# FreeBSD i386 4 gig memory



## StaticPhilly (May 15, 2010)

hello all,

simple question in which iv not been able to find a straight answer for while searching,

got a laptop with 4 gig of memory, if i install i386 will it use all 4 gig?

cheers,
Phil


----------



## graudeejs (May 15, 2010)

no
Install amd64


----------



## StaticPhilly (May 15, 2010)

thanks for the answer, just what i wanted xD

yea wish i could use amd64 however there is a nice bug with ndis and the 64 bit drivers (kernal panic)

looks like i might have to move back to linux... grr...

thanks again,
Phil


----------



## wblock@ (May 15, 2010)

No, some of that RAM will be ignored.  This is from an i386 system with 4G:

real memory  = 4294967296 (4096 MB)
avail memory = 3535728640 (3371 MB)

The extra RAM doesn't cause any problems, it's just not available.


----------



## graudeejs (May 15, 2010)

you can still use laptop on i386, the only problem is that you will use about 3.2-3.5G of RAM

Another option might be to compile custom kernel with PAE support, if you hardware supports this. Then you should be able to use 4G (someone fix me if I'm wrong)

However I remember some people used to say don't use PAE, because.....
I don't remember


----------



## dennylin93 (May 15, 2010)

PAE isn't very stable and hasn't been tested well. Better to stick with amd64 (at least that's what the Handbook says).


----------



## rden (May 15, 2010)

Hmm, are you sure you would even notice the difference between running with 3.2G instead of full 4G?  (At least when the amd64 NDIS driver is fixed you have a slightly easier transition.)


----------



## Zare (May 15, 2010)

Dynamic module loading doesn't work with PAE, as far as i know.
That means you'll have to compile all extra drivers into main kernel.


----------



## hydra (May 15, 2010)

What are you going to use your laptop for ? Check if the ports you need compile on amd64. With i386 and PAE you can use your 4GB of RAM, however you cannot load dynamic modules as mentioned above. On the other hand, you can run everything on that setup.


----------



## phoenix (May 15, 2010)

The other option is to go down the to local computer store, and pick up any of the 108 Mbps 802.11g wireless PCCard adapters.  Those are all using Atheros chipsets that are fully supported by FreeBSD (32-bit and 64-bit).


----------

