Re: Interpretation of the dmidecode information

[Camaleón <noelamac@gmail.com>]

On Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:56:43 -0300, Daniel Bareiro wrote:

> I have the following doubt on the basis of the maximum amount of
> supported ram memory. dmidecode shows the following thing:
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 8 bytes
> Base Board Information
>         Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
>         Product Name: M2N32-SLI DELUXE
>         Version: 1.XX
>         Serial Number: 123456789000
> [...]
> Handle 0x0006, DMI type 5, 24 bytes
> Memory Controller Information
>         Error Detecting Method: 64-bit ECC
>         Error Correcting Capabilities:
>                 None
>         Supported Interleave: One-way Interleave Current Interleave:
>         One-way Interleave Maximum Memory Module Size: 4096 MB     
>         <------------ Maximum Total Memory Size: 16384 MB     
>         <------------ Supported Speeds:
>                 70 ns
>                 60 ns
>                 50 ns
>         Supported Memory Types:
>                 Standard
>                 SDRAM
>         Memory Module Voltage: 2.9 V
>         Associated Memory Slots: 4
>                 0x0007
>                 0x0008
>                 0x0009
>                 0x000A
>         Enabled Error Correcting Capabilities: None
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Then I understand that the maximum would be of 16 GB with DIMMs of up to
> 4 GB by bank. But in the ASUS site it says that the maximum is of 8 GB
> and in the manual also it says 8 GB. Can the information of dmidecode be
> incorrect?

Yes, it can be wrong. 

BTW, I get *right* values in one computer (board supports up to 8GB.):

***
stt008:~# dmidecode -t memory
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.5 present.

Handle 0x0012, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
	Location: System Board Or Motherboard
	Use: System Memory
	Error Correction Type: None
	Maximum Capacity: 8 GB
	Error Information Handle: Not Provided
	Number Of Devices: 4
***

And *wrong* values in another one (board supports up to 8GB.):

***
stt005:~# dmidecode -t memory
# dmidecode 2.9
SMBIOS 2.3 present.

Handle 0x0005, DMI type 5, 24 bytes
Memory Controller Information
	Error Detecting Method: 8-bit Parity
	Error Correcting Capabilities:
		None
	Supported Interleave: One-way Interleave
	Current Interleave: One-way Interleave
	Maximum Memory Module Size: 1024 MB
	Maximum Total Memory Size: 4096 MB
	Supported Speeds:
		Other
	Supported Memory Types:
		Other
	Memory Module Voltage: 5.0 V
	Associated Memory Slots: 4
		0x0006
		0x0007
		0x0008
		0x0009
	Enabled Error Correcting Capabilities:
		None

***

So do not care so much about it :-). 

Maybe older SMBIOS versions just display wrong or incorrect data. Just 
trust the manufacturer's specs.

Greetings,

-- 
Camaleón