[SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

bws · 2012-06-12 22:27:56

Question for anyone in the know:

I have a 32bit laptop w/ 3 gigs of ram in it. However, as far as I can tell my bios only recognizes 2 gigs. Is there a way for me to access the extra 1 gig of unused ram? If possible, I was thinking it would be nice if I could allocate the extra ram to my video card... but not sure how to go about this either....

Thanks!

If it helps, the laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A135 w/ ATI radeon xpress 200m.

Last edited by bws (2012-06-13 02:54:51)

brebs · 2012-06-12 22:53:44

bws wrote:

as far as I can tell my bios only recognizes 2 gigs.

More detail required. Is a *BIOS* screen saying that? If so, I don't think there's a way.

bws · 2012-06-13 01:09:16

brebs wrote:

Is a *BIOS* screen saying that? If so, I don't think there's a way.

Correct. My BIOS screen shows "Extended Memory: 1918MB", however I have a 1G card and a 2G card physically installed on the machine and both are recognized seperatly (ie the BIOS recognizes 1G when only the 1G card is installed, and 2G when only the 2G card is installed).

So that's a bummer....

ngoonee · 2012-06-13 01:31:37

No cure for that I'm afraid.

Lone_Wolf · 2012-06-13 10:51:10

bws wrote:

brebs wrote:
Is a *BIOS* screen saying that? If so, I don't think there's a way.

Correct. My BIOS screen shows "Extended Memory: 1918MB", however I have a 1G card and a 2G card physically installed on the machine and both are recognized seperatly (ie the BIOS recognizes 1G when only the 1G card is installed, and 2G when only the 2G card is installed).
So that's a bummer....

Sounds like your motherboard can't deal with 2 modules of different size.

There are 2 things you can try :

- change the slots for the modules, sometimes 2 modules are only detected correctly if the biggest is in a specific slot.

- in your bios, look for a memory setting "dual-channel" and switch it to single channel
(there are mobos where dual channel works with 1 module, but if there are 2 modules they need to be identical in size and properties for dual channel to work).

bws · 2012-06-14 15:55:39

Lone_Wolf wrote:

Sounds like your motherboard can't deal with 2 modules of different size.
There are 2 things you can try :
- change the slots for the modules, sometimes 2 modules are only detected correctly if the biggest is in a specific slot.
- in your bios, look for a memory setting "dual-channel" and switch it to single channel
(there are mobos where dual channel works with 1 module, but if there are 2 modules they need to be identical in size and properties for dual channel to work).

Thanks for the extra bit of advice.

I tried switching the modules around and got the same result.

Also I went into the BIOS setup and couldn't find anything related to "dual channel" or anything remotely similar that I could edit/enable.

shulamy · 2012-06-14 19:52:01

do's the 1G stick work without the 2G stick ?

usוally there is an option in the bios to set memory to the video card.

ezik

headkase · 2012-06-14 19:55:04

On some mainboards the DIMM slots are color-coded. The same colors are meant to be paired with each other. So, you would put the same size modules in the same colored slots. If your mainboard has paired slots like that you can try putting one module in one colored slot and the other module in a different colored slot. However, you should be aware that not pairing the modules in this manner can slow down a bit your processors access to the RAM.

If possible, RAM is really cheap right now: the best thing to do would be to buy some higher-capacity same-sized modules which you could then pair.

Last edited by headkase (2012-06-14 19:56:18)

.:B:. · 2012-06-14 21:38:04

He has a laptop, no way his DIMM slots are colour-coded. That would imply four or more, and he already stated he has two slots.

bws · 2012-06-14 22:22:06

shulamy wrote:

do's the 1G stick work without the 2G stick ?
usוally there is an option in the bios to set memory to the video card.
ezik

It does and this is exactly what I'm trying to accomplish, however my computer is not recognizing anything over 2gigs. So I'm trying to get over that limitation first.

bws · 2012-06-14 22:25:51

.:B:. wrote:

He has a laptop, no way his DIMM slots are colour-coded. That would imply four or more, and he already stated he has two slots.

Correct, only two slots, not color coded.

headkase · 2012-06-14 22:56:41

Ok, sorry missed the part where you said laptop. Some laptops, more so than desktops, also have a maximum amount of memory and yours: Maximum of 2GB RAM in the machine. That is not uncommon: my laptop also has a maximum of 2GB it will recognize.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-06-12 22:27:56

[SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#2 2012-06-12 22:53:44

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#3 2012-06-13 01:09:16

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#4 2012-06-13 01:31:37

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#5 2012-06-13 10:51:10

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#6 2012-06-14 15:55:39

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#7 2012-06-14 19:52:01

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#8 2012-06-14 19:55:04

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#9 2012-06-14 21:38:04

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#10 2012-06-14 22:22:06

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#11 2012-06-14 22:25:51

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

#12 2012-06-14 22:56:41

Re: [SOLVED] Any way to access extra ram on 32bit system

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