1

The BIOS detects it fine and shows 8GB. Even lshw shows 8GB memory but somehow only 3.6GB is usable.

Output of uname -a

Linux Prod 2.6.38-15-generic #59-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 27 16:03:32 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

free -m

             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          3646       3047        598          0        164       1126
-/+ buffers/cache:       1756       1889
Swap:         1950          0       1950

Output of cat /proc/meminfo

cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal:        3734456 kB
MemFree:          603272 kB
Buffers:          161716 kB
Cached:          1146076 kB
SwapCached:            0 kB
Active:          2027604 kB
Inactive:         847844 kB
Active(anon):    1568608 kB
Inactive(anon):    11472 kB
Active(file):     458996 kB
Inactive(file):   836372 kB
Unevictable:          32 kB
Mlocked:              32 kB
SwapTotal:       1997820 kB
SwapFree:        1997820 kB
Dirty:               224 kB
Writeback:             0 kB
AnonPages:       1567788 kB
Mapped:           171708 kB
Shmem:             12432 kB
Slab:             105832 kB
SReclaimable:      84272 kB
SUnreclaim:        21560 kB
KernelStack:        3248 kB
PageTables:        35304 kB
NFS_Unstable:          0 kB
Bounce:                0 kB
WritebackTmp:          0 kB
CommitLimit:     3865048 kB
Committed_AS:    3796728 kB
VmallocTotal:   34359738367 kB
VmallocUsed:      110684 kB
VmallocChunk:   34359623932 kB
HardwareCorrupted:     0 kB
HugePages_Total:       0
HugePages_Free:        0
HugePages_Rsvd:        0
HugePages_Surp:        0
Hugepagesize:       2048 kB
DirectMap4k:       47648 kB
DirectMap2M:     3751936 kB

Output of lshw

    description: Mini Tower Computer
    product: Dell DM051
    vendor: Winbond Electronics
    serial: DJFK62J
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: smbios-2.3 dmi-2.3 vsyscall64 vsyscall32
    configuration: administrator_password=enabled boot=normal chassis=mini-tower power-on_password=enabled uuid=44454C4C-4A00-1046-804B-C4C04F36324A
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: 0WG261
       vendor: Winbond Electronics
       physical id: 0
       serial: ..CN69861613155F.
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: Winbond Electronics
          physical id: 0
          version: A04
          date: 02/03/2006
          size: 64KiB
          capacity: 448KiB
          capabilities: pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect edd int13floppytoshiba int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer acpi usb ls120boot biosbootspecification netboot
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 400
          bus info: cpu@0
          slot: Microprocessor
          size: 2800MHz
          capacity: 4GHz
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 800MHz
          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx x86-64 constant_tsc pebs bts nopl pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl cid cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
        *-cache:0
             description: L1 cache
             physical id: 700
             size: 16KiB
             capacity: 16KiB
             capabilities: internal write-back data
        *-cache:1
             description: L2 cache
             physical id: 701
             size: 1MiB
             capacity: 1MiB
             capabilities: internal varies unified
     *-memory
          description: System Memory
          physical id: 1000
          slot: System board or motherboard
          size: 8GiB
        *-bank:0
             description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
             vendor: Kingston
             physical id: 0
             serial: 6827D91E
             slot: DIMM_1
             size: 2GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 533MHz (1.9ns)
        *-bank:1
             description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
             vendor: Kingston
             physical id: 1
             serial: 2A27E813
             slot: DIMM_3
             size: 2GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 533MHz (1.9ns)
        *-bank:2
             description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
             vendor: Kingston
             physical id: 2
             serial: 2A27D213
             slot: DIMM_2
             size: 2GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 533MHz (1.9ns)
        *-bank:3
             description: DIMM DDR Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
             vendor: Kingston
             physical id: 3
             serial: 69270C1F
             slot: DIMM_4
             size: 2GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 533MHz (1.9ns)
     *-pci
          description: Host bridge
          product: 82945G/GZ/P/PL Memory Controller Hub
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 02
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82945G/GZ/P/PL PCI Express Root Port
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
             version: 02
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pm msi pciexpress normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:40 ioport:d000(size=4096) memory:efd00000-efefffff ioport:ec000000(size=33554432)
           *-display:0
                description: VGA compatible controller
                product: RV370 5B60 [Radeon X300 (PCIE)]
                vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                version: 00
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm pciexpress msi vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
                configuration: driver=radeon latency=0
                resources: irq:43 memory:ec000000-edffffff memory:efde0000-efdeffff ioport:dc00(size=256) memory:efe00000-efe1ffff
           *-display:1 UNCLAIMED
                description: Display controller
                product: RV370 [Radeon X300SE]
                vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
                physical id: 0.1
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.1
                version: 00
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm pciexpress bus_master cap_list
                configuration: latency=0
                resources: memory:efdf0000-efdfffff
        *-multimedia
             description: Audio device
             product: N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1b
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
             version: 01
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=HDA Intel latency=0
             resources: irq:42 memory:efffc000-efffffff
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1c
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1c.0
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:41 ioport:1000(size=4096) memory:efc00000-efcfffff ioport:f4000000(size=2097152)
        *-usb:0
             description: USB Controller
             product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:21 ioport:ff80(size=32)
        *-usb:1
             description: USB Controller
             product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.1
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:22 ioport:ff60(size=32)
        *-usb:2
             description: USB Controller
             product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.2
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:18 ioport:ff40(size=32)
        *-usb:3
             description: USB Controller
             product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.3
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: uhci bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:23 ioport:ff20(size=32)
        *-usb:4
             description: USB Controller
             product: N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.7
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.7
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm debug ehci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:21 memory:ffa80800-ffa80bff
        *-pci:2
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801 PCI Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1e
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
             version: e1
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci subtractive_decode bus_master cap_list
             resources: ioport:c000(size=4096) memory:efb00000-efbfffff
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: N10/ICH 7 Family LAN Controller
                vendor: Intel Corporation
                physical id: 8
                bus info: pci@0000:03:08.0
                logical name: eth0
                version: 01
                serial: 00:13:72:b1:12:43
                size: 100Mbit/s
                capacity: 100Mbit/s
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e100 driverversion=3.5.24-k2-NAPI duplex=full firmware=N/A ip=192.168.0.77 latency=64 link=yes maxlatency=56 mingnt=8 multicast=yes port=MII speed=100Mbit/s
                resources: irq:20 memory:efbff000-efbfffff ioport:ccc0(size=64)
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
        *-ide:0
             description: IDE interface
             product: 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.1
             logical name: scsi0
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: ide bus_master emulated
             configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0
             resources: irq:16 ioport:1f0(size=8) ioport:3f6 ioport:170(size=8) ioport:376 ioport:ffa0(size=16)
           *-cdrom:0
                description: DVD reader
                product: DVD-ROM TS-H352C
                vendor: TSSTcorp
                physical id: 0.0.0
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/cdrom
                logical name: /dev/dvd
                logical name: /dev/scd0
                logical name: /dev/sr0
                version: DE02
                capabilities: removable audio dvd
                configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
           *-cdrom:1
                description: CD-R/CD-RW writer
                product: CD-RW  CRX217E
                vendor: SONY
                physical id: 0.1.0
                bus info: scsi@0:0.1.0
                logical name: /dev/cdrom1
                logical name: /dev/cdrw1
                logical name: /dev/scd1
                logical name: /dev/sr1
                version: 1DS2
                capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw
                configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
        *-ide:1
             description: IDE interface
             product: N10/ICH7 Family SATA IDE Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
             logical name: scsi2
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: ide pm bus_master cap_list emulated
             configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0
             resources: irq:20 ioport:fe00(size=8) ioport:fe10(size=4) ioport:fe20(size=8) ioport:fe30(size=4) ioport:fea0(size=16) memory:f4200000-f42003ff
           *-disk
                description: ATA Disk
                product: ST380819AS
                vendor: Seagate
                physical id: 0.0.0
                bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/sda
                version: 8.04
                serial: 5MR6FVHF
                size: 74GiB (80GB)
                capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
                configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=0008bd03
              *-volume:0
                   description: EXT3 volume
                   vendor: Linux
                   physical id: 1
                   bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0,1
                   logical name: /dev/sda1
                   logical name: /boot
                   version: 1.0
                   serial: be85d45c-4ab6-457c-8ab6-009098158232
                   size: 476MiB
                   capacity: 476MiB
                   capabilities: primary bootable journaled extended_attributes recover ext3 ext2 initialized
                   configuration: created=2012-04-30 17:49:56 filesystem=ext3 modified=2012-05-15 15:46:35 mount.fstype=ext3 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=continue,commit=5,barrier=0,data=ordered mounted=2012-05-15 15:46:35 state=mounted
              *-volume:1
                   description: EXT4 volume
                   vendor: Linux
                   physical id: 2
                   bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0,2
                   logical name: /dev/sda2
                   logical name: /
                   version: 1.0
                   serial: fae37d7d-cc93-4718-9cfb-9aafd4a820c7
                   size: 19GiB
                   capacity: 19GiB
                   capabilities: primary journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                   configuration: created=2012-04-30 17:49:58 filesystem=ext4 lastmountpoint=/ modified=2012-05-07 07:19:32 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro,barrier=1,data=ordered mounted=2012-05-16 08:02:52 state=mounted
              *-volume:2
                   description: Extended partition
                   physical id: 3
                   bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0,3
                   logical name: /dev/sda3
                   size: 54GiB
                   capacity: 54GiB
                   capabilities: primary extended partitioned partitioned:extended
                 *-logicalvolume:0
                      description: Linux filesystem partition
                      physical id: 5
                      logical name: /dev/sda5
                      logical name: /home
                      capacity: 53GiB
                      configuration: mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered state=mounted
                 *-logicalvolume:1
                      description: Linux swap / Solaris partition
                      physical id: 6
                      logical name: /dev/sda6
                      capacity: 1951MiB
                      capabilities: nofs
        *-serial UNCLAIMED
             description: SMBus
             product: N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.3
             version: 01
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             configuration: latency=0
             resources: ioport:ece0(size=32)
     *-scsi
          physical id: 1
          bus info: usb@1:3
          logical name: scsi4
          capabilities: emulated scsi-host
          configuration: driver=usb-storage
        *-disk:0
             description: SCSI Disk
             product: USB   HS-CF Card
             vendor: TEAC
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/sdb
             version: 4.00
             capabilities: removable
           *-medium
                physical id: 0
                logical name: /dev/sdb
        *-disk:1
             description: SCSI Disk
             product: USB   HS-xD/SM
             vendor: TEAC
             physical id: 0.0.1
             bus info: scsi@4:0.0.1
             logical name: /dev/sdc
             version: 4.00
             capabilities: removable
           *-medium
                physical id: 0
                logical name: /dev/sdc
        *-disk:2
             description: SCSI Disk
             product: USB   HS-MS Card
             vendor: TEAC
             physical id: 0.0.2
             bus info: scsi@4:0.0.2
             logical name: /dev/sdd
             version: 4.00
             serial: 3
             capabilities: removable
           *-medium
                physical id: 0
                logical name: /dev/sdd
        *-disk:3
             description: SCSI Disk
             product: USB   HS-SD Card
             vendor: TEAC
             physical id: 0.0.3
             bus info: scsi@4:0.0.3
             logical name: /dev/sde
             version: 4.00
             capabilities: removable
           *-medium
                physical id: 0
                logical name: /dev/sde

Output of sudo dmidecode

http://pastebin.com/3PV4RZy6

I cheked this

http://askubuntu.com/questions/82917/ubuntu-detects-only-3-2gb-ram-on-a-64bit-os

but I'm know sure if can be the same problem

Thanks in advanced

2
  • Why do you think it's a different problem? For me it looks very similar - yours is also a Dell machine, roughly the same age/model... I mean, this question: askubuntu.com/questions/80721/…
    – Sergey
    May 16, 2012 at 8:52
  • The other question says that the problem could be solved through installation of a BIOS update. From your lshw output it looks like you've got the A04 version of the BIOS, while there is an A07 version on Dell's web site. Have you tried installing that version? May 17, 2012 at 5:59

2 Answers 2

3

For once I hope I'm not right. Check this link http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19275503/19488540.aspx where someone writes your machine only supports 4 × 1GB = 4GB RAM

Maybe a BIOS / firmware upgrade required / available?

0

Try a "pae" kernel!

sudo apt-get install linux-generic-pae linux-headers-generic-pae
1
  • 3
    The OP is already using 64-bit kernel, how is a PAE kernel supposed to help?
    – Sergey
    May 16, 2012 at 9:13

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