I'd considered adding some ram to my laptop, a Toshiba Equium L40 17M from 2008, but was unsure if it could take more due to conflicting advice including from Crucial. There database used to say my machine could have 4gb, and after a couple of emails looking to get clarification a staff member seemed to confirm a 2gb limit, and their database is amended. However, tonight I borrowed a 2gb stick and put it in place of one of my two 1gb sticks. I got them apparently the wrong way round at first (seems the 2gb stick has go nearer the compartment cover), as the operating system, Linux Mint 9 Gnome 64 bit edition - wouldn't boot. But switching them round the 3gb, or rather 2.9gb, does register, in the system monitor for example.
I'd had Vista and Windows 7 on this laptop for a while and I wondered if the change of operating system may have allowed this extra ram. One person had told me it was the BIOS that would limit the ram - apparently there are variations on my laptop's motherboard, one version having a 2gb limit.
I didn't have time to test at length, but I imagine if the BIOS shows 3072mb and the OS boots things should be fine, no stability problems? I'm intending to get a 2gb stick of the same Samsung brand and speed DDR2 667mhz to play it safe.
Any experienced knowledge on this is welcome. Thanks.
A question on RAM limits and Linux
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alun_sundry
A question on RAM limits and Linux
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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dawgdoc
Re: A question on RAM limits and Linux
alun,
I agree with your respondent from Crucial, the limit will come from your motherboard and bios. Linux distro's using a 32bit kernels have a 3Gb limit unless you use a kernel with a PAE module enabled, then your 32bit kernel can run upto 64mb. Any single process is still limited to 3Gb of memory, however. You can also add this module using a bigmem kernel, search synaptic for bigmem. Your hardware with bios may not allow you to get more than the 3Gb you are seeing as usable. But then, maybe it will let you use more. You could put 4Gb in and see if it registers all of it.
From what I have seen the limit for a 64 bit kernel, on appropriate hardware, is reported as 2 to the 64th bytes. But most probably, it will be limited by your hardware. (2 to the 64th is 9.2 quintillion bytes roughly 9.2 trillion Gb; see http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/compute ... s-of-2.htm )
32bit processor w/o PAE kernel module - 3.2 to 3.75 Gb ram depending on mobo and bios.
32bit processor w/ PAE kernel module - up to 64 Gb ram depending on mobo and bios
64bit processor - way up there, depending on mobo and bios.
I agree with your respondent from Crucial, the limit will come from your motherboard and bios. Linux distro's using a 32bit kernels have a 3Gb limit unless you use a kernel with a PAE module enabled, then your 32bit kernel can run upto 64mb. Any single process is still limited to 3Gb of memory, however. You can also add this module using a bigmem kernel, search synaptic for bigmem. Your hardware with bios may not allow you to get more than the 3Gb you are seeing as usable. But then, maybe it will let you use more. You could put 4Gb in and see if it registers all of it.
From what I have seen the limit for a 64 bit kernel, on appropriate hardware, is reported as 2 to the 64th bytes. But most probably, it will be limited by your hardware. (2 to the 64th is 9.2 quintillion bytes roughly 9.2 trillion Gb; see http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/compute ... s-of-2.htm )
32bit processor w/o PAE kernel module - 3.2 to 3.75 Gb ram depending on mobo and bios.
32bit processor w/ PAE kernel module - up to 64 Gb ram depending on mobo and bios
64bit processor - way up there, depending on mobo and bios.