Mailing List Archive: Less available memory than installed

Less available memory than installed

Jun 3, 2021, 10:16 AM

Post #1 of 6 (358 views)

Hello!

In my current PC I have 16 GB of RAM installed. It worked fine until
today, when I upgraded my CPU from a Ryzen 5 1500X to a Ryzen 7 2700.
The system boots up just fine, but when I use the free command the total
memory is only 8 GB. When I looked into the BIOS, it showed me the
correct amount. What should I do?

Output of some relevant commands:

free -h

?????????????? total??????? used??????? free????? shared buff/cache??
available
Mem:?????????? 7,8Gi?????? 4,4Gi?????? 874Mi?????? 192Mi 2,5Gi?????? 3,1Gi

cat /proc/meminfo

MemTotal:??????? 8158220 kB
MemFree:????????? 910036 kB
MemAvailable:??? 3275008 kB
Buffers:??????????? 2848 kB
Cached:????????? 2492392 kB
SwapCached:????????? 260 kB
Active:????????? 1622988 kB
Inactive:??????? 4198676 kB
Active(anon):?????? 9500 kB
Inactive(anon):? 3507660 kB
Active(file):??? 1613488 kB
Inactive(file):?? 691016 kB
Unevictable:????????? 64 kB
Mlocked:????????????? 64 kB
SwapTotal:????? 16777212 kB
SwapFree:?????? 16775140 kB
Dirty:?????????????? 732 kB
Writeback:???????????? 0 kB
AnonPages:?????? 3326444 kB
Mapped:????????? 1322720 kB
Shmem:??????????? 193816 kB
KReclaimable:???? 160248 kB
Slab:???????????? 556240 kB
SReclaimable:???? 160248 kB
SUnreclaim:?????? 395992 kB
KernelStack:?????? 32704 kB
PageTables:??????? 58964 kB
NFS_Unstable:????????? 0 kB
Bounce:??????????????? 0 kB
WritebackTmp:????????? 0 kB
CommitLimit:??? 20856320 kB
Committed_AS:?? 15151980 kB
VmallocTotal:?? 34359738367 kB
VmallocUsed:????? 260776 kB
VmallocChunk:????????? 0 kB
Percpu:??????????? 10944 kB
HugePages_Total:?????? 0
HugePages_Free:??????? 0
HugePages_Rsvd:??????? 0
HugePages_Surp:??????? 0
Hugepagesize:?????? 2048 kB
Hugetlb:?????????????? 0 kB
DirectMap4k:???? 1638688 kB
DirectMap2M:???? 6699008 kB
DirectMap1G:???? 1048576 kB

?lshw -C memory

*-memory
?????? description: System Memory
?????? physical id: 27
?????? slot: System board or motherboard
?????? size: 7967MiB
???? *-bank:0
????????? description: [empty]
????????? product: Unknown
????????? vendor: Unknown
????????? physical id: 0
????????? serial: Unknown
????????? slot: DIMM 0
???? *-bank:1
????????? description: DIMM DDR4 Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
2400 MHz (0,4 ns) [empty]
????????? product: 9905702-120.A00G
????????? vendor: Kingston
????????? physical id: 1
????????? serial: EE963485
????????? slot: DIMM 1
????????? width: 64 bits
????????? clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns)
???? *-bank:2
????????? description: [empty]
????????? product: Unknown
????????? vendor: Unknown
????????? physical id: 2
????????? serial: Unknown
????????? slot: DIMM 0
???? *-bank:3
????????? description: DIMM DDR4 Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
2400 MHz (0,4 ns) [empty]
????????? product: Unknown
????????? vendor: Unknown
????????? physical id: 3
????????? serial: 08240800
????????? slot: DIMM 1
????????? width: 64 bits
????????? clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns)

uname -a

Linux GlaDOS 5.10.27-gentoo #4 SMP Thu Jun 3 18:19:23 CEST 2021 x86_64
AMD Ryzen 7 2700 Eight-Core Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux

Re: Less available memory than installed [ In reply to ]

antlists at youngman

Jun 3, 2021, 11:59 AM

Post #2 of 6 (358 views)

Permalink

On 03/06/21 18:16, Toldi Bal?zs wrote:
> Hello!
>
> In my current PC I have 16 GB of RAM installed. It worked fine until
> today, when I upgraded my CPU from a Ryzen 5 1500X to a Ryzen 7 2700.
> The system boots up just fine, but when I use the free command the total
> memory is only 8 GB. When I looked into the BIOS, it showed me the
> correct amount. What should I do?

What does the mobo manual say? Are your memory boards in the correct
banks? It could be the MMU in the Ryzen 7 insists on banks 1 & 2 being
filled before 3 & 4 while the 5 isn't so fussy.

I don't know about this, not having this sort of problem before, but I
do know from building my own systems that the memory boards need to be
paired up correctly, however you define "correct" ...

Cheers,
Wol

Re: Less available memory than installed [ In reply to ]

rdalek1967 at gmail

Jun 3, 2021, 12:03 PM

Post #3 of 6 (358 views)

Permalink

Toldi Bal?zs wrote:
> Hello!
>
> In my current PC I have 16 GB of RAM installed. It worked fine until
> today, when I upgraded my CPU from a Ryzen 5 1500X to a Ryzen 7 2700.
> The system boots up just fine, but when I use the free command the
> total memory is only 8 GB. When I looked into the BIOS, it showed me
> the correct amount. What should I do?
>
> Output of some relevant commands:
>
> free -h
>
> ?????????????? total??????? used??????? free????? shared buff/cache??
> available
> Mem:?????????? 7,8Gi?????? 4,4Gi?????? 874Mi?????? 192Mi 2,5Gi??????
> 3,1Gi
>
> cat /proc/meminfo
>
> MemTotal:??????? 8158220 kB
> MemFree:????????? 910036 kB
> MemAvailable:??? 3275008 kB
> Buffers:??????????? 2848 kB
> Cached:????????? 2492392 kB
> SwapCached:????????? 260 kB
> Active:????????? 1622988 kB
> Inactive:??????? 4198676 kB
> Active(anon):?????? 9500 kB
> Inactive(anon):? 3507660 kB
> Active(file):??? 1613488 kB
> Inactive(file):?? 691016 kB
> Unevictable:????????? 64 kB
> Mlocked:????????????? 64 kB
> SwapTotal:????? 16777212 kB
> SwapFree:?????? 16775140 kB
> Dirty:?????????????? 732 kB
> Writeback:???????????? 0 kB
> AnonPages:?????? 3326444 kB
> Mapped:????????? 1322720 kB
> Shmem:??????????? 193816 kB
> KReclaimable:???? 160248 kB
> Slab:???????????? 556240 kB
> SReclaimable:???? 160248 kB
> SUnreclaim:?????? 395992 kB
> KernelStack:?????? 32704 kB
> PageTables:??????? 58964 kB
> NFS_Unstable:????????? 0 kB
> Bounce:??????????????? 0 kB
> WritebackTmp:????????? 0 kB
> CommitLimit:??? 20856320 kB
> Committed_AS:?? 15151980 kB
> VmallocTotal:?? 34359738367 kB
> VmallocUsed:????? 260776 kB
> VmallocChunk:????????? 0 kB
> Percpu:??????????? 10944 kB
> HugePages_Total:?????? 0
> HugePages_Free:??????? 0
> HugePages_Rsvd:??????? 0
> HugePages_Surp:??????? 0
> Hugepagesize:?????? 2048 kB
> Hugetlb:?????????????? 0 kB
> DirectMap4k:???? 1638688 kB
> DirectMap2M:???? 6699008 kB
> DirectMap1G:???? 1048576 kB
>
>
> ?lshw -C memory
>
> *-memory
> ?????? description: System Memory
> ?????? physical id: 27
> ?????? slot: System board or motherboard
> ?????? size: 7967MiB
> ???? *-bank:0
> ????????? description: [empty]
> ????????? product: Unknown
> ????????? vendor: Unknown
> ????????? physical id: 0
> ????????? serial: Unknown
> ????????? slot: DIMM 0
> ???? *-bank:1
> ????????? description: DIMM DDR4 Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
> 2400 MHz (0,4 ns) [empty]
> ????????? product: 9905702-120.A00G
> ????????? vendor: Kingston
> ????????? physical id: 1
> ????????? serial: EE963485
> ????????? slot: DIMM 1
> ????????? width: 64 bits
> ????????? clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns)
> ???? *-bank:2
> ????????? description: [empty]
> ????????? product: Unknown
> ????????? vendor: Unknown
> ????????? physical id: 2
> ????????? serial: Unknown
> ????????? slot: DIMM 0
> ???? *-bank:3
> ????????? description: DIMM DDR4 Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered)
> 2400 MHz (0,4 ns) [empty]
> ????????? product: Unknown
> ????????? vendor: Unknown
> ????????? physical id: 3
> ????????? serial: 08240800
> ????????? slot: DIMM 1
> ????????? width: 64 bits
> ????????? clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns)
>
>
> uname -a
>
> Linux GlaDOS 5.10.27-gentoo #4 SMP Thu Jun 3 18:19:23 CEST 2021 x86_64
> AMD Ryzen 7 2700 Eight-Core Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
>
>
>
>

Could this be a kernel setting issue?? If you boot some other media like
a USB stick, DVD/CD or something, does it show the right amount then??
If it does, could be a kernel setting.? If not, interesting problem.?

If the BIOS sees it, I doubt it is a hardware issue.? It may not rule it
out 100% but not likely.?

It's amazing that things like this still occur when large amounts of
memory has been around for a good while now.?

Hope that helps?

Dale

:-)? :-)

Re: Less available memory than installed [ In reply to ]

thelma at sys-concept

Jun 3, 2021, 12:09 PM

Post #4 of 6 (358 views)

Permalink

On 6/3/21 11:16 AM, Toldi Balázs wrote:
> Hello!
>
> In my current PC I have 16 GB of RAM installed. It worked fine until today, when I upgraded my CPU from a Ryzen 5 1500X to a Ryzen 7 2700. The system boots up just fine, but when I use the free command the total memory is only 8 GB. When I looked into the BIOS, it showed me the correct amount. What should I do?
>
> Output of some relevant commands:
>
> free -h
>
>                total        used        free      shared buff/cache   available
> Mem:           7,8Gi       4,4Gi       874Mi       192Mi 2,5Gi       3,1Gi
>
> cat /proc/meminfo
>
> MemTotal:        8158220 kB
> MemFree:          910036 kB
> MemAvailable:    3275008 kB

[snip]

boot from min-install Getnoo disk and check what is it showing/reporting.

Re: [SOLVED] Less available memory than installed [ In reply to ]

balazs at toldi

Jun 3, 2021, 1:20 PM

Post #5 of 6 (358 views)

Permalink

I tried booting from Minimal install disk. It had the same problem.

Then I tried pulling the two ram sticks out and put them back. It seems
like this fixed my issue (Although I don't really know what caused it in
the first place).

Thanks for everyone's suggestions :)

Re: [SOLVED] Less available memory than installed [ In reply to ]

antlists at youngman

Jun 3, 2021, 2:06 PM

Post #6 of 6 (358 views)

Permalink

On 03/06/21 21:20, Toldi Bal?zs wrote:
> I tried booting from Minimal install disk. It had the same problem.
>
> Then I tried pulling the two ram sticks out and put them back. It seems
> like this fixed my issue (Although I don't really know what caused it in
> the first place).
>
Could it be that the 7 has a higher clock speed than the 5? Maybe one
stick was badly seated (seems like it) and something like that could
easily cause it to "disappear".

> Thanks for everyone's suggestions :)
>
Cheers,
Wol