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JcMac
Contributor
Contributor

Dell Optiplex GX280 4GB RAM Installed but only 3GB shows

Hi,

I have four (4) Dell Optiplex GX280s each with 4 GB RAM (4 x 1GB sticks). The BIOS (A08) reports 4 GB but ESXi reports 3 GB. I was reading ths thread http://communities.vmware.com/message/1131089 but I did not find any BIOS settings as suggested by:

Bviper - "You might want to look in your BIOS for a "memory remapping" feature. I had this exact same problem on an Asus motherboard, took me forever to dig through the BIOS to find where to turn it off, but once I did the full 4GB was reported. "

Is there a way to get the GX280 to recognize the 4 GB RAM? Thanks for any assistance.

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AndreTheGiant
Immortal
Immortal

What is the output of the ESX / Configuration / Memory page?

Andre

**if you found this or any other answer useful please consider allocating points for helpful or correct answers

Andrew | http://about.me/amauro | http://vinfrastructure.it/ | @Andrea_Mauro
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JcMac
Contributor
Contributor

Hi Andre,

The output is:

Total 3060.1 MB

System --

Viryual Machines 2709.0 MB

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AndreTheGiant
Immortal
Immortal

The BIOS is the last version?

There is some shared video memory?

Andre

**if you found this or any other answer useful please consider allocating points for helpful or correct answers

Andrew | http://about.me/amauro | http://vinfrastructure.it/ | @Andrea_Mauro
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natetrim
Contributor
Contributor

I get a similar issue with HP servers. I was able to dig up that the SCSI controller eats up almost 1/2 a gig before the OS sees the ram. I'm not sure if it applies to your situation though.

-nate

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JcMac
Contributor
Contributor

I believe that A08 is the latest BIOS for the GX280 by virtue of it being the version on Dell's website. The video options in the BIOS had the option of reserving 1MB or 8MB of memory. I changed it from * to 1 for the sake of it but it had a minor effect of a slight increase in the config/memory output. The other video option was whether to use the onboard or add in vidoe card as the primary. These machines just have to onboard video so that setting is not a factor.

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JcMac
Contributor
Contributor

I changed one of the boxes to 3 GB of RAM (2 x 1GB and 2 x 512 GB sticks) and the config/memory still showed the same as when 4 GB (4 x 1GB sticks) was installed. This is suggesting that the "missing" memory is not being used by another device. Does any one have any further insight or /suggestions?

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BrennanB
Contributor
Contributor

I am using these same machines and so far they have worked well. Mine are the SFF so are limited to 2GB.

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JcMac
Contributor
Contributor

They are the desktop type

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DSTAVERT
Immortal
Immortal

I would wonder if this is a P4 x86 memory addressing issue.You would have some issues with windows as well.

Have you enquired at all in the DELL forums?

Is the RAM from DELL?

-- David -- VMware Communities Moderator
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JcMac
Contributor
Contributor

I have not enquired on any Dell forums and the memory is from Dell. I tried a Windows 2003 EE installation and that too only shows 3 GB even with the /PAE switch. When the / PAE /3GB switches were used there were issues booting and I had to boot to safe mode and remove the switches.

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jagdipmander
Contributor
Contributor

Hi all,

I have the exact same problem.  JcMac did you ever find a fix or work around?  Thanks

Jag

PS> Sorry for bringing an old thread alive - but since it is the exact same problem and I cannot find any other answers I thought I would have a go

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DSTAVERT
Immortal
Immortal

I think you will find that this is a hardware limitation. Try a Google search for your general issue. You can also have a look at http://vm-help.com website for issues with unsupported hardware.

-- David -- VMware Communities Moderator
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