DL580 - 4 Processor machine RAM reporting issue

[Kyle Sprysa]

I have two brand new DL580 and on both I have installed 4 GB of ram. The startup screen clearly see "4096 MB detected", however Windows 2003 server only reports 3.62GB of ram.
How do I have Windows recognize all 4GB of ram??

Thanks in advance,

[Igor Karasik]

Hi,

You need update BIOS and use /PAE switch
Look here
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=PSD_EL041214_CW01

[Kyle Sprysa]

Although the document lead me in the right direction, my servers still have the same issue and all BIOS updates and Firmware have been installed. It seems that this might be a new issue related to the same issue in the article described above.

[Igor Karasik]

You need to use /PAE switch in boot.ini
I have several ML 370 G4 and after BIOS update and /PAE using I see all 4 Gb.

[Kyle Sprysa]

I tried the proposed fix but I'm still only reporting 3.62GB of ram exactly 512MB off of the installed quantity.

[Igor Karasik]

/PAE is only supported on Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, and Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition.
If you use Windows 2003 standart you cannot use /PAE switch, and you will not see 4 Gb

[Kyle Sprysa]

Is there anything for Windows 2003 Standard to Have 4GB of ram be recognized??

[Stephen Kebbell · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I don't think this has anything to do with the PAE switch, or the latest BIOS (which only affects G4 servers)
My tip is the PCI Hot Plug Resources, which reserves some RAM for itself:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=PSD_EL010820_CW01

You can set the mode in BIOS, under Advanced Options, Hot-Plug Resources. Try different settings to see how much memory the OS can use. The setting will influence your ability to hot-add PCI-X cards.

Regards,
Stephen