SuperServer 5015A only see 2Gb of RAM?! (4GB installed)
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Hi!
I have an issue with Supermicro SuperServer 5015A (-EHF-version with an Atom D525 extra Intel Nics, ipmi etc) that only see 2GB of RAM even though I have two 2GB DIMMs in the box. I tried to switch places with the DIMMs and a few different RAM dimms (of the same type) and the problem persists. Did anybody else encounter this problem? Is it a FreeBSD issue? PFsense? Supermicro?
According to our documentation the memory is compatible with the server and it should work fine. According to supermicro others have been running the exact same configuration with no problems.
Memory: 2 x Kingston 2GB 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 SODIMM. Supposedly compatible with the 5015.
OS: 32-bit PFsense 2.0.1 (FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE-p6 (8.1-RELEASE-p6 #0: Mon Dec 12 17:53:00 EST 2011 root@FreeBSD_8.0_pfSense_2.0-snaps.pfsense.org:/usr/obj./usr/pfSensesrc/src/sys/pfSense_SMP.8 i386).
HDD: 32GB SSD from Kingston.
I anticipated to see at least 3GB RAM and was planning to run a few services like nut etc so I really do need more than 2GB. The server has two slots and should support 4GB.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
E -
Please provide the first 20 line of output of the pfSense shell command```
dmesg | more
Assuming the CPU on your particular mother board supports the 64 bit instruction set and the chipset has the necessary "smarts" you will need to use the amd64 version of pfSense if you want to be able to use more than about 3GB RAM. (The exact figure will depend on how the BIOS initialises the chipset.)
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Please provide the first 20 line of output of the pfSense shell command```
dmesg | more
Assuming the CPU on your particular mother board supports the 64 bit instruction set and the chipset has the necessary "smarts" you will need to use the amd64 version of pfSense if you want to be able to use more than about 3GB RAM. (The exact figure will depend on how the BIOS initialises the chipset.)
Thanks for the fast response!
I just realized that also in BIOS no more than 2GB RAM is detected - error does not seem to occur in pfSense/FreeBSD!
Yes, I am aware about the limitation of i386, thanks!
(Yes, the CPU supports 64-bit, http://ark.intel.com/products/49490).Here's the dmesg anyway if anybody finds it interesting for future references, maybe this is a "bug" in Supermicro and/or Kingston, maybe one of them changed the spec without informing the other etc.. :
FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE-p6 #0: Mon Dec 12 17:53:00 EST 2011
root@FreeBSD_8.0_pfSense_2.0-snaps.pfsense.org:/usr/obj./usr/pfSensesrc/src/sys/pfSense_SMP.8 i386
Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
CPU: Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU D525 @ 1.80GHz (1807.21-MHz 686-class CPU)
Origin = "GenuineIntel" Id = 0x106ca Family = 6 Model = 1c Stepping = 10
Features=0xbfebfbff <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,htt,tm,pbe>Features2=0x40e31d <sse3,dtes64,mon,ds_cpl,tm2,ssse3,cx16,xtpr,pdcm,movbe>AMD Features=0x20100000 <nx,lm>AMD Features2=0x1 <lahf>TSC: P-state invariant
real memory = 2147483648 (2048 MB)
avail memory = 2081873920 (1985 MB)
ACPI APIC Table: <022112 APIC1550>
FreeBSD/SMP: Multiprocessor System Detected: 4 CPUs
FreeBSD/SMP: 1 package(s) x 2 core(s) x 2 HTT threads
cpu0 (BSP): APIC ID: 0
cpu1 (AP/HT): APIC ID: 1
cpu2 (AP): APIC ID: 2
cpu3 (AP/HT): APIC ID: 3
ioapic0: Changing APIC ID to 4
ioapic0 <version 2.0="">irqs 0-23 on motherboard
netisr_init: forcing maxthreads to 1 and bindthreads to 0 for device polling
wpi: You need to read the LICENSE file in /usr/share/doc/legal/intel_wpi/.
wpi: If you agree with the license, set legal.intel_wpi.license_ack=1 in /boot/loader.conf.etc.
I am currently asking supermicro investigate this further and will update here if I find any information that could be of interest.</version></lahf></nx,lm></sse3,dtes64,mon,ds_cpl,tm2,ssse3,cx16,xtpr,pdcm,movbe></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,htt,tm,pbe>
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I just realized that also in BIOS no more than 2GB RAM is detected - error does not seem to occur in pfSense/FreeBSD!
Time for a BIOS update?
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I just realized that also in BIOS no more than 2GB RAM is detected - error does not seem to occur in pfSense/FreeBSD!
Time for a BIOS update?
Thanks for the advice, I actually forget to check that up, but it seems I'm on the latest version of their firmware so I guest either some small detail in the spec has changed either with Supermicro or the memory manufacturer :(
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Fun test: Remove a stick of RAM. Does it still show 2GB? Does it show the same with one DIMM alone in the other socket?
If you remove a stick and it only sees 1GB, it may have a problem with the DIMM's density or something similar.
I wouldn't expect that to happen on such recent hardware, but I have seen that in the past. Certain sticks of RAM and certain boards just don't mix.
According to SuperMicro the exact spec for that board is:
Up to 4 GB of unbuffered, non-ECC DDR3 800/667MHz SO-DIMM (Single Channel) -
Fun test: Remove a stick of RAM. Does it still show 2GB? Does it show the same with one DIMM alone in the other socket?
If you remove a stick and it only sees 1GB, it may have a problem with the DIMM's density or something similar.
I wouldn't expect that to happen on such recent hardware, but I have seen that in the past. Certain sticks of RAM and certain boards just don't mix.
According to SuperMicro the exact spec for that board is:
Up to 4 GB of unbuffered, non-ECC DDR3 800/667MHz SO-DIMM (Single Channel)Thanks for all replies.
I already tried to remove one, switch places on the DIMMS, and even with two different DIMMS - same result - 2GB, no more and no less :(Thanks for looking up the specs. I use the recommended SO-DIMMS, 2x 2GB ..
Must be either a bug in the current BIOS or that some of the manufacturers altered some detail in their product without notifying the others? How ever super micro are alerted & as soon as (/if) I hear anything useful from them that solves the problem, I'll post it here so others can see. It is a really nice box so apart from not beeing able to see all RAM I'd really like to recommend it - fairly energy conservative and all :)/E