[gentoo-amd64] Re: 4GB memory hole, poor BIOS

[Duncan]

"Alejo Sanchez" <alejos@×××××.com> posted
3190d0e50611030847h7ac5f0edjb20f44b4fce0b1b0@××××××××××.com, excerpted
below, on  Fri, 03 Nov 2006 16:47:41 +0000:

> Running Gentoo/amd64/hardened with 2.6.17 on an HP DC5100 in EM64T with
> 4GB I've hit a wall on using all the memory, only 3200MB are reported.
> I've googled a lot but couldn't get the missing memory to work.
>
> - the BIOS doesn't do any memory hole remapping, the upgrades available
> only mention cpu microcode support changes - the bios doesn't let me
> disable pci express (some ppl say that's the worst mem addr eater)

Please turn off that HTML junk you are using.  Some people filter posters
who choose to use it out entirely, as spam or malware or the posting of
AOLer types that simply don't care what they spew.

If the BIOS won't list it, I don't believe there's a way to get the kernel
to see it.  That's that.  You can try the BIOS upgrades and see.  If they
don't give you the options, write the mobo suppliers and ask them.  I know
both Tyan (my mobo maker) and Monarch (the dealer I bought the board and
CPUs thru) were responsive to email.  Tyan is one of the better for Linux
support too, but their boards tend to be mid-to-high range, price-wise.  I
paid $400+ for my dual Opteron board about three years ago (late 2003),
have upgraded the memory to 8 gig, and will be upgrading it to
dual-cores in 1-6 months, after which I plan on continuing to use it for
another two years minimum, maybe 3-4 years, giving me 5-7 years life off a
single mobo, so the $400 I paid was worth it.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman

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