Re: Etch becoming slower than Sarge?

[Geoff Reidy <greendog@pacific.net.au>]

andy wrote:
> Geoff Reidy wrote:
>> Marko Randjelovic wrote:
>>   
>>> andy wrote:
>>>     
>>>> Thanks Geoff. I had also read that during the course of my earlier
>>>> research on this issue. But ...
>>>>
>>>> :~$ uname -r
>>>> 2.6.18-3-686
>>>>
>>>> Viola! 686 and still no 1GB mem recognised, only 3/4s (776400KB) of
>>>> it, as seen below:
>>>>
>>>> :~$ free
>>>>              total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
>>>> Mem:        776400     732580      43820          0      36980     317528
>>>> -/+ buffers/cache:     378072     398328
>>>> Swap:      2931852         92    2931760
>>>>
>>>> It would appear that I'm looking at either just accepting this fact or
>>>> will have to recompile my kernel, which I am a tad phobic about to be
>>>> frank.
>>>>       
>>> Are you sure you have 1GB? What does BIOS report when you restart your
>>> computer?
>>>
>>>
>>>     
>>
>> You can also install the dmidecode package and do something like this as
>> root:
>>
>> # dmidecode |grep 'Installed Size' |grep MB
>>
>> Which gives me:
>>
>>         Installed Size: 256 MB (Single-bank Connection)
>>         Installed Size: 256 MB (Single-bank Connection)
>>         Installed Size: 512 MB (Double-bank Connection)
>>
>>
>>   
> Geoff
> 
> The relevant excerpt from the output of dmidecode is:
> 
> Memory Device
>         Array Handle: 0x0027
>         Error Information Handle: Not Provided
>         Total Width: 64 bits
>         Data Width: 64 bits
>         Size: 1024 MB
>         Form Factor: DIMM
>         Set: None
>         Locator: DIMM0
>         Bank Locator: BANK0
>         Type: DDR
>         Type Detail: Synchronous
>         Speed: Unknown
>         Manufacturer: Manufacturer0
>         Serial Number: SerNum0
>         Asset Tag: AssetTagNum0
>         Part Number: PartNum0
> 
> Although the man page will identify as a bug that the info in dmidecode can be 
> completely wrong (!), this does show that I have 1024MB of RAM - i.e. 1GB. So, 
> somewhere betwixt BIOS and fired up Etch I have lost recognition for 250MB-odd 
> of memory.

Now you've got me, I've got a P4 with 1 GB at work running that kernel
and it does see all the memory. I've had motherboards not see an extra
memory stick but you've only got the one 1 GB stick?
You could try booting a cd with memtest86 or knoppix or something to see
if that finds it all, or see if there's a bios update for your
motherboard that mentions some memory issues.
Other than that I'm out of ideas at the moment.