Re: Additional RAM brings Lenny to a slow-down



Jochen Schulz wrote:
andy:
Jochen Schulz wrote:
My question is: are there any known limits on the amount of RAM Lenny can operate with?
No, but I think you have hit a problem Linux has with certain mainboards
that I have read about a few times already. I don't know the exact
solution anymore but it involves telling the kernel how much memory you
have. It's something like a 'mem=XXXXM' boot parameter.
Thanks for that clue Jochen. I am running the 2.6.22-3-686 kernel. Can anyone verify this and what the parameters are that need to be passed to the kernel? Is this likely to require my recompiling the kernel?

I did the googling for you (linux slow boot ram upgrade kernel
parameter):

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.22/+bug/129172

:)

J.
Well spotted Jochen - the parameters I Googled for weren't kicking up anything! So it would appear then that the FSB800 board must be a variant of the reported P35-based motherboard.

For additional info, I have included the output of cat /proc/cpuinfo:
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz
stepping : 9
cpu MHz : 3056.741
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu 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 lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl tm2 cid cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 6120.52
clflush size : 64

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz
stepping : 9
cpu MHz : 3056.741
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 1
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu 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 lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl tm2 cid cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 6113.44
clflush size : 64

However, I must confess to this stuff being way over my head!

If this is a hardware fault then as suggested in the Ubuntu bug report you linked to, it appears that the fix was to flash the BIOS and upgrade it with a fix from the manufacturers. The other alternative seems to be the mem=xxx option passed to the kernel. If I use the latter approach, is this something that I can develop a script to do automatically at boot (for example, to run it as part of the GRUB parameters), or is it something that I would have to do manually?

Thanks

A

--

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." - Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Relevant Pages

  • PROBLEM: no cpu MHz in /proc/cpuinfo on 2.6.25.4-rt6
    ... 2.6.25.4-rt6 kernel and i have the same issue. ... cannot locate cpu MHz in /proc/cpuinfo ... pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt rdtscp lm ... # Device Drivers ...
    (Linux-Kernel)
  • Re: [BISECTED] Lots of "rescheduling IPIs" in powertop
    ... IntelPentium4 CPU 3.00GHz ... mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx ... Ok the CPU reports it doesn't support any C states in MWAIT. ...
    (Linux-Kernel)
  • Back to the Future ? or some thing sinister ?
    ... We have got a machine, lets say X, make is IBM and the CPU is Intel ... mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe cid ... The problem seems to be specific to the 2.6 series of kernel, ...
    (Linux-Kernel)
  • RE: redhat detecting too many cpus?
    ... > cat /proc/cpuinfo to retrieve the CPU info it lists 4 ... > pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ...
    (RedHat)
  • Oops with 2.6.1_rc1-mm1
    ... Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address ... CPU: 0 ... EIP is at vt_ioctl+0x1e/0x1f00 ... Pin 2-17 already programmed ...
    (Linux-Kernel)