OpenBSD only regognizes 1.6 GB out of 8 GB RAM installed

[mayuka]

Hi.

I recently upgraded from a Mac Mini G4 to a Asrock Beebox NUC. Main reason was that I need to use java, which is not available under powerpc. Anyway.... Everything works fine so far, except that OpenBSD only recognizes 1.6 GB of RAM. However, I have 2x 4GB RAM modules installed.

During boot OpenBSD correctly detects both 4GB modules, but only 1.6 GB are usable. I first thought that the onboard graphics card steals some usable memory, but not to that amount...

So. What's going on here? How can I get OpenBSD to use the full amount of RAM installed?

$ dmesg|grep mem
OpenBSD 5.8 (GENERIC.MP) #1098: Sun Aug 16 02:38:27 MDT 2015
    deraadt@i386.openbsd.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/GENERIC.MP
cpu0: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N3150 @ 1.60GHz ("GenuineIntel" 686-class) 1.61 GHz
cpu0: FPU,V86,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CFLUSH,DS,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,PBE,NXE,LONG,SSE3,PCLMUL,DTES64,MWAIT,DS-CPL,VMX,EST,TM2,SSSE3,CX16,xTPR,PDCM,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,MOVBE,POPCNT,DEADLINE,AES,RDRAND,LAHF,3DNOWP,PERF,ITSC,SMEP,ERMS,SENSOR,ARAT
real mem  = 1797062656 (1713MB)
avail mem = 1748631552 (1667MB)
[...]
spdmem0 at iic0 addr 0x50: 4GB DDR3 SDRAM PC3-12800 SO-DIMM
spdmem1 at iic0 addr 0x51: 4GB DDR3 SDRAM PC3-12800 SO-DIMM

Many thanks in advance.

[J65nko]

deraadt@i386.openbsd.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/GENERIC.MP

You installed the "i386" version of OpenBSD. This is for 32 bit CPU's and with 32 bits only 4 gigabyte of memory can be addressed

$ echo 2^32 | bc
4294967296
$  echo 2^64 | bc
18446744073709551616

The question is whether that CPU is 64 bits or not
You can find that out with the following command:

$  sysctl hw
hw.machine=amd64
hw.model=AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3700+
hw.ncpu=1
hw.byteorder=1234
hw.pagesize=4096
hw.disknames=cd0:,wd0:3a6d4322b09ba067,fd0:
hw.diskcount=3
hw.sensors.kate0.temp0=40.00 degC
hw.sensors.kate0.temp2=30.00 degC
hw.sensors.lm1.temp0=33.00 degC
hw.sensors.lm1.temp1=20.50 degC
hw.sensors.lm1.temp2=28.00 degC
hw.sensors.lm1.volt0=2.19 VDC (VCore)
hw.sensors.lm1.volt1=2.86 VDC (+12V)
hw.sensors.lm1.volt2=3.30 VDC (+3.3V)
hw.sensors.lm1.volt3=5.15 VDC (+5V)
hw.sensors.lm1.volt4=1.05 VDC (-12V)
hw.sensors.lm1.volt5=5.01 VDC (5VSB)
hw.sensors.lm1.volt6=3.52 VDC (VBAT)
hw.cpuspeed=2200
hw.setperf=100
hw.vendor=MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD
hw.product=MS-7094
hw.version=1.00
hw.uuid=Not Set
hw.physmem=1071579136
hw.usermem=1071566848
hw.ncpufound=1
hw.allowpowerdown=1

You also could read the machine section of boot.conf(8)
On my Alix (i386) I have the following lines in /etc/boot.conf

machine diskinfo
machine memory
set timeout 10

That prints out on boot:

M>> OpenBSD/i386 BOOT 3.27
Disk    BIOS#   Type    Cyls    Heads   Secs    Flags   Checksum
hd0     0x80    label   971     128     63      0x2     0xcc6c9536

Region 0: type 1 at 0x0 for 640KB
Region 1: type 2 at 0xf0000 for 64KB
Region 2: type 2 at 0xfff00000 for 1024KB
Region 3: type 1 at 0x100000 for 261120KB
Low ram: 640KB  High ram: 261120KB
Total free memory: 261760KB

As described in boot.conf(8) you also can enter these commands interactively (on boot just hit the space bar a few times, don't press ENTER ) and modify the memory configuration.

[jggimi]

4GB may be addressable by a 32-bit x86 processor, but only 3GB is usable by OpenBSD/i386. x86 systems with more than 3GB of RAM are best served with OpenBSD/amd64.

[Carpetsmoker]

1.6 GB is still a hell-of-a-lot less than 3GB ...

[J65nko]

According to http://ark.intel.com/products/87258/...up-to-2_08-GHz that CPU is 64 bits, so installing OpenBSD for amd64 should solve the issue.

But it should be interesting to know whether you can make more memory available for i386 with those machine memory commands outlined in the boot.conf man page.

[jggimi]

The 1.6GB limit is likely a BIOS memory mapping issue which the bootloader's machine memory command may be able to both indicate and resolve.

[mayuka]

I added the parameters in /etc/boot.conf.

See attached photo of the output.

The (rather bad) UEFI BIOS has an option to set the amount of memory the graphics card can use. It correlates with the amount of RAM available under OpenBSD, e.g. graphics card = 512 MB, OpenBSD = 1.5 GB. However, 6 GB are always missing.

Maybe I should try the amd64 image? That would mean reinstalling....

[ocicat]

Originally Posted by mayuka

Maybe I should try the amd64 image?

Given:

$ dmesg|grep mem
OpenBSD 5.8 (GENERIC.MP) #1098: Sun Aug 16 02:38:27 MDT 2015
    deraadt@i386.openbsd.org:/usr/src/sys/arch/i386/compile/GENERIC.MP
cpu0: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N3150 @ 1.60GHz ("GenuineIntel" 686-class) 1.61 GHz
cpu0: FPU,V86,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CFLUSH,DS,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,PBE,NXE,LONG,SSE3,PCLMUL,DTES64,MWAIT,DS-CPL,VMX,EST,TM2,SSSE3,CX16,xTPR,PDCM,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,MOVBE,POPCNT,DEADLINE,AES,RDRAND,LAHF,3DNOWP,PERF,ITSC,SMEP,ERMS,SENSOR,ARAT

Yes.

The presence of "LONG" in the processor feature set indicates the capability of running amd64.

Is this a guarantee that all memory will be recognized? No, there may be oddities in the overall motherboard design which may be present which do not show in the limited information provided.

[mayuka]

Okay. Will try to install amd64-version of OpenBSD. Will take a while...

You can see the full dmesg-output (i386) here:
http://daemonforums.org/showpost.php...8&postcount=83

[J65nko]

Before you install amd64. please post the output of $ sysctl hw

[mayuka]

i386:

# sysctl hw
hw.machine=i386
hw.model=Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N3150 @ 1.60GHz ("GenuineIntel" 686-class)
hw.ncpu=4
hw.byteorder=1234
hw.pagesize=4096
hw.disknames=sd0:,sd1:0ed8996a583a4968
hw.diskcount=2
hw.sensors.cpu0.temp0=58.00 degC
hw.cpuspeed=480
hw.setperf=0
hw.vendor=ASRock
hw.product=N3150-NUC
hw.uuid=65d3719e-a784-3ec4-93a7-c17aa1cf5f96
hw.physmem=1797062656
hw.usermem=1796853760
hw.ncpufound=4
hw.allowpowerdown=1
hw.perfpolicy=manual

[Oko]

Originally Posted by J65nko

You installed the "i386" version of OpenBSD. This is for 32 bit CPU's and with 32 bits only 4 gigabyte of memory can be addressed

I no longer use i386 but IIRC OpenBSD now includes PAE in generic. It is a byproduct of Mark Kettenis' and Mike Larkin's work on W^X and also related to Mike Larkin native hypervisor effort.

https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-cvs&m=142886392102122&w=2

https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-cvs&m=142987998607845&w=2

[rocket357]

Originally Posted by Oko

Mike Larkin native hypervisor effort.

Between this and the Xen PV backend work going on I think I might overdose on joy and be found laying in a pool of my own drool giggling merrily to myself.

Edit - Not to stray too far from the original topic, of course. I can't suggest if reinstalling amd64 instead of i386 would help, but I can say that i386 to my knowledge doesn't leverage hardware NX bit circuitry (i.e. emulates it in software), so amd64 is preferable on that grounds, too.

[J65nko]

If you don't want to do an 64 bit reinstall yet, you could create an create an USB stick with an amd64 install58.fs and see how that boots.
When you don't have an USB stick, the alternative is to boot your current i386 system with an amd64 bsd.rd. For some more info on this see http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq4.html#bsd.rd .

Select S to get a shell when the installer asks you what you want to do:

Welcome to the OpenBSD/amd46 5.8 installation program.
(I)nstall, (U)pgrade, (A)utoinstall or (S)hell?

With # dmesg | less you can use the space bar to scroll through the kernel boot messages.

You can also use the command # sysctl (no "hw"parameter!) to get a limited subset of the # sysctl hw output.
This is what I get when I boot my amd64 system with an i386 USB boot stick:

# sysctl
kern.osrelease=5.8
hw.machine=i386
hw.model=AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3700+ ("AuthenticAMD" 686-class, 1024KB L2 cache)
hw.product=MS-7094
hw.disknames=cd0:,wd0:3a6d4322b09ba067,fd0:,rd0:b41cc1508365704d,sd0:1eb98777cfc3e465,sd1:
hw.ncpufound=1

My 64 bits CPU now, just like yours, is recognized as an 686-class one.

[jggimi]

The machine memory information in the photo showed 3.44GB mapped in BIOS, if I've added all the KB correctly.

[Oko]

Originally Posted by rocket357

Between this and the Xen PV backend work going on I think I might overdose on joy and be found laying in a pool of my own drool giggling merrily to myself.

Edit - Not to stray too far from the original topic, of course. I can't suggest if reinstalling amd64 instead of i386 would help, but I can say that i386 to my knowledge doesn't leverage hardware NX bit circuitry (i.e. emulates it in software), so amd64 is preferable on that grounds, too.

+1

For the entire post including the recommendation. Honestly I am having very hard time to think of a single reason somebody would run amd64.

Between have you seen this?

http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-tech&w=2&r=1&s=WAPBL&q=b

One more reason for the Joy this holiday season.

[mayuka]

I migrated to OpenBSD-amd64. Now, all of the installed memory seems to be detected. However, changing the amount of memory that the graphics card can utilize does not seem to make a difference in OpenBSD... This seems a bit odd to me. In BIOS settings I decided to give it 512 MB.

Anyway, attached is an image of the memory boot-output.

Here is the output of sysctl hw under amd64:

# sysctl hw
hw.machine=amd64
hw.model=Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU N3150 @ 1.60GHz
hw.ncpu=4
hw.byteorder=1234
hw.pagesize=4096
hw.diskcount=2
hw.sensors.cpu0.temp0=59.00 degC
hw.cpuspeed=1601
hw.setperf=100
hw.vendor=ASRock
hw.product=N3150-NUC
hw.physmem=7954817024
hw.usermem=7954792448
hw.ncpufound=4
hw.allowpowerdown=1
hw.perfpolicy=high

In the meantime, I had trouble with java. It seems that java can only use a very limited amount of memory. Even "java -version" crashed with the following error:

Could not allocate metaspace: 268435456 bytes

As it turned out, there seem to be very hard standard ulimit restrictions in OpenBSD.

ulimit -a for user root:

# ulimit -a
core file size          (blocks, -c) unlimited
data seg size           (kbytes, -d) 33554432
file size               (blocks, -f) unlimited
max locked memory       (kbytes, -l) 2509364
max memory size         (kbytes, -m) 7525516
open files                      (-n) 128
pipe size            (512 bytes, -p) 1
stack size              (kbytes, -s) 8192
cpu time               (seconds, -t) unlimited
max user processes              (-u) 1310
virtual memory          (kbytes, -v) 33562624

ulimit -a for the default user:

core file size          (blocks, -c) unlimited
data seg size           (kbytes, -d) 524288
file size               (blocks, -f) unlimited
max locked memory       (kbytes, -l) 2509364
max memory size         (kbytes, -m) 7525516
open files                      (-n) 128
pipe size            (512 bytes, -p) 1
stack size              (kbytes, -s) 4096
cpu time               (seconds, -t) unlimited
max user processes              (-u) 128
virtual memory          (kbytes, -v) 524288

I changed some entries in /etc/login.conf:

default:\
        :path=/usr/bin /bin /usr/sbin /sbin /usr/X11R6/bin /usr/local/bin /usr/l
ocal/sbin:\
        :umask=022:\
        :datasize-max=6144M:\
        :datasize-cur=6144M:\
        :maxproc-max=1024:\
        :maxproc-cur=512:\
        :openfiles-cur=512:\
        :stacksize-cur=8M:\
        :memorylocked=4096M:\
        :vmemoryuse=9192M:\
        :localcipher=blowfish,8:\
        :ypcipher=old:\
        :tc=auth-defaults:\
        :tc=auth-ftp-defaults:

Afterwards I ran the following command and rebooted:

cap_mkdb /etc/login.conf

Java now starts as expected. However, I am wondering what the best solution is for the problem???

Exploring PAE is interesting but may not give me any advantages when compared to amd64??

[Oko]

I might be completely ignorant but I am not aware that you can assign certain amount of RAM to a video card. Is that something commonly done on other OSs?

[mayuka]

Afaik, most ULV processors from Intel come with an integrated graphic card that do not has dedicated memory. The graphic card utilizes some of the computer's system memory. Typically in UEFI BIOS you can set the amount of memory assigned to the graphic card.

http://ark.intel.com/products/87258/...up-to-2_08-GHz

http://www.asrock.com/Nettop/Intel/B...asp?cat=Manual

[jggimi]

Originally Posted by mayuka

...However, I am wondering what the best solution is for the problem???

The default login class is intentionally resource restricted. The staff class is commonly used for workstation users -- those who need to run applications with larger resource requirements such as browsers -- or in your case, Java.