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DrxCool

6 Posts

29925

April 10th, 2007 04:00

Inspiron 9400 support for 4GB ram on 64 bit vista

Hello,
 
I have done a lot of searching on this forum and others but cannot find the answer to this!
 
Does anybody know if progress has been made in order to enable the Inspiron 9400 with Vista 64 bit installed to see a full 4GB of installed memory.
 
I noticed a bios update for this unit in February of 2007 but it made no mention of this issue.
 
Answers or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
 
 

Rebel9

2.9K Posts

April 10th, 2007 13:00

How about this? In this article, there is a link to an update for Vista 64 bit versions.

DrxCool

6 Posts

April 10th, 2007 15:00

That is not what I'm looking for. Based on what I've seen on these forums, the Inspiron 9400 Bios is what is preventing the recognition of the full 4GB. People have reported the issue after trying the fix from Microsoft and installing 64 bit Vista.
 
Why is Dell so silent on major issues like this. I've read posts from people who have purchased notebooks with 64bit vista and 4GB of ram only to find that not all of the RAM is recognised. Sure Dell puts a disclaimer in fine print at the bottom of the web page where you order the computer but nobody in their right mind would call this good customer service.
 
Anyone out there have an inspiron 9400 with Vista 64bit and recognizing a full 4Gb of memory?
 
 
 
 

GioAguilar

1.9K Posts

April 11th, 2007 00:00

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

 
 
You will find there your computer, support 4Gb of RAM, also, the patch above help to recognized the 4Gb of RAM

DrxCool

6 Posts

April 11th, 2007 11:00

I appreciate the help.
 
However, this is still not clear. Can you confirm that you have an Inspiron 9400 with 4GB running 64 bit vista installed and you have access to the full 4GB of memory.
 
The link you provided clearly indicates the notebook will accept 4GB of RAM. However, the patch you refer to refers to installing vista on a machine with more than 3 GB of RAM. It does not specifically address my question.
 
 

DrxCool

6 Posts

April 12th, 2007 00:00

Thanks again,
 
I called Dell Support today and they told me it will work as well. The support person I was speaking to was not too knowledgeable on the topic but once I pointed out  that she was not providing the correct information (she initially said it was possible even with 32bit vista) she was helpful in researching the issue.
 
Apparently they do have some internal documentation on the issue but she could not share it with me. She is supposed to get back to me with any additional info she can find. She mentioned the requirement to turn off some of the hardware in the BIOS setup before installing 64 bit vista but was not overly specific.
 
I ordered the 4 GB of Ram today and should have it tomorrow or friday. Once I get it I will perform the install and use the information provided above. I will post my experience here.
 
I hope it works!

GioAguilar

1.9K Posts

April 12th, 2007 00:00

NO, mine is a E1505 with Vista Ultimate x86... But as far as I read on other forums, it works...

boboche

2 Posts

July 21st, 2007 02:00

I've read the link for DELL support on the inspiron 9400 posted above and by independent searching, it states maximum 2GB total memory, I don't know where people saw 4GB but I read 2.

I have an Inspiron 9400.... and I would like to know if I am wasting my time and money ordering 2x2GB for a total of 4GB, or not. I am planning on installing vista x64 as well... I don't care about patching and doing modifications, but I do care about buying 4GB of ram what would clip to 2 because of lack of bios or hardware support.

Anyone at dell can confirm that it will work or not?

Thanks!

picohen

8 Posts

July 22nd, 2007 21:00

This is the confirmation of 2 GB:
< ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
 
But there is a little room for 'hope' if you search the online documentation here:
 
If you scroll to the bottom of the page it says:
NOTE: Since the computer operating system reserves some memory for system files and activities, the amount of available memory that is displayed will be less than the total memory installed. If you install two 2-GB memory modules for a total of 4 GB, the memory total is reported as being less than 4 GB in the system setup program and by the Microsoft® Windows® operating system.
 
I added the bold for emphasis.  So...the question is how much less -- just what the OS is consuming?  Big deal...that's what we have all the time.  Or are we talking about something as major as the 4 GB is actually addressable, but reported incorrectly (for example, not more than than 2 GB?) 
 
Anyone have any REAL data to post?  I only have 512 MB and am looking to upgrade to as much as I can because I will be running multiple virtual machines with VMware Workstation on this machine, so the more RAM I can get, the happier my VMs will be. 
 
Anyone who can actually see more than 2 GB on their Inspiron 9400 should speak up on this one.
 
Thanks,
Phil

DrxCool

6 Posts

July 22nd, 2007 22:00

I did upgrade my notebook to 4 Gb of Ram. What is available is 3.35 GB of RAM. This particular version of the Core Duo does not support 64 bit as it is one of the earlier ones so this is the limit in terms of usable memory with this machine. It runs pretty nicely though.
 
 

DrxCool

6 Posts

July 23rd, 2007 12:00

Hello,
 
Both of the above. 
 
My Computer actually reports 3326 MB. What is reported as available in task manager would be this amount less whatever applications (like the OS) are currently running.
 
 
 
 
 
 

picohen

8 Posts

July 23rd, 2007 12:00

D,
When you say 3.35 GB available, do you mean:
a. what the OS can see?
b. what perfmon or Task Manager reports as Available MBytes (average)?

What tools are you using? For example, on my Windows XP system right now, I am able to check the properties on 'My Computer' and see that there is (correctly) a full 2 GB installed.

But when I check Task Manager, I see I have 1.5 GB available.

- Phil

Airblazer

251 Posts

November 30th, 2007 08:00

Hi all..I think the previous bios change might have had something to do with it. I was running 4gb of ram and was recognizing the full 4gb...now however it's only seeing 3325...i must flash back and see how it goes..

JacquesA

40 Posts

November 7th, 2011 12:00

Based on what I have read, the limitation appears to be caused by the chipset. While it can address 4GB of memory, space is still required for all the I/O addresses and this reduces the total amount available.

If it is a chipset limitation, 64 bit support from the CPU is irrelevant.

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