FreeNAS recognizes only 3302MB of RAM

[mskenderian]

I installed 2Gb of ram two days ago. today i got another 2Gb of ram.
Now i have 4x1GB sticks of RAM. The mobo supports only 4GB.

In the Bios, the system sees all 4GB, but in freenas it shows 3302MB.

Any suggestions?

 

[cyberjock]

That is completely normal and expected. Many won't go above 3GB, some 3.25GB, some 3.5GB. The reserved space is for memory addressing from the old 32-bit world.

If you don't like it my advice is to get a 64 bit CPU and use the 64 bit version of FreeNAS.

 

[jgreco]

You can dredge around in the BIOS settings to see if there are any things you can adjust. Often there is reserved memory for video or something like that and this can often be reduced.

 

[mskenderian]

Iam using a 64 bit cpu and 64 bit version of freenas

 

[mskenderian]

OK having reinstalling the os, doing a BIOS upgrade still nothing. apparently the MOBO can support 4Gb but the chipset (Intel 945) only address 3.2GB.

Thanx for all your help.

 

[gpsguy]

Did you try poking around in the BIOS as jgreco suggested?

You can dredge around in the BIOS settings to see if there are any things you can adjust.

As an example, my FN server has onboard video. In the BIOS I can give it anywhere from 32 to 512Mb of system RAM. I don't remember the default, but I lowered mine to the minimum, ie. 32Mb.

 

[mskenderian]

i have an option of 1MB or 8MB yes but iam missing a lot more then that.

 

[cyberjock]

OK having reinstalling the os, doing a BIOS upgrade still nothing. apparently the MOBO can support 4Gb but the chipset (Intel 945) only address 3.2GB.

Thanx for all your help.

^^^ That is your problem. As far as I can remember there is no fix for that particular chipset. :( If memory serves me right it is one of those weird chipsets that only does 32 bit memory addressing but supports 64 bit CPUs.

There are a few hacked BIOSes out there for some motherboards that work around the issue and reassign those areas to higher memory areas, but I've never used one and I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Of course, if you are going to throw the board away because of how old it is you might want to give it a try just because you have nothing to lose.

 

[mskenderian]

totally agreed. and u r right. it is that chipset that only does 32 bit memory addressing that supports 64 bit cpu

Ya iam not gonna do that yet.

thanx for your help.