Upgrading RAM to max capacity

I have an original Asus G1 (AK008M) with 2GB of RAM. I've decided it would be nice to upgrade to the maximum supported by my laptop. However finding this limit is not easy. Technically, the specs state that 2GB is the limit, but from what I've read, the components should support 4GB. I just got 2X2GB RAM modules and installed them.

Issue: The BIOS only recognized 3GB. I updated the BIOS to the most recent one available for this model, but it still only sees 3GB.

Any help with this? I would really like to upgrade to 4GB RAM since it is in principle possible but I don't know how to make it happen!

Also, I'm aware of the limitations of 32 bit OSes vs 64 bit, so that is not relevant here. I initially intend to use PAE to recognize the 4GB in the OS and eventually upgrade to 64 bit. Right now the issue is that the BIOS doesn't see more than 3GB. Any info would be very much appreciated!

 

The bios may never have been programed to support over 3 GB. Essentially the bios places the ceiling for the hardware addresses at over 3GB creating a hole. The bios then will only report to that point..............

 

It's up to the manufacturer.
If they don't rewrite the BIOS to support 4GB, then the premise that the chipset supports it is effectively nullified.

I hate when that happens to be honest.
Is it so hard for the manufacturer to write a BIOS that supports all of the hardware the chipset is capable of?

No, but it's not in their interest that customers should make minor upgrades to the hardware and boost performance.... no, we HAVE to buy new laptops altogether.

Anyway... PAE is not a solution AT ALL.
It won't really do anything for you.
What you might want to do is install a x64 OS to see if it will recognize and use all 4GB.

I think there have been cases where the BIOS reported it can see only 3GB but the OS would be able to see and use all 4GB.

Another option you might want to consider would be that you have a defective RAM stick or slot.

You might want to test the RAM sticks individually and see what the BIOS reports (just so we eliminate the hardware as a possible culprit).

Perhaps you might try flashing to an older BIOS version.
I seem to recall a colleague from the Acer 5930G thread mentioned that when he upgraded his BIOS, the OS wouldn't recognize all 4GB (only 3).

 

Windows OS has a PnP layer in it's bios that alows for hardware resource reassignment. In a case where the OS can see the memory chips and is given full capability of hardware resource assignment at bios level it can essentially use the entire 4 GB. There is no garenty here though as there are alot of hidden variables. So it is in theory possible with a 64 bit Windows OS, not probable though.................

 

I will try some live 64bit OS, probably Ubuntu, when I get home.

I have also read that the OS (Windows) will sometimes recognize the full 4GB of RAM even if the BIOS does not, but in those cases apparently the OS could not actually use the full 4GB, it just saw that it was there. At least that's what I understood from what I read. Anyways, I'll give it a shot.

If things don't work out at all, I might just put 1+2GB of RAM to get at least 3GB total and not waste money or RAM.

I doubt there's anything wrong with the RAM modules or slots, as everything works fine, whether with the old modules or the new. I also ran memtest overnight and everything checks out.

 

Win7x86 will 'show' 4GB RAM (if the BIOS isn't restricting it as it seems to be in your case), but will still only be able to use much less than that ~3.5GB at the most - depending on specific hardware installed.

If you get Ubuntu x64 to use/show 4GB RAM, then chances are Win7x64 will be able to use it too.

Good luck.

 

G1 has the Intel 945PM chipset, so there is your problem.

Intel Chipsets 945GM/PM/etc do not support more than 3GB(sometimes a little more depending on hardware), even when a 64-bit operating system is installed...2GB limit was probably what they tested it with or 2GB sticks wasn't available when the manual/reference was made and 'support' can mean different things.

The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed

Besides maxing out the ram, I suggest looking into SSDs/or faster HDDs.

 

go to page 325, it explains it better. Again if the O/S level PnP Bios will not free the resource, or move the holes etc, the extra ram will not be available. It looks like the concensus out there is it won't move the resources and they are locked..............

 

945 PM/GM will support 4 GB. With BIOS limitations, usable RAM will vary between 3-3.5 GB. Lenovo restricted theirs to 3 GB while Dell was ~3.25-3.5 GB.

 

Probably won't take 4GB.. Looks like 3GB will be max.

 

I tried Ubuntu x64 Live from a USB stick and I still see only ~3GB RAM. Thank you all so much for all the info and links. I might try another 64 bit live OS but it's looking like 3GB is really the limit. I will have to return the 2X2GB kit and probably just get one 2GB module to have 3GB total.

As a side note, I thought maybe I'd spare someone a lot of wasted time by mentioning that to get the G1 to boot from USB, you have to choose the HD boot priority in the BIOS to boot from USB HD before internal HDD. I was only changing the device priority (Removable, CD, Network, HDD, etc) but apparently my 8GB USB stick is not a removable device, but a USB HDD! And this is listed separately in the BIOS. Wasted sooo much time reformatting various USB sticks and rebooting, all because of this tricky little option hidden away in the BIOS.