Turns out BIOS was set for "OS Install Mode," which limits RAM to 256 MB. Not sure why one would want that enabled, but it was.
Regards, - Robert On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 9:59 PM, Robert Citek <[email protected]> wrote: > Could be any/all those things. > > Just came across this, and hoping that's the issue: > > http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/956/t/18068628.aspx > > Regards, > - Robert > > On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 9:50 PM, Wilson, Eric <[email protected]> wrote: >> Could it be that the RAM is not interleaved correctly? >> >> Could it be that the DIMMs are below Dell specifications, [e.g. >> 4x256MB DIMMs support by 2x512MB are not] >> >> >> Could it be a failed North Bridge (MCH) controller or controller >> channel (3 logical channels)? >> >> http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps3q05-20050176-Patel-OE.pdf >> >> >> >> Cheers; >> >> E! >> >> >> On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 8:32 PM, Robert Citek <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Hello all, >>> >>> I'm trying to help a friend remotely get Ubuntu 12.04 working on his >>> Dell machine. The machine has four 1024MB sticks in it for a total of >>> 4 GB of RAM. Unfortunately, his machine is only making 256 MB >>> available. This is true not only when running a linux kernel >>> (installed and from a LiveCD), but also when running MemTest. >>> >>> Does anyone have any thoughts on how to have the machine make all the >>> RAM available or know why it cannot? >>> >>> Some details pulled from within Ubuntu 12.04: >>> >>> ### info from dmidecode showing it's a Dell PowerEdge 2850 >>> Handle 0x0100, DMI type 1, 25 bytes >>> System Information >>> Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation >>> Product Name: PowerEdge 2850 >>> >>> ### amount of RAM available to the kernel showing only 256 MB >>> root@ubuntu:~# free -m >>> total used free shared buffers cached >>> Mem: 238 212 26 0 6 47 >>> -/+ buffers/cache: 158 80 >>> Swap: 511 225 286 >>> >>> >>> ### physical RAM in the banks, showing 4 GB >>> root@ubuntu:~# dmidecode | grep -i -e size -e bank | grep -B1 -e Bank >>> Size: 1024 MB >>> Bank Locator: Not Specified >>> Size: 1024 MB >>> Bank Locator: Not Specified >>> Size: 1024 MB >>> Bank Locator: Not Specified >>> Size: 1024 MB >>> Bank Locator: Not Specified >>> Size: No Module Installed >>> Bank Locator: Not Specified >>> Size: No Module Installed >>> Bank Locator: Not Specified >>> >>> Regards, >>> - Robert >>> >>> -- >>> Central West End Linux Users Group (via Google Groups) >>> Main page: http://www.cwelug.org >>> To post: [email protected] >>> To subscribe: [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe: [email protected] >>> More options: http://groups.google.com/group/cwelug -- Central West End Linux Users Group (via Google Groups) Main page: http://www.cwelug.org To post: [email protected] To subscribe: [email protected] To unsubscribe: [email protected] More options: http://groups.google.com/group/cwelug
