Got 6GB Ram 3.4 showing

[Ken Wood]

I am using an under powered PC for testing. Intel 2 Duo with 6GB ram- 2x 2GB; 2x 1GB. The BIOS seems happy and shows 6GB total.
FreeNAS 9.3 only sees on 3428

Now, original setup of this PC there was only 4GB total and it was using the onboard VGA graphics.
That probably accounts for the 3428mb.
I have since added a cheapie PCI card and 2 more GB of RAM.

How do I get FreeNAS to recognize changes?

 

[BigDave]

Since this is only for testing, I wouldn't worry about graphics. Once you get FreeNAS installed,
you will access the GUI through a web browser and have no need for the graphics any more.
You could disable it altogether or go into the bios and take the amount of shared memory down
to a minimum amount allowed.
Option #2, get a cheap video card that has onboard memory and disable the mobo graphics.

Option #2 gets my recommendation...

Is there any way to install 8GB of RAM, you'll have a more pleasant experience with your
testing if you can...

 

[MrToddsFriends]

How do I get FreeNAS to recognize changes?

FreeNAS should recognize the installed amount of memory on the next boot after the hardware change without further action.

Is the currently installed amount of memory displayed correctly in the BIOS? If not, try to reseat the newly installed modules.

Is there a (weird) option in the BIOS which limits the amount of memory visible to the OS (eventually for compatibility reasons with 32Bit OSs)?

Most probably there is a memory remapping option in the BIOS. Did you try to play around with it to see if it makes a change?

Please do yourself a favor and use this system only for testing and not for storing valuable data. 8GB is the minimum for FreeNAS 9.3 and ECC RAM is highly recommended.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/how-to-fail-a-guide-to-things-not-to-do.40924/

 

[Ken Wood]

Yes, yes, I know all about the 8GB min RAM.
This is pure testing...
Checking your suggestions but BIOS seems happy.

 

[SweetAndLow]

You are using freenas 9.3 correct? Just making sure you don't have the old 32bit 9.2 release.

 

[Ken Wood]

Correct 9.3

 

[Ken Wood]

Doing an update to 9.3.1 now.
BIOS is antique Phoenix. Not many choices.
I will just live with it.

 

[Mirfster]

Out of curiosity, what is the make/model of the motherboard? Wondering if there are any known issues/limitations with it...

 

[Ken Wood]

Can't get to the Mobo info as deep in the case.
It is an Intel 2 Duo 64bit. 2Gb so it is old and slow.
Some issues but I will use for now.

 

[Mirfster]

Could always try: dmidecode --type baseboard and post the info from that. :)

 

[Ken Wood]

Great! it is an old Asus/ Maybe I can find updated BIOS for it.
Handle 0x0002, DMI type 2, 8 bytes
Base Board Information
Manufacturer: ASUSTek Computer INC.
Product Name: Leonite2
Version: 6.00
Serial Number: MS1C7AR70106880

 

[Mirfster]

Hmm... In my quick search, it seems to show up as an "Asus P5LP-LE". Only thing I found on it so far (I didn't look too much) is a spec sheet from HP:
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01080268

Per their specs:
Memory upgrade information

• Dual channel memory architecture
• Four 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets
• Supported DIMM types:
  • PC2-3200 (400 MHz)
  • PC2-4200 (533 MHz)
  • PC2-5300 (667 MHz)
• non-ECC memory only, unbuffered
• Maximum HP/Compaq approved memory is 4 GB*
  • 32 bit PCs cannot address a full 4.0 GB of memory.

Not looking too good for you... :(

 

[Mirfster]

FYI another reference point (although it says "Leonite" instead of "Leonite2"):
http://www.ctechinfo.net/documentation/manuals/leonite_manual.pdf

Look at it this way, it may not make a half bad pfsense box... :D

 

[Ken Wood]

I have no need to go any further/ Suspect you are correct on the 4GB max.
My FreeNAS 9.3 test box is doing everything I need it to do.
Very pleased so far.
Thanks for you help.

 

[Jailer]

If you've done any amount of reading on this forum you should know that "My FreeNAS 9.3 test box is doing everything I need it to do" will eventually not do everything you need it to do because of the limitations of your hardware. I only note this because you have also posted here of an Owncloud issue that means you are running jail/plugins with less than the minimum spec hardware required just to run FreeNAS as just a filer.

This "testing" is not going to end well for you and I hope for your sake you don't have any important data on this system.

 

[SweetAndLow]

If you've done any amount of reading on this forum you should know that "My FreeNAS 9.3 test box is doing everything I need it to do" will eventually not do everything you need it to do because of the limitations of your hardware. I only note this because you have also posted here of an Owncloud issue that means you are running jail/plugins with less than the minimum spec hardware required just to run FreeNAS as just a filer.

This "testing" is not going to end well for you and I hope for your sake you don't have any important data on this system.

100% agree

 

[Ken Wood]

Not to worry mate.