redhat enterprise linux 4 boots up slow with 2 GB RAM , boots fast with 512MB


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Thread: redhat enterprise linux 4 boots up slow with 2 GB RAM , boots fast with 512MB

  1. #1
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    redhat enterprise linux 4 boots up slow with 2 GB RAM , boots fast with 512MB

    Machine Configuration:
    I have assembled a new machine. Its Intel P4 3.0E Ghz HT enabled processor on ASUS P4P800-MX motherboard. I am using onboard graphics and sound. [Motherboard Spec]
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Socket 478, Intel865GV, Hyperthreading ready, integrated intel graphics, dualchannel DDR400, 10/100Mbps LAN, Serial ATA
    ----------------------------------------------------
    I have put in two 1 GB dual-channel RAM chips (OCZ technologies) in it.

    Problem
    I installed "Redhat Enterprise Linux 4 WS" on it (installation went super slow..took around 3 hours to complete). Now, it takes RHELv4 a whopping 18 MINUTES to boot up. WindowsXP pro (the other OS on this dual boot machine) boots up in less than 30 secs.

    Solutions tried
    1)
    Since my ASUS motherboard is SMP-enabled and my processor is HT enabled, RHELv4 installed an SML kernel and a normal kernel. But I get the same (very poor) performance from RHELv4, no matter which one (of the two kernels) I use to boot it up.
    In SMP-kernel case, I confirmed that cat /proc/cpuinfo shows
    2 processors being recognized by RHELv4 (even then the bootup takes 18-20 mins.)

    2)
    I read online about RHEL issues with 1GB+ memory.
    So, just to narrow down the issue, I took out these two 1 GB dual-channel RAM chips and put in a regular Kingston 512MB RAM chip
    and RHELv4 started booting up in less than a minute. So now I know the problem is with using 1 GB + RAM.

    3)
    I confirmed (2) by putting back only one 1GB RAM dual-channel RAM chip, and it started super slow (took around 18-20 mins to bootup again). I also tried passing in mem=1024M kernel parameter, but that did not help either. Even though the cat /proc/meminfo shows 1024MB of RAM being recogized by RHELv4.


    I did some search online and found some mixed opinions (which I havent tried yet..since I am not sure about them ,
    just listing them here and asking for more suggestions..

    a)
    Should I recompile my kernel with highmem support -
    Isn't highmem only suppposed to be used with 4 GB+ ram machines.?

    b)Is this slow bootup being caused by the onboard Integrated Intel graphics ?

    Any ideas which one of the above two or (any other alternatives) should i try... ? please help as I am running out of my options now.. Thanks in advance for any helpful tips..

  2. #2
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    i would say you must recompile your kernel in order to handle that amount of memory
    M3rlin

  3. #3
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    Hello M3rlin,
    thanks for your reply.
    What options should i use while recompiling the kernel.?
    Any helpful tips/links would be much appreciated .
    robin

  4. #4
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    not sure, but RH supports 4gb by "default" i believe...at least on the server version.

    also, 2gigs does not require the HUGEMEM if my own memory is working.

    Does RH boot stick somewhere?

  5. #5
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    Hi Happybunny,
    thanks for the reply.
    I am using RHELv4 Workstation version.
    Do I need HugeMem kernel in this case > Do I need to recompile the kernel for this support ?

    Can you please elaborate on the following 2 comments :
    Quote Originally Posted by happybunny
    also, 2gigs does not require the HUGEMEM if my own memory is working.

    Does RH boot stick somewhere?
    by the way, both RAM sticks are otherwise working fine if I boot my machine into WindowsXP pro ( on this dual boot machine..) control panel - system shows 2 gb of ram.

    Any help would be much appreciated?

  6. #6
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    i *think* hugemem is for installs with more the 4gigs of memory ( and up to 64gigs )

    When RH is booting.....where does it sit for 18 minutes? is it trying to start a process for 18 minutes? is the screen blank for 18 minutes? etc etc..

    also, once RH does boot, when you log in, do you see your 2gigs of ram?
    Last edited by happybunny; 05-09-2006 at 02:17 PM.

  7. #7
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    Just wondering, have you tested the memory to make sure it is good? Just because its new does'nt mean it's good. And also just because winxp will boot to it does'nt mean it's good.

  8. #8
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    Hi HappyBunny,
    Thanks for your help so far.. I will soon be posting my boot logs in here .. mentioning the steps that take most of the time (in my 18-20 mins of boot up..) as asked for by you below.

    Quote Originally Posted by happybunny
    i *think* hugemem is for installs with more the 4gigs of memory ( and up to 64gigs )

    When RH is booting.....where does it sit for 18 minutes? is it trying to start a process for 18 minutes? is the screen blank for 18 minutes? etc etc..

    also, once RH does boot, when you log in, do you see your 2gigs of ram?
    Hi mrrangerman43
    Thanks for the tip.

    Quote Originally Posted by mrrangerman43
    Just wondering, have you tested the memory to make sure it is good? Just because its new does'nt mean it's good. And also just because winxp will boot to it does'nt mean it's good.
    That's interesting. How else can i make sure that my two 1 GB ram sticks are good.
    1) My BIOS tells I have 2GB RAm when I start my machine and Windows XP tells I have 2 GB RAm when I boot into it..
    2) Is there anyother test that I can run to make sure my RAM sticks are good.. in this case. (though I am pretty sure they are good but it doesnt hurt to run a tool to double-check _ can you please suggest any ?)

  9. #9
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    memtest86

    let it run for about an hour or two

  10. #10
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    Hi Dkeav,
    thanks for your response.
    I will download the memtest86 (windows install) from http://www.memtest86.com/#install
    and run a detailed check on my two 1 GB ram sticks .
    Will soon post the results here..

    Since I am checking my hardware it doesn't matter whether I use the windows version of memtest86 or linux version.. rite ?
    I would prefer windows version since I know that will finish faster ...
    any comments..
    thanks for your help so far..
    robin

  11. #11
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    there is no real linux or windows version, download the boot cd or floppy version, boot it to run memtest

    or if you have a copy of system-rescue-cd or knoppix they already have memtest, just type memtest at the boot screen

  12. #12
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    hi... i still think you need to recompile the kernel. follow this link
    http://www.rackmount.com/pcwsupport/RHlinux/2GB-RAM.htm
    M3rlin

  13. #13
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    Hi HappyBunny,
    Quote Originally Posted by happybunny
    i *think* hugemem is for installs with more the 4gigs of memory ( and up to 64gigs )

    When RH is booting.....where does it sit for 18 minutes? is it trying to start a process for 18 minutes? is the screen blank for 18 minutes? etc etc..

    also, once RH does boot, when you log in, do you see your 2gigs of ram?
    I started up my RHELv4 WS with non-SMP kernel (I get almost same results with SMP-kernel) , here's the breakdown of the time taken during bootup..

    Code:
    Uncompressing linux ...OK         -- 5 secs
    Redhat Nash version 4.2.16 .. starting .. OK -- 5 secs.
    INIT: version 2.85 booting...              -- 30 secs
    Setting default font (latarcyrhab-sm16) -- 30 secs
    Starting udev                   -- 70 secs
    Intializing hardware....      -- 2 min
    storage                           --10 secs
    network                           --10 secs
    audio                               -- 2 mins 30 sec
    
    then the cursor kept blinking... 
    for the next thing to show up  ---- 3 min 40 secs
    
    then the progress bar (on graphical screen and "monitor" picture) 
    shows up.. setting up local disks              -1 min  
         (** i just got one 80GB seagate 7200 rpm disk)
    checking for new hardware                         -- 30 secs.
    Rest all the services/daemons took  5-8 sec each to startup..
    (around 15 of them..I just installed the default RHELv4 WS installation..) 
    
    Starting HAL daemon                                 -- 70 secs
    Then the login screen shows up in another   - 15 secs
    I logged in as root , enter
    the login (into Gnome) procedure takes       -- 70 secs
    (components like window manager, printing, etc. 
    took almost equal chunks to startup..)
    
    After starting up, the icons show up on Desktop very slowly
    (taking 10 secs) then the panels populate with icons 
    (one by one... slowly) in another 10 secs.
    It took 50 secs to start a Terminal Console..
    It took 40 secs to start Mozilla firefox...

    However, internet speed ( i have broadband connection) is fine.. I can browse to the sites etc. relatively faster (it took around 2-3 secs to fully load this justlinux.com site..)

    Here's the output of
    a) cat /proc/cpuinfo (since I booted using non-SMP kernel i see only one processor below.. If I use SMP-kernel , I see 2 processors below.. but the performance is still as bad..)

    Code:
    [root@localhost ~]# cat /proc/cpuinfo
    processor       : 0
    vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
    cpu family      : 15
    model           : 4
    model name      : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
    stepping        : 1
    cpu MHz         : 3001.653
    cache size      : 1024 KB
    fdiv_bug        : no
    hlt_bug         : no
    f00f_bug        : no
    coma_bug        : no
    fpu             : yes
    fpu_exception   : yes
    cpuid level     : 5
    wp              : yes
    flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe pni monitor ds_cpl cid xtpr
    bogomips        : 6005.60
    b) cat /proc/meminfo (correctly identifies 2 GB of RAM in MemTotal, if I take out 1 GB ram stick, it will correctly show 1GB RAM in MemTotal)
    Code:
    [root@localhost ~]# cat /proc/meminfo
    MemTotal:      2067192 kB
    MemFree:       1691872 kB
    Buffers:         18008 kB
    Cached:         170660 kB
    SwapCached:          0 kB
    Active:         155972 kB
    Inactive:       127900 kB
    HighTotal:     1170624 kB
    HighFree:       897600 kB
    LowTotal:       896568 kB
    LowFree:        794272 kB
    SwapTotal:     4610644 kB
    SwapFree:      4610644 kB
    Dirty:             680 kB
    Writeback:           0 kB
    Mapped:         137188 kB
    Slab:            20152 kB
    Committed_AS:   320500 kB
    PageTables:       2388 kB
    VmallocTotal:   106488 kB
    VmallocUsed:      5800 kB
    VmallocChunk:   100340 kB
    HugePages_Total:     0
    HugePages_Free:      0
    Hugepagesize:     4096 kB
    Any idea , why things are so slow.. despite my processor and RAM being recognized correctly.. seems like I have to re-compile my kernel.. :-(
    I am not a very advanced linux user (* just learning it now a days..) I guess I will have to resort to this option , if there's nothing else that can be suggested in this case..
    Any other alternatives that I can try before re-compiling my kernel..????
    Any helpful tips will be much appreciated..
    robin


    (EVERYBODY PLEASE MAKE SURE , YOU CHECK THE NEXT PAGE OF THIS THREAD.. JUST MAKING SURE IT DOES CATCH YOUR ATTENTION, MY LATEST RESPONSES ARE ON PAGE 2 OF THIS THREAD..Any helpful tips will be much appreciated..)
    Last edited by robinsingh; 05-11-2006 at 12:21 AM.

  14. #14
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    i take it memtest showed the memory as being fine?

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by robinsingh
    b) cat /proc/meminfo (correctly identifies 2 GB of RAM in MemTotal, if I take out 1 GB ram stick, it will correctly show 1GB RAM in MemTotal)
    Code:
    [root@localhost ~]# cat /proc/meminfo
    MemTotal:      2067192 kB
    MemFree:       1691872 kB
    Buffers:         18008 kB
    Cached:         170660 kB
    SwapCached:          0 kB
    Active:         155972 kB
    Inactive:       127900 kB
    HighTotal:     1170624 kB
    HighFree:       897600 kB
    LowTotal:       896568 kB
    LowFree:        794272 kB
    SwapTotal:     4610644 kB
    SwapFree:      4610644 kB
    Dirty:             680 kB
    Writeback:           0 kB
    Mapped:         137188 kB
    Slab:            20152 kB
    Committed_AS:   320500 kB
    PageTables:       2388 kB
    VmallocTotal:   106488 kB
    VmallocUsed:      5800 kB
    VmallocChunk:   100340 kB
    HugePages_Total:     0
    HugePages_Free:      0
    Hugepagesize:     4096 kB
    Any idea , why things are so slow.. despite my processor and RAM being recognized correctly.. seems like I have to re-compile my kernel..
    I don't believe that will help. If your system is seeing the full 2 GB then your kernel is already compiled for large mem support, and even if it weren't it wouldn't slow down your system like that. All that would happen is you'd only have 896 MB or something like that available. Does "top" show anything using the CPU when you boot with the full 2 GB?

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