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#1
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XP memory detection problem at 4 GB
Hi Everyone,
I have an Athlon Fx-53 (939) system with 4GB of dual- channel memory filling the memory banks of an Asus A8V motherboard. For some reason XP doesn't seem to detect the full 4GB of memory installed. In the System Information tool it claims a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of 2.64GB", which is incorrect (not to mention seemingly illogical). The system's BIOS, drivers, and windows patches have all been updated. I've checked the memory settings in the BIOS and the only setting that seemed to be relevant (the others were all related to timings and bank/node interleaving) was the "4GB mapping" setting, which I toggled between enabled and disabled and got different but incorrect results (with it disabled System Information claimed a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of 3.16GB", with it enabled it was as above). I have also installed the XP 64-bit beta and it returns similar, yet different again, results. With the 4GB mapping enabled, System Information claimed a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of 3.28GB", while disabled it claimed a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of 2.85GB" -- very strange results. What makes these results even more strange is that the BIOS claims 4096MB of memory, the CPU-Z application claims 4 DIMMS of 1GB, SiSoft Sandra's System Summary tool claims 4096MB of total memory. Also, Windows Task Manager claims a total physical memory of 3144948 bytes and an available physical memory of 2769732 bytes...very strange. Perhaps Windows views a dual-channel pair as a single DIMM? If so, why does it say there is 3.16GB of available physical memory? To be honest, it matters little what all these tools report. What I'm concerned with is whether the system actually has access to all four GB and how I can ensure this is the case. This system is intended to run scientific simulations and all four GB of memory are very necessary. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Eddie |
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#2
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XP memory detection problem at 4 GB
How to Use the /USERVA Switch in the Boot.ini File to Tune /3GB Configurations
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;316739 Correct your boot.ini file: [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /3GB /Userva=2900 Windows XP SP1 May Not Start with the /3GB or /USERVA Switch http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp "Stop" Error Message When You Start Windows XP by Using the /3GB Switch http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp -- Carey Frisch Microsoft MVP Windows XP - Shell/User Be Smart! Protect your PC! http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Eddie" wrote in message: ... | Hi Everyone, | | I have an Athlon Fx-53 (939) system with 4GB of dual- | channel memory filling the memory banks of an Asus A8V | motherboard. | | For some reason XP doesn't seem to detect the full 4GB of | memory installed. In the System Information tool it | claims a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available | Physical Memory of 2.64GB", which is incorrect (not to | mention seemingly illogical). | | The system's BIOS, drivers, and windows patches have all | been updated. I've checked the memory settings in the | BIOS and the only setting that seemed to be relevant (the | others were all related to timings and bank/node | interleaving) was the "4GB mapping" setting, which I | toggled between enabled and disabled and got different | but incorrect results (with it disabled System | Information claimed a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" | and "Available Physical Memory of 3.16GB", with it | enabled it was as above). | | I have also installed the XP 64-bit beta and it returns | similar, yet different again, results. With the 4GB | mapping enabled, System Information claimed a "Total | Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory | of 3.28GB", while disabled it claimed a "Total Physical | Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of | 2.85GB" -- very strange results. | | What makes these results even more strange is that the | BIOS claims 4096MB of memory, the CPU-Z application | claims 4 DIMMS of 1GB, SiSoft Sandra's System Summary | tool claims 4096MB of total memory. Also, Windows Task | Manager claims a total physical memory of 3144948 bytes | and an available physical memory of 2769732 bytes...very | strange. | | Perhaps Windows views a dual-channel pair as a single | DIMM? If so, why does it say there is 3.16GB of | available physical memory? | | To be honest, it matters little what all these tools | report. What I'm concerned with is whether the system | actually has access to all four GB and how I can ensure | this is the case. This system is intended to run | scientific simulations and all four GB of memory are very | necessary. Any help would be greatly appreciated. | | Thanks, | | Eddie |
#3
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XP memory detection problem at 4 GB
Hi Carey,
Thanks for you help. I tried what you recommended but to no avail. Nothing changed at all with respect to my original post. When System Information (and Task Manager for that matter) display the total physical memory, is it read from the BIOS or does it have it's own method of determining what the physical memory amount is? Does XP see a dual-channel pair as a single DIMM? Is there another way I can test/tell whether all 4GB are actually going to be used by the system? If anyone else has an answer or suggestion please feel free to post. Thanks, Eddie -----Original Message----- How to Use the /USERVA Switch in the Boot.ini File to Tune /3GB Configurations http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN- US;316739 Correct your boot.ini file: [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDO WS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micr osoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /3GB /Userva=2900 Windows XP SP1 May Not Start with the /3GB or /USERVA Switch http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en- us;328269&Product=winxp "Stop" Error Message When You Start Windows XP by Using the /3GB Switch http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en- us;829364&Product=winxp -- Carey Frisch Microsoft MVP Windows XP - Shell/User Be Smart! Protect your PC! http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/ --------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- "Eddie" wrote in message: ... | Hi Everyone, | | I have an Athlon Fx-53 (939) system with 4GB of dual- | channel memory filling the memory banks of an Asus A8V | motherboard. | | For some reason XP doesn't seem to detect the full 4GB of | memory installed. In the System Information tool it | claims a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available | Physical Memory of 2.64GB", which is incorrect (not to | mention seemingly illogical). | | The system's BIOS, drivers, and windows patches have all | been updated. I've checked the memory settings in the | BIOS and the only setting that seemed to be relevant (the | others were all related to timings and bank/node | interleaving) was the "4GB mapping" setting, which I | toggled between enabled and disabled and got different | but incorrect results (with it disabled System | Information claimed a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" | and "Available Physical Memory of 3.16GB", with it | enabled it was as above). | | I have also installed the XP 64-bit beta and it returns | similar, yet different again, results. With the 4GB | mapping enabled, System Information claimed a "Total | Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory | of 3.28GB", while disabled it claimed a "Total Physical | Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of | 2.85GB" -- very strange results. | | What makes these results even more strange is that the | BIOS claims 4096MB of memory, the CPU-Z application | claims 4 DIMMS of 1GB, SiSoft Sandra's System Summary | tool claims 4096MB of total memory. Also, Windows Task | Manager claims a total physical memory of 3144948 bytes | and an available physical memory of 2769732 bytes...very | strange. | | Perhaps Windows views a dual-channel pair as a single | DIMM? If so, why does it say there is 3.16GB of | available physical memory? | | To be honest, it matters little what all these tools | report. What I'm concerned with is whether the system | actually has access to all four GB and how I can ensure | this is the case. This system is intended to run | scientific simulations and all four GB of memory are very | necessary. Any help would be greatly appreciated. | | Thanks, | | Eddie . |
#4
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XP memory detection problem at 4 GB
"Eddie" wrote in message ... Hi Everyone, I have an Athlon Fx-53 (939) system with 4GB of dual- channel memory filling the memory banks of an Asus A8V motherboard. For some reason XP doesn't seem to detect the full 4GB of memory installed. In the System Information tool it claims a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of 2.64GB", which is incorrect (not to mention seemingly illogical). Right click on the task bar at the bottom of your Windows XP screen and click on "Task Manager", then on the "Performance" tab. What does it say for "Total" under "Physical Memory (K)" ? -- Bob Day http://bobday.vze.com |
#5
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XP memory detection problem at 4 GB
Hi Bob,
It says 3144948. So it's only showing around 3 GB. I think this might be related to the memory map. XP only sees a 4GB memory map, but my bios has a setting DRAM over 4G Remapping. What this seems to do (based on what I've seen from running memory diagnostics) is that it takes the last GB of 4GB of memory to the map above the 4GB boundary. So we have, ---------------------- | 0-3072 | 4096-5120 | equalling 4GB total, ---------------------- instead of, ---------- | 0-4096 | ---------- This is why I only see 3GB in XP with this set (i.e. the first map section). When I don't have this BIOS setting enabled one would think that I would get all four GB before the first boundary, but nope, Windows and the memory diagnostics see, ---------- | 0-3584 | , so it shows 512MB less than 4GB. ---------- I don't know if this is a mobo issue or what, but for some reason the full 4GB cannot fit in the first map. Has anyone else had any experience with 4GB of memory behaving in this way? I'd appreciate any help, Eddie -----Original Message----- "Eddie" wrote in message ... Hi Everyone, I have an Athlon Fx-53 (939) system with 4GB of dual- channel memory filling the memory banks of an Asus A8V motherboard. For some reason XP doesn't seem to detect the full 4GB of memory installed. In the System Information tool it claims a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of 2.64GB", which is incorrect (not to mention seemingly illogical). Right click on the task bar at the bottom of your Windows XP screen and click on "Task Manager", then on the "Performance" tab. What does it say for "Total" under "Physical Memory (K)" ? -- Bob Day http://bobday.vze.com . |
#6
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XP memory detection problem at 4 GB
A 32bit processor cannot address over 4 GB of memory. Your 64bit
processor can address up to 64 GB of memory (http://www.lostcircuits.com/cpu/amd_a64fx51/3.shtml). I have seen this problem on similar setups, but most of them have been because of BIOS shortfalls. Just a thought, maybe try updating your chipset drivers. As for Windows only showing 2048 MB of memory, you are correct in assuming that sometimes Windows views Dual Channel as one module per channel. This means that your 4 GB shows up as 2 GB. This can usually be fixed by a BIOS update, but in your case, you already tried this ---- Nathan McNulty Eddie wrote: Hi Bob, It says 3144948. So it's only showing around 3 GB. I think this might be related to the memory map. XP only sees a 4GB memory map, but my bios has a setting DRAM over 4G Remapping. What this seems to do (based on what I've seen from running memory diagnostics) is that it takes the last GB of 4GB of memory to the map above the 4GB boundary. So we have, ---------------------- | 0-3072 | 4096-5120 | equalling 4GB total, ---------------------- instead of, ---------- | 0-4096 | ---------- This is why I only see 3GB in XP with this set (i.e. the first map section). When I don't have this BIOS setting enabled one would think that I would get all four GB before the first boundary, but nope, Windows and the memory diagnostics see, ---------- | 0-3584 | , so it shows 512MB less than 4GB. ---------- I don't know if this is a mobo issue or what, but for some reason the full 4GB cannot fit in the first map. Has anyone else had any experience with 4GB of memory behaving in this way? I'd appreciate any help, Eddie -----Original Message----- "Eddie" wrote in message ... Hi Everyone, I have an Athlon Fx-53 (939) system with 4GB of dual- channel memory filling the memory banks of an Asus A8V motherboard. For some reason XP doesn't seem to detect the full 4GB of memory installed. In the System Information tool it claims a "Total Physical Memory 2048.00MB" and "Available Physical Memory of 2.64GB", which is incorrect (not to mention seemingly illogical). Right click on the task bar at the bottom of your Windows XP screen and click on "Task Manager", then on the "Performance" tab. What does it say for "Total" under "Physical Memory (K)" ? -- Bob Day http://bobday.vze.com . |
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