DL 380G4 SHOWS ONLY 3.5GB

[Manoj_28]

Hi,

I have a DL380 G4 with 4 GB of memory installed. Running Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition. In windows it shows only 3.5GB.
I have tried /pae /fastdetect /maximum with boot.ini

Anybody have an idea about this

Regards
Manoj

[Oleg Koroz]

see links
verify boot.ini

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;291988
http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/sb/CS-010458.htm
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=PSD_EM040802_CW0

[Steven Clementi]

Manoj:

There was another forum topic that addressed this. Basically, the /PAE switch will not work for you since you do not have more tha 4GB of RAM. /PAE is for systems with RAM greater than 4GB.

I think the issue is best explained here...

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=765428

Thank Jeff for the stolen answer(and me too for stealing it again) ;o)

If you rather not click the link....

"Stolen again...

"Under the current PC memory addressing, there is a memory area just below 4.0 GB which is reserved permanently. The reserved area is for system BIOS to put APIC, ACPI Table, PCI Devices', Resources and AGP aperture information. When your system DRAM is 3.5 GB or lower, the system will show that the same amount of memory has been implemented. However, if the system DRAM is above 3.5 GB of memory, the actual amount of memory that the system shows will be less due to the reserved area. Regardless of memory size, the reserved memory addressing is always present, but only when the DRAM rises above the 3.5 GB amount will that area become visible." "

Steven

[Steven Clementi]

I did not confirm that to be true by the way. It might be helpful if HP can confirm or if there is a doc that explains it like this. This is the best explaination I have found though.


Steven

[Manoj_28]

Hi,

This subject has been discussed multiple times in different threads; I also think moderator can put some document from HP to justify this problem.

Regards
Manoj

[kris rombauts]

For DL380 G4 this is addressed in the last BIOS (for those who can and want to use /PAE mode) see release notes:


P51 HP ProLiant DL380 G4 system ROM
====================================

Resolved issue where systems with exactly 4 Gbytes of memory will not make all 4 GBytes available to the operating system. Typically, the system will report 3.5 Gbytes as being available to the operating
system even though 4 Gbytes of DIMMs are installed. Various devices in the system, including embedded PCI devices, plug-in PCI devices, and PCI-Express devices, must have their memory mapped below 4 Gbytes.

With previous ROM versions, the memory space used by these devices was lost. With the new version of the System ROM, the memory which was previously lost will be remapped to above 4 Gbytes. Thus, all
memory will be available to the operating system, but some of that memory is only addressable above 4 Gbytes. To access memory above 4 Gbytes, the operating system must be configured to enable Physical
Address Extensions (PAE) Mode. Consult your operating system user's guide on how to enable PAE mode.

[kris rombauts]

Manoj,

have a look here for the official public communication about this issue:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=PSD_EL041214_CW01

and several new BIOS releases are out already for different servers.

HTH

Kris

[Manoj_28]

Thanks Kris

Regards
Manoj