Ubuntu Linux 4GB Ram Limitation and Solution

Q. I’ve total 8 GB RAM installed in my dual boot Ubuntu Linux 8.10 (32 bit) version HP workstation. But free -m command only shows 3291 (3G) memory. How do I use 8GB RAM under Ubuntu Linux?

A. You need to install Physical Address Extension (PAE) aware kernel under 32 bit Ubuntu Linux. It is a feature of x86 and x86-64 processors that allows more than 4 Gigabytes of physical memory to be used in 32-bit systems.

Without PAE kernel, you should see something as follows:

Check your present Memory

$ free -m

Sample output:

           total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached

Mem:          3291        801       2489          0         95        342

-/+ buffers/cache:        363       2927

Swap:         1906          0       1906

Install PAE enabled kernel

Open terminal and type the following command if you are using Ubuntu version Ubuntu v9.04 and earlier:

  •  sudo apt-get update
  • sudo sudo apt-get install linux-headers-server linux-image-server linux-server

If you are using Ubuntu v9.10 (Karmic Koala) and above, enter:

  •  sudo apt-get install linux-generic-pae linux-headers-generic-pae

Once kernel images installed, just reboot your workstation, type:

  •  sudo reboot

After reboot, login into your system and type the following command to verify memory usage of your Ubuntu Linux:

  • free -m

Sample output:

           total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached

Mem:          8105       1292       6812          0         38        483

-/+ buffers/cache:        770       7334

Swap:         1906          0       1906

1 thought on “Ubuntu Linux 4GB Ram Limitation and Solution”

  1. Pingback: How to solve Display Driver issue on Ubuntu 12.04 “intel corporation 4 series chipset integrated graphics controller” - henyhely.in

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