12 replies to this topic

[PJ]

I've recently maxed the system RAM to the full 4GB, the BIOS sees and successfully tests all of it (4,194,304 KB), but Windows only sees 3.25GB of this - is there any way to tell Windows to see the full 4GB (since I paid for it!)...?

[PJ]

No, not shared VRAM, I'm only using an 8MB PCI card ATM, but have a 256MB DDR2 PCI-e card ready and waiting to install, just need to iron out this prob first...


I don't think I'll be taking the step of upgrading to Enterprise version just yet, especially when I know that all flavours of Win2k3 (and indeed every other 32-bit MS OS since NT v3.1) can address up to 4GB RAM (2³² bytes), so it makes no difference. And wouldn't the BIOS show what memory is shared by the VGA card anyway, eg for 1GB system RAM and a 64MB VGA card:-


Total Memory 1048576K (65536K shared)


Any other ideas, like maybe an internal setting not listed in the manual or something?

[nails]

afaik there is a system memory hole, and that windows cannot address all of the memory. if i find the knowledgebase article i`ll forward it.

try looking for avail updates?

[Magz]

Sadly I think you'll have to look at the motherboard in your server. Whilst you have 4GB of RAM, it is likely that your board has memory mapped some devices into the upper memory area making your available address space effectively invisible to your CPU. It may be possible to either update the chipset drivers or flash update the BIOS to get around this problem but if not I'm afraid you'll either have to swapout the board or live with 3.25GB of RAM.

[PJ]

...it is likely that your board has memory mapped some devices into the upper memory area making your available address space effectively invisible to your CPU...

What - 750MB worth of device drivers, I don't think so...

Besides which, Windows quite happily showed 3GB when I had that much on the board, and the POST memory test shows the full 4GB, it's only Windows that shows 3.25GB...


BTW, duplu, why does every post I make advertise something?...

[impact]

pj that about right m8 m8t @ works on his core2due2.1ghz 3.2gb 4 x 1gig sticks the same bios seen it @4gb win reads on only 3.2

[PJ]

Thanks for replying so quickly, but did you just text that in, it's a bit cryptic...


And what OS is your mate using on his 2.1 Dual Core? I bet it's a 32-bit...

[impact]

yes x32 bit verson

sorry !"£$%^&*()_+_+_ LOL

[PJ]

FOuW...

[M1Adness]

I suspect you have an Intel motherboard. There is a knowledge base article on their site regarding their boards and only seeing 3Gb of RAM when 4Gb is installed. They claim it is by design and due to Windows architecture (although other manu boards seem to work fine). If you install a 64bit version of 2003 then it is fine though (assuming you have 64 bit processors of course)

Also have you tried the /PAE switch in the boot loader? This can sometimes help. Worst that will happen is that the machine will blue screen on boot, but of course you have already duplicated the original line in the boot loader as a backup

[Pgamblin]

I think they resolved that issue with 2003 R2. have you got a copy of that Pj ?

Otherwise X64bit if you have a 64bit processor or check the ms kb for the fix. Weve got a few 16GB servers at work that only show 3 but windows does pick it up as 16GB.

[PJ]

I suspect you have an Intel motherboard...

No, Asus... But I'll try that /PAE thing in boot.ini - at the moment it's:-


[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003, Standard" /fastdetect

...along with a defunct line from a broken mirror:-
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)WINDOWS="Boot Mirror C: - secondary plex"


...what do I change the boot.ini text to, and if it goes pear-shaped, how do I get in to change it back?

*EDIT* and why are random spaces appearing in the first red area? *EDIT*

I think they resolved that issue with 2003 R2...

You mean SP2? The SP2 that demands I go on the internet to validate my copy of Win2k3Standard, when it's not my online machine...grrrrrrrr


Any idea how to get round that, BTW?...