4gb not being recognized on 64-bit business vista

[adreen]

i've been searching for reasons...but it's coming up with some ancient info.
i'm running it on an asus a8js laptop, 2x2gb mushkin dual channel ddr667 ram.
i installed both dimms and reformatted from xp to vista business 64.
was i supposed to install only 2gb first, then add the other 2gb after installation?
sorry, i would really appreciate a response.
i really don't feel like reinstalling vista lol...any ways around this?

 

[notherdude]

How much ram is recognized?

We need more info. You might need to enable memory remapping in the bios. Try that.

You only need to install with 2 gig if you get a blue screen trying to install with more than 2.

 

[adreen]

oh i see...
2943mb is recognized of the RAM on both system and bios.
it's 2x2gb so dimms in dual channel, it recognizes both dimms, so it shouldn't be an installation problem.
i don't have enable memory remapping option in my bios for my laptop.
argh, frustrating! please help!
i flashed the bios to the most current version aswell

 

[notherdude]

did you confirm that laptop will expand to 4 gig?

From the specs listed here http://archive.laptopmag.com/Review/Asus-A8Js.htm?Page=0 it appears it only is supposed to go up to 2

 

[notherdude]

I tried googling, Asus website as usual is WORTHLESS! but everything I read says that the machine is capped at 2 gig.

 

[adreen]

if it's capped at 2 gig...that doesn't explain why i'm at 2.943 gig RAM lmao...

 

[notherdude]

no, that doesn't explain 2.943, but maybe they don't even mention the fact you will get 3 gig out of 2, 2 gig dimms since that could be confusing. So I guess the extra gig is a bonus then. Hard to say. Asus's documentation is so crappy . . . .this ram thing is not always an exact science.

 

[adreen]

blah...so i guess i'm out of luck huh..thanks

 

[ymmv]

Check your bios settings. My ASUS motherboard had a specific memory setting for 64 bit OSes. Turn that on and Vista 64 will recognize 4GB

 

[betaabc]

This is most probably due to chipset limitation. For Intel notebook, recent computer that could power 2*2GB configuration perfectly is P965 and P45.
945M chipset, which is developpd much earlier, is quite different. It cannot recognize all the memory installed if you plug in a 2*2GB set, only to read around 3GB of it. Hardware shortcoming...Nobody can change that.

Your ASUS laptop is built upon 945M chipset. So due to its hardware limitation, it can only recognize 2.93, or about 3GB of the memory, it is quite normal. The chipset just cannot see those many MBs of memory.