[ltp] Trying to set up TP560 for debian - SODIMM problem

[aaron james enright]

Hello

I upgraded the memory on my 560X to 96M some time ago and had no
problems, yet yours is fussy...such is life.
Just before I did the memory upgrade, I came across a tip that may help
you.  It's from www.frankenlinux.com/guides/tweaks.html
Here it is.  Hope it helps.
-aaron
-------------
On some systems, the BIOS does not report the full amount of memory
installed on the motherboard to the operating system. When this happens,
Linux only uses as much memory as the BIOS indicates is present. I
discovered this in alarm one day when I noticed that my computer thought
it only had 64 MB of ram when I know I installed 196 MB. You can check
your memory by entering the command free at the command line.

Fortunately, we can fix this by telling the kernel how much memory is
really available when it boots up. In my example, I have 196 MB of memory
but Linux thinks I have only 64 Mb. I change this by entering the
following at the LILO prompt during bootup:

LILO: linux mem=196M

Log in and run free again to see whether Linux is using all of the memory.
We can make this change permanent by adding the parameter to lilo. Add the
line append="mem=196M" to /etc/lilo.conf. My lilo.conf file looks like
this:

boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
prompt
timeout=50
linear
default=linux

images=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.14-5.0smp
        label=linux
        read-only
        root=/dev/hda7
        append="mem=190M"

Warning: Make sure you test your new memory settings by hand before you
just write the new lilo.conf file to the master boot record! The careful
reader will notice that my entry reads "mem=190M", not "mem=196M". This is
because my computer would not boot when I tried using the whole 196 Mb of
ram that's installed. Just to be safe, make an emergency bootdisk for
yourself by running the command mkbootdisk with a floppy disk in the
floppy drive.

The final step is to write the new lilo.conf file to your hard drive's
master boot record. You do this by running the command lilo as root.
Reboot and run free to make sure everything worked.

____________________________________
"My coffee was beginning to wear off and with it the momentary illusion it gives
that things are Right and life is Good."
James Thurber, "The Black Magic of Barney Haller"

On Thu, 5 Sep 2002 linux_thinkpad@lkv.mailshell.com wrote:

> My TP560 (2640-10U) has been sitting idle for a while until I got my 64MB SODIMM today.  I plug it in and fire up the laptop, but it recognizes only 40MB total (8 + 32).  I updated the BIOS to v1.20 and I believe I followed the instructions (including clicking on "Initialize"), but the laptop still maxes out at 40MB.
>
> I checked the 64MB and I'm led to believe it should work.  Well, it does say "8Mx64" on a sticker and there are 4 IC's on one side for non-parity.
>
> Is there anything else I should do?  I really want to run a desktop environment on the 560, and debian (woody) recommends 64MB minimum.
>
> Thanks.
>
> _______________________________________________________
> The FREE service that prevents junk email http://www.mailshell.com
>
> ----- The Linux ThinkPad mailing list -----
> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
> http://www.bm-soft.com/~bm/tp_mailing.html
>



----- The Linux ThinkPad mailing list -----
The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
http://www.bm-soft.com/~bm/tp_mailing.html