000000' means you have 16 MB of memory, for example. For a 96 MB
machine this would be
`mem=0x6000000'.

NOTE NOTE NOTE: some machines might use the top of memory for BIOS
cacheing or whatever, so
you might not actually have up to the full 96 MB addressable. The
reverse is also true: some chipsets
will map the physical memory that is covered by the BIOS area into the
area just past the top of
memory, so the top-of-mem might actually be 96 MB + 384kB for example.
If you tell linux that it has
more memory than it actually does have, bad things will happen: maybe
not at once, but surely
eventually.''

End Quote

> I'm running the RedHat 5.0 with kernel 2.0.32.
> If anyone could help me with this problem I'd be most grateful. I haven't gone
> through the HOWTO's yet, but I will...

Suggest you do.

>
> Please send answer by both mail and newspost.

^^^^^
No thanks, thats what the newsgroup is for.

o r c e l l . p o r t l a n d . o r . u s

unread,
Oct 9, 1998, 3:00:00 AM10/9/98
to
In article <907887521....@news.ludd.luth.se>,

Andreas Schyman <ledb...@home.se> wrote:
>Hey all,
>I've got a minor problem here. The thing is that I have 80 mb RAM, it all
>detects in BIOS and Win98, but Linux only detects 64 mb. The modules I have are
>2x32 and 2x8 mb, all 72 pins EDO. To me it appers that Linux only detects the
>2x32 mb modules. Does anyone know if I can fix this in any way?
>The message I get in the boot-log goes:
>... kernel: Memory: 64108k/66496k available (736k kernel code, 384k reserved,
>1268k data)
>I'm running the RedHat 5.0 with kernel 2.0.32.
>If anyone could help me with this problem I'd be most grateful. I haven't gone
>through the HOWTO's yet, but I will...

Checking dejanews is a good starting point. If check there, you'll
probably find about 500 million posts asking about it.

____
david parsons \bi/ Patch the kernel. http://www.pell.chi.il.us/~orc/Memory
\/

Rick Dearman

unread,
Oct 12, 1998, 3:00:00 AM10/12/98
to
david parsons wrote:

put
append="mem=80M"
or whatever your memory size is in the /etc/lilo.conf file under the kernel your
booting.

here's mine for and example:

boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
prompt
timeout=50
image=/boot/vmlinuz_scsi
label=linux_scsi
root=/dev/hda1
read-only
append="mem=80M"
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.0.34-0.6
label=linux
root=/dev/hda1
read-only
append="mem=80M"


0 new messages