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szzsqing1
07-28-2016, 03:29 PM
My Dell N5040 notebook had 2GB phisical memory. Yesterday it was added more 2GB.

root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix# dmidecode -t 17
# dmidecode 3.0
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0016, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0014
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM_A
Bank Locator: DIMM_A
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 1333 MHz
Manufacturer: AD80
Serial Number: 35C7182F
Asset Tag: 1136
Part Number: HMT325S6CFR8C-H9
Rank: 1

Handle 0x0018, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
Array Handle: 0x0014
Error Information Handle: Not Provided
Total Width: 64 bits
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 2048 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Set: None
Locator: DIMM_B
Bank Locator: DIMM_B
Type: DDR3
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 1333 MHz
Manufacturer: 5D85
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: 1430
Part Number: EBJ20UF8BDU0-GN-F
Rank: 1

root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix#
But Knoppix see only 2,9G.

root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix# free -h
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 2,9G 699M 743M 254M 1,5G 1,9G
I tried "knoppix64", "mem=4096M", "nozram" (separate and together) cheatcodes, but nothing changed. While SystemRescCD in 64bit mode saw 3,7 GB memory.
Actually I suppose what is the problem but it does not help me since I cannot resolve it. When I boot Knoppix in 64bit mode, it boots in 32bit mode... Since with "knoppix64" cheatcode I get:

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ uname -m
i686
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$
While using SystemRescCD in 64bit mode I got "x86_64".
I run Knoppix 7.6.1 from ISO file.

utu
07-29-2016, 12:07 AM
Greetings.

This is a puzzling report.

I have a 64-bit Dell 1545 with 4 Gb ram and Knoppix 7.6.1 automatically realizes
and provides a 64-bit kernel which recognizes all the ram. Its a Win7 machine, so it
uses Legacy boot, not uefi.

You might see if you can Legacy boot your machine and get around your problem that way.
I know Win8 Dells have both legacy and uefi boot choices; maybe your machine does as well.

Hope that helps.

szzsqing1
07-29-2016, 07:24 PM
My boot is quite different. On my HDD there is not installed any OS. I use only live systems (mainly Knoppix in live mode) run from ISO files copied to HDD. The boot is provided by an installed GRUB2 (made with SystemRescCD) and manually edited grub.cfg file.
But reading your reply I have found the solution.
This was the wrong menuentry in the grub.cfg file:

menuentry "KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN 64b hu London" {
set ISO=boot-isos/KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN.iso
loopback loop /$ISO
linux (loop)/boot/isolinux/linux knoppix64 bootfrom=/dev/sda1/$ISO nostartsound noeject noprompt lang=hu tz=Europe/London --
initrd (loop)/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz
}
The problem was that I should have used "linux64", not "linux". First I tried "linux64" and "knoppix64" but the system could not started. So here is the good version:

menuentry "KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN 64b hu London" {
set ISO=boot-isos/KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN.iso
loopback loop /$ISO
linux (loop)/boot/isolinux/linux64 knoppix bootfrom=/dev/sda1/$ISO nostartsound noeject noprompt lang=hu tz=Europe/London --
initrd (loop)/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz
}
Now Knoppix - like SystemRescCD - can see 3,7G.

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ free -h
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 3,7G 241M 2,5G 143M 999M 3,2G
Swap: 2,7G 0B 2,7G
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$
Thank you for your help.

szzsqing1
07-31-2016, 08:35 PM
Thank you. I use only live systems run from ISO files with manually installed GRUB2. Reading your post I found the solution. I should have used linux64 (instead of linux) in my grub.cfg file. By this way Knoppix see 3,7G total memory as SystemRescCD does.
But quite many times the system crashed at "System setup OK" (boot screen). No matter if I used knoppix or knoppix64 cheatcode. The solution was applying "nozram". So, the right (hope) menuentry in the grub.cfg file:

menuentry "KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN 64b hu London" {
set ISO=boot-isos/KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN.iso
loopback loop /$ISO
linux (loop)/boot/isolinux/linux64 knoppix nozram bootfrom=/dev/sda1/$ISO nostartsound noeject noprompt lang=hu tz=Europe/London --
initrd (loop)/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz
}

Also sometimes (this is not related to 64bit kernel) after the boot screen does not start X but a black monitor. This issue I resolve by pressing the power button. Then X starts...

utu
07-31-2016, 09:27 PM
Hello, again.
I think you may have an unnecessary 'knoppix' cheatcode right after the knoppix64 cheatcode.
I think you should see if deleting it helps a little.
Used by itself, ' knoppix' cheatcode means 'use a 32-bit kernel'.

utu
07-31-2016, 09:56 PM
Hello, again.
I think you may have an unnecessary 'knoppix' cheatcode right after the knoppix64 cheatcode.
I think you should see if deleting it helps a little.
Used by itself, ' knoppix' cheatcode means 'use a 32-bit kernel'.
Let me start over on this.

I think you may need to review and possibly change your boot parameters.
linux64 is a cheatcode for wine; knoppix is a cheatcode for 32-bit kernel.
Knoppix 7.6.1 in uefi mode should automatically select a 64-bit kernel.
I think what you may want here is to delete both uses of linux64 and knoppix and see if that works
If not, then let your first cheatcode be knoppix64.

Werner P. Schulz
08-01-2016, 08:46 AM
linux (loop)/boot/isolinux/linux knoppix64 ....With "ISO install to HD (http://knoppix.net/wiki/Category:Hard_drive_Installation#ISO_install_to_HD )" you don't need the cheatcode "knoppix" or "knoppix64"; therefore you have to omit this cheatcode in this installation mode.. You already did your decision which Kernel you want using "../isolinux/linux" or "../isolinux/linux64".

By the way: the cheatcode "nostartsound" isn't supported within the new Knoppix versions.

szzsqing1
08-03-2016, 03:04 PM
I have omitted knoppix64 and nostartsound cheatcodes. But the "nozram" is necessary. (Maybe because of my hardware?)
My test results: (20 boots in both cases)
1)


menuentry "KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN 64b hu London" {
set ISO=boot-isos/KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN.iso
loopback loop /$ISO
linux (loop)/boot/isolinux/linux64 bootfrom=/dev/sda1/$ISO noswap noeject noprompt lang=hu tz=Europe/London --
initrd (loop)/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz
}



knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ free -h
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 3,7G 102M 3,0G 76M 568M 3,4G
Swap: 2,7G 0B 2,7G
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

/home total: 2,9 GiB
/tmp total: 2,0 GiB
I use "noswap" because I do not have any swap partition or file (I do not want to use my HDD as memory).
In this case Knoppix crashed 6 times. Crashed: the system crashed at the point "System Setup... OK" (boot screen). So that I could switch off the PC only by force (holding the power button down for seconds).
2)


menuentry "KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN 64b hu London" {
set ISO=boot-isos/KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN.iso
loopback loop /$ISO
linux (loop)/boot/isolinux/linux64 bootfrom=/dev/sda1/$ISO nozram noswap noeject noprompt lang=hu tz=Europe/London --
initrd (loop)/boot/isolinux/minirt.gz
}



knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ free -h
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 3,7G 96M 3,0G 94M 605M 3,4G
Swap: 0B 0B 0B
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

/home total: 2,9 GiB
/tmp total: 2,0 GiB
In this case Knoppix crashed 0 times.
I did tests with 32bit, too. But in this case there was no difference if I added "nozram" or not. (So I did not added.) With 32bit Knoppix crashes in other way but much more less. As I have said before, after the boot screen does not start X but only a black monitor.

About the persistence (Category:Hard drive Installation (http://knoppix.net/wiki/Category:Hard_drive_Installation)) I have a question. How is executed the saving process into the knoppix-data.img file:
1) continuously (I mean changes are written to HDD as we do it);
2) or changes are written in memory and only at shutdown are saved to HDD (into the knoppix-data.img file).
Although already I do not use any persistence, solving my "persistence" with scripts (to not carry forward the problems to the next boot), I am curious.
Regarding to my way of persistence, I would have a request to Mr Klaus Knopper. If we boot Knoppix from ISO file, we found on the desktop "mnt-system" folder (as when using a DVD disc). But in this case it will be more useful an "mnt-iso" folder. For example, I store my persistence script (executed manually after boot) in the same partition with the Knoppix ISO file, and reaching it would be more faster.

superman
08-03-2016, 05:07 PM
@szzsqing1

It's interesting to see the result of Test Case 1 in which the swap device is still created even though the noswap parameter has been given. If the script, /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig, is the only knoppix-specific script controlling the swap-related stuff, I reckon that the swap file/device is set up on the ram using zram module unless the knoppix.swp exists in either the folder of /mnt-system/KNOPPIX or /mnt-system. So in my option there is no need to worry too much about wearing out the NAND chips.



-- snipped --

/home total: 2,9 GiB
/tmp total: 2,0 GiB

-- snipped --


Just out of curiosity, how are these figures(output) obtained?

szzsqing1
08-05-2016, 09:44 AM
@superman Yes, with "noswap" and with NOT "nozram", zram is used for swapping.

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ free -h
total used free shared buff/cache available
Mem: 3,7G 102M 2,9G 148M 636M 3,3G
Swap: 2,7G 0B 2,7G
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ cat /proc/cmdline
lang=de video=vga16fb:off apm=power-off nomce libata.force=noncq hpsa.hpsa_allow_any=1 loglevel=1 BOOT_IMAGE=(loop)/boot/isolinux/linux64 bootfrom=/dev/sda1/boot-isos/KNOPPIX_V7.6.1DVD-2016-01-16-EN.iso noswap noeject noprompt lang=hu tz=Europe/London --
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$

"/home total: 2,9 GiB": I simply started PCManFM and looked at status bar. I did this to see if there is any difference in sizes of home and tmp directories if there exists swap or not.