Cinnamon showing 4gb XFCE shows 8gb

[grimalkin]

Put this here as I'm not sure if I'm missing something obvious that would be laughed at on the main Cinnamon threads.

Since running Mint from Oliva and now Petra 64 bit I have used the Cinnamon desktop and have never found a reason why I only had access to 1 stick (4gb) of my installed memory (ASROCK 960gmu3s3 Motherboard 2 x 4gb memory). after lots of searching for answers and updating the BIOS I still had no luck getting to the bottom of this.
I assumed it was maybe an incompatibility with the kernal and my motherboard but I do not know enough to delve deeper.

Today I decided to use the lightweight XFCE desktop and after using free -m in terminal I am now seeing my other memory TOTAL 7733. This was not showing under the Cinnamon desktop using again in terminal free -m , just about half this could be seen.

Am I missing something obvious on what the problem is ?

[Reorx]

Is it possible that the CInnamon version is 32 bit and the XFCE version is 64 bit?

If you are unsure, run this terminal command on each...

Code: Select all

inxi -S

[grimalkin]

Both 64 bit I believe.

Kernel: 3.11.0-17-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 16 Petra

(Cinnamon output above )

[Neil Edmond]

So both DE's are operating on the same installation of Mint-64? Same kernel and everything?

[grimalkin]

Yes

Kernel: 3.11.0-17-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Xfce 4.10.2 Distro: Linux Mint 16 Petra

(XFCE output)

[grimalkin]

Wow this is getting weirder. Shut down and since I rebooted I'm now getting both Cinnamon and XFCE showing MemTotal: 3789996 kB

dmesg | grep Memory is showing
Memory: 3694908K/3931372K available (7150K kernel code, 1083K rwdata, 3312K rodata, 1364K init, 1420K bss, 236464K reserved)
so I believe the kernel is only seeing 4 of the 8 gig installed now
but
sudo dmidecode -t memory is showing both memory sticks

Handle 0x000E, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
Location: System Board Or Motherboard
Use: System Memory
Error Correction Type: None
Maximum Capacity: 8 GB
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x0010, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 4096 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM0
Bank Locator: BANK0
Type: Other
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 800 MHz
Manufacturer: Manufacturer00
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: AssetTagNum0
Part Number: 000000000000000000
Rank: Unknown

Handle 0x0012, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 4096 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM1
Bank Locator: BANK1
Type: Other
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 800 MHz
Manufacturer: Manufacturer01
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: AssetTagNum1
Part Number: MD03EU1223M0000000
Rank: Unknown
I've even just tried swapping both memory sticks around to see if there was an error on the second one assuming i would get an error on boot up if the second one is damaged but I'm flying about in XFCE without any crashes on heavy memory use like video editing.

[eanfrid]

So the memory modules are still questionable. Did you check your RAM with memtest ? Its voltage may be too low and stabilize only a few seconds after the BIOS boot.

[grimalkin]

I've no reason to suspect the memory modules but I'm not going to rule anything out at this stage. I think I will do an overnight run of memtest from disc just to confirm as far as I can this is not the ultimate cause. Thanks for your help today, i will continue this thread with my results after the tests are done.

[Reorx]

Intermittent or unpredictable behavior suggests something is "not right" (somewhere) with the setup... It could be a bad DIMM stick. It could be DIMMs rated at different speeds. It could be that one of the DIMMs is not seated correctly in the socket. Could be a bad MB.

Free advice >>> I would power down the computer (don't sleep or hibernate). I would then remove the battery if the computer is a laptop. I would then remove the RAM and look it over closely... make sure the connections are clean on the RAM and that the socket is clean and free of debris and dust... assuming everything checks out, I would then reseat the RAM firmly to make sure it is seated well... then close everything up and put everything back together... the restart the computer and see what it shows...

If the DIMMs are of different speeds, set the RAM speed manually in the BIOS and choose the slower of the 2 speeds...

[grimalkin]

Well, reseated and checked both ram sticks, did a memtest, all clear but only the one 4gb stick showing up. I used pause on POST and could see that also only saw 4gb. went into bios shows both memory sticks.
Strange thing happened just once on powering down and rebooting suddenly 8gb seen on the POST ram check.
I wondered if it may be something like what was said about the memory voltages. In bios the memory was running at 1.60V (auto). I upped that to 1.65V but this has had no effect.
This is an unmatched pair of 4gb each DDR3 memory modules. I'm sure they will be cheap ones as I got a motherboard and ram bundle when I assembled it. One stick is branded Eudar and one is Hyperam so the memory is running in single channel mode.
Could I try running it at a lower speed ? 1066 maybe (it's 1330). I don't know enough to mess with the motherboard tweeking settings to do it safely and I don't have the money to just throw out the ram and put two new sticks in especially as individually they both seem to work fine.

[Reorx]

Definitely try setting the speed manually at 1066 - it's quick, easy, and can't hurt anything... and it might fix the problem.

[grimalkin]

Just done that, did a ctl alt del in post on first boot after pc showed 4 gig on POST memory check. On the second boot from power down showed the 8 gig. may switch off for a while to see if it shows from cold start so to speak. thanks for your ideas.

[Reorx]

If you find that the system sees 8GB from a cold reboot and only 4 from a warm reboot - that would be odd but I suppose I have heard of stranger things... if that is the case, then go back to the BIOS and put the memory speed back to what it was before you made any changes (for better performance) and then recheck that the system still sees 8GB from a cold (power all the way down) reboot - if it does, your GTG.

[eanfrid]

Your previous dmidecode check clearly shows the sticks are running @800Mhz and data width is weird for DDR3 ? What I see is more like DDR2.
DDR2@800

Code: Select all

Memory Device
	Array Handle: 0x0019
	Error Information Handle: Not Provided
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: 2048 MB
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: A1
	Bank Locator: Bank2/3
	Type: Unknown
	Type Detail: None
	Speed: 800 MHz
	Manufacturer:  
	Serial Number:  
	Asset Tag:  
	Part Number:  

DDR3@1600

Code: Select all

Memory Device
	Array Handle: 0x0019
	Error Information Handle: Not Provided
	Total Width: 2304 bits
	Data Width: 2052 bits
	Size: 4096 MB
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: A2
	Bank Locator: Bank4/5
	Type: Unknown
	Type Detail: None
	Speed: 1600 MHz
	Manufacturer:  
	Serial Number:  
	Asset Tag:  
	Part Number:  

if however it is truly DDR3, the sticks are very slow (minimum DDR3 speed) and/or in bad shape.

[grimalkin]

Umm, the opposite happened 4 gig from cold, when I saw that I F2'd to Bios then just exited again and the next POST start memory check again showed 8 gig... and with the memory set at 1066 now I'm getting it recognised as dual channel, I have upped the voltage to 1.6V also.
At least now I am getting a repeatable consistant error. thats progress in my book

[grimalkin]

I looked originally and the bios was set up at 1600 on auto. When I removed the modules last night I saw
"4gb DDR3 1333 DIMM CL9" So today i lowered to 1330 to match
New dmidecode is
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0008, DMI type 5, 20 bytes
Memory Controller Information
Error Detecting Method: 64-bit ECC
Error Correcting Capabilities:
None
Supported Interleave: One-way Interleave
Current Interleave: One-way Interleave
Maximum Memory Module Size: 2048 MB
Maximum Total Memory Size: 4096 MB
Supported Speeds:
70 ns
60 ns
Supported Memory Types:
DIMM
SDRAM
Memory Module Voltage: 3.3 V
Associated Memory Slots: 2
0x0009
0x000A
Enabled Error Correcting Capabilities:
None

Handle 0x0009, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
Socket Designation: DIMM0
Bank Connections: 0 1
Current Speed: 161 ns
Type: ECC DIMM
Installed Size: 4096 MB (Double-bank Connection)
Enabled Size: 4096 MB (Double-bank Connection)
Error Status: OK

Handle 0x000A, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
Socket Designation: DIMM1
Bank Connections: 0 1
Current Speed: 163 ns
Type: ECC DIMM
Installed Size: 4096 MB (Double-bank Connection)
Enabled Size: 4096 MB (Double-bank Connection)
Error Status: OK

Handle 0x000E, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
Location: System Board Or Motherboard
Use: System Memory
Error Correction Type: None
Maximum Capacity: 8 GB
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x0010, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 4096 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM0
Bank Locator: BANK0
Type: Other
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 333 MHz
Manufacturer: Manufacturer00
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: AssetTagNum0
Part Number: MD03EU1223M0000000
Rank: Unknown

Handle 0x0012, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x000E
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 4096 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM1
Bank Locator: BANK1
Type: Other
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 333 MHz
Manufacturer: Manufacturer01
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: AssetTagNum1
Part Number: 000000000000000000
Rank: Unknown

[eanfrid]

The data returned by dmidecode seem still weird to me. But if your RAM is labelled @1333MHz, it should be its normal (max) speed (indeed 667x2). Only high-quality components can be safely overclocked.