Re: passing "mem=???" to the kernel
On Wed, Jul 04, 2001 at 11:43:24PM -0400, Noah Meyerhans wrote:
> When is it necessary to pass the "mem" parameter to the kernel? I was
> under the impression that it should no longer be necessary; that newer
> kernels would always find whatever memory was available. However, I
> recently doubled the RAM on one of my systems (from 128 to 256 MB) but
> the new RAM is not found. I've never really seen a good explanation of
> why the kernel is not always able to find all the RAM, or under what
> circumstances it happens. I have several other machines contain from
> 256 to 1024 MB RAM, and they see all the RAM just fine.
What kernel version are you running? It's been a long time since I've had
to pass the "mem=" parameter to my kernel. I think that was necessary in
the 2.0.x and younger kernels, but I don't think it's been an issue since
2.2.x (but I'm just guessing :).
If you have a later 2.2.x kernel, or a 2.4.x kernel, I don't think you
should need to pass the mem= statement.
Some simple things to check: do pass the kernel the "mem=" option, and see
if it then correctly detects all your RAM. If not, you probably have some
kind of hardware problem, i.e. wrong kind of RAM, or not inserted all the
way, etc. Depending on your motherboard type and age, you might have to
install RAM chips in pairs.
Hope that's somewhat useful :)
Matt
--
Matt Garman, garman@uiuc.edu
"I'll tip my hat to the new constitution, Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around, Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday, Then I'll get on my knees and pray..."
-- Pete Townshend/The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"
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