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January 23rd, 2013 17:00

SBS 2003 Reporting Incorrect Memory 1gb instead of 4gb. OpenManage Reporting 4gb Correctly

I have a Dell Poweredge 2900 with 4gb physical memory. Running SBS 2003 SP2. Been running ok since installation - about 2006.

Had to restart the server a couple days ago. When I logged in there was a license notification msg that said I had 3 days left on license & needed to activate. Thought this was strange as everything was running fine & license was  activated on initial installation. Did an (re)activation anyway over the Internet, which seemed to worked ok. 

The next day users reported server sluggishness. I investigated & noticed the OS reported only 1GB memory while the Dell Management tool reported 4GB RAM.

There is nothing strange in system logs & hardware logs.  

Below are reports from a) The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator and b) The SBS 2003 Server Information Software.

These reports confirm that Dell sees 4gb & OS sees only 1gb

Anyone have any ideas? And how to fix?

 
________________________________________________
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator - From Dell Hardware Diagnostic Perspective
 
 Main System Chassis
 Chassis Information
 Chassis Model  PowerEdge 2900
 Chassis Service Tag  removed for privacy
 Chassis Lock  Present
 Chassis Asset Tag

 Processor 1
 Processor Brand  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5160 @ 3.00GHz
 Processor Version  Model 15 Stepping 6
 Voltage  1400 mV

 Processor 2
 Processor Brand  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5160 @ 3.00GHz
 Processor Version  Model 15 Stepping 6
 Voltage  1400 mV

 Memory
 Total Installed Capacity  4096 MB
 Memory Available to the OS  4096 MB
 Total Maximum Capacity  65280 MB
 Memory Array Count  1

 Memory Array 1
 Location  System Board or Motherboard
 Use  System Memory
 Installed Capacity  4096 MB
 Maximum Capacity  65280 MB
 Slots Available  12
 Slots Used  4
 ECC Type  Multibit ECC

 Slot PCI1
 Adapter  [Not Occupied]
 Type  PCI X
 Data Bus Width  64 Bits
 Speed  [Not Obtained, see card documentation]
 Slot Length  Long
 Voltage Supply  3.3 Volts

 Slot PCI2
 Adapter  [Not Occupied]
 Type  PCI X
 Data Bus Width  64 Bits
 Speed  [Not Obtained, see card documentation]
 Slot Length  Long
 Voltage Supply  3.3 Volts

 Slot PCI3
 Adapter  [Not Occupied]
 Type  PCI E
 Data Bus Width  8x or x8
 Speed  [Not Obtained, see card documentation]
 Slot Length  Long
 Voltage Supply  3.3 Volts

 Slot PCI4
 Adapter  [Not Occupied]
 Type  PCI E
 Data Bus Width  4x or x4
 Speed  [Not Obtained, see card documentation]
 Slot Length  Long
 Voltage Supply  3.3 Volts

 Slot PCI5
 Adapter  [Not Occupied]
 Type  PCI E
 Data Bus Width  4x or x4
 Speed  [Not Obtained, see card documentation]
 Slot Length  Long
 Voltage Supply  3.3 Volts

 Slot PCI6
 Adapter  [Not Occupied]
 Type  PCI E
 Data Bus Width  4x or x4
 Speed  [Not Obtained, see card documentation]
 Slot Length  Long
 Voltage Supply  3.3 Volts

 BIOS Information
 Manufacturer  Dell Inc.
 Version  2.7.0
 Release Date  10/30/2010

 Firmware Information
 Name  Baseboard Management Controller
 Version  2.37

 Network Data
 Network Interface 0
 IP Address  192.168.17.12
 Subnet Mask  255.255.255.0
 Default Gateway  192.168.17.1
 MAC Address  00188B36BEDA

 Network Interface 1
 IP Address  [No Value]

 Software Profile
 Operating System
 Name  Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Small Business Server
 Version  Version 5.2 (Build 3790 : Service Pack 2) (x86)
 System Time  Wed Jan 23 20:29:44 2013
 System Bootup Time  Wed Jan 23 09:41:48 2013

 Systems Management
 Name  Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
 Version  5.0.0
 Description  Systems Management Software
 Contains  Broadcom SNMP Agent 8.26.1
   Common Storage Module 2.0.0
   Data Engine 5.6.0
   Hardware Application Programming Interface 5.6.0
   Remote Access Controller Managed Node 6.2.0
   Remote Access Controller Data Populator 6.2.0
   Instrumentation Service 5.6.0
   Secure Port Server 1.0.0
   Sun Java Runtime Environment 1.5.0
   Diagnostic Service 3.6.0
   OLD Common Components 1.3.0
   Server Administrator Framework 3.0.0
   Instrumentation Service Integration Layer 3.0.0
   OpenManage Inventory Collector 2.4.0
   Storage Management 2.0.0
   OpenManage Tools 3.0.0
   Remote Access Controller 5 Managed Node 5.0.0
   Remote Access Controller 5 Data Populator 5.6.0
 
 
Attributes of Memory Array(s)


  Attributes Memory Array 1

Location System Board or Motherboard
Use System Memory
Installed Capacity 4096 MB
Maximum Capacity 65280 MB
Slots Available 12
Slots Used 4
ECC Type Multibit ECC



 [Back to top ]

   Total of Memory Array(s)

Total Installed Capacity 4096 MB
Total Installed Capacity Available to the OS 4096 MB
Total Maximum Capacity 65280 MB

   Details of Memory Array 1

  Click the connector name of Memory Array 1 to view its memory device
details.


  Status Connector Name Type Size

 DIMM1  DDR2 FB-DIMM-SYNCHRONOUS 1024 MB
 DIMM2  DDR2 FB-DIMM-SYNCHRONOUS 1024 MB
 DIMM3  DDR2 FB-DIMM-SYNCHRONOUS 1024 MB
 DIMM4  DDR2 FB-DIMM-SYNCHRONOUS 1024 MB
 DIMM5  [Not Occupied]
 DIMM6  [Not Occupied]
 DIMM7  [Not Occupied]
 DIMM8  [Not Occupied]
 DIMM9  [Not Occupied]
 DIMM10 [Not Occupied]
 DIMM11 [Not Occupied]
 DIMM12 [Not Occupied]
 
__________________________________________
Microsft SBS Server Information - from MS SBS 2003 Server OS Tool.
 
OS Name	Microsoft(R) Windows(R) Server 2003 for Small Business Server
Version	5.2.3790 Service Pack 2 Build 3790
Other OS Description 	Not Available
OS Manufacturer	Microsoft Corporation
System Name	SRV01
System Manufacturer	Dell Inc.
System Model	PowerEdge 2900
System Type	X86-based PC
Processor	x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2992 Mhz
Processor	x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2992 Mhz
Processor	x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2992 Mhz
Processor	x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6 GenuineIntel ~2992 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date	Dell Inc. 2.7.0, 10/30/2010
SMBIOS Version	2.5
Windows Directory	C:\WINDOWS
System Directory	C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device	\Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale	United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer	Version = "5.2.3790.3959 (srv03_sp2_rtm.070216-1710)"
User Name	Not Available
Time Zone	Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory	1,018.82 MB
Available Physical Memory	121.64 MB
Total Virtual Memory	2.41 GB
Available Virtual Memory	645.95 MB
Page File Space	1.49 GB
Page File	C:\pagefile.sys

3 Apprentice

 • 

898 Posts

January 24th, 2013 14:00

can you post your boot.ini to see what it looks like?

4 Posts

January 24th, 2013 20:00

[boot loader]

timeout=10

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

3 Apprentice

 • 

898 Posts

January 25th, 2013 08:00

the only thing that comes to mind is to add the /PAE switch, so that it reads:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn /PAE

4 Posts

January 25th, 2013 19:00

After poking around the net I found something called "Install Mode". Would this have anything to do with my issue? I would also like to confirm if the PowerEdge 2900 has the same BIOS Setup information as the 2850? I found this  link but not a 2900 one - www.darklab.rutgers.edu/.../pe2850dell.html  . Perhaps someone has a link to the PowerEdge 2900 BIOS Setup information?

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