REGISTER MEMORY

Purpose

Use at the server console to configure the operating system to recognize installed memory above the amount of memory that is automatically registered. NetWare^® 6 can address up to 4 GB.

IMPORTANT: Use the REGISTER MEMORY command only if absolutely necessary. Manually registering memory can cause memory fragmentation. Ideally, you should upgrade the system board so that NetWare's automatic memory registration will work.

Before using REGISTER MEMORY, try the following:

Review the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files to make sure nothing is being loaded on the server that prevents memory recognition: sometimes a real mode driver or a memory manager stops NetWare from registering memory above 64 MB.

If your server contains an older network board, such as many ISA and MCA devices, upgrade to a newer board.

If you have access to the World Wide Web, search the knowledge base at http://support.novell.com for Register Memory topics.

Syntax

REGISTER MEMORY start_address amount

Parameter	Use to
start_address	Specify the hexadecimal address where the memory you're adding will start. This is the amount of RAM your server currently recognizes and addresses. This number is usually 16 MB (1000000h); however, the default varies depending on the machine type. To obtain the start address, use the MEMORY command and convert its output to hexadecimal.
amount	Specify an amount of memory, expressed in hexadecimal, that is installed beyond the start address. This number must be divisible by 10h. Up to 1 GB can be registered at one time.

Parameter

Use to

start_address

Specify the hexadecimal address where the memory you're adding will start. This is the amount of RAM your server currently recognizes and addresses.

This number is usually 16 MB (1000000h); however, the default varies depending on the machine type.

To obtain the start address, use the MEMORY command and convert its output to hexadecimal.

amount

Specify an amount of memory, expressed in hexadecimal, that is installed beyond the start address. This number must be divisible by 10h. Up to 1 GB can be registered at one time.

NOTE: In the preceding table and in the following sections, the h after the number denotes a hexadecimal number. The d denotes a decimal number.

For example, 1000000h is 1 million in hexadecimal, and 1000000d is 1 million in decimal.

The hexadecimal numbers A through F correspond to the decimal numbers 10 through 15, respectively.

Using REGISTER MEMORY

NetWare registers all memory that it recognizes according to bus type. On an ISA bus, NetWare recognizes up to 16 MB. On an EISA or MCA bus, NetWare recognizes all of the memory that is present. On a computer with a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, NetWare 6 recognizes up to 4 GB.

To have the additional memory registered automatically when the server boots, add the REGISTER MEMORY line to the STARTUP.NCF file.
IMPORTANT: Place the REGISTER MEMORY command before the command to load disk drivers in the STARTUP.NCF file so that the registered memory will be available to the SYS: volume.
Failure to register memory before volume Sys is mounted can result in error messages indicating that the cache memory allocator is out of available memory, or that there is insufficient memory to mount volumes.

If the memory does not register, check for the following possible errors:
NOTE: You must avoid memory address conflicts. A conflict occurs if an adapter board uses 16- or 24-bit DMA or Bus-Master DMA.
To resolve this conflict, upgrade to 32-bit bus adapters or use drivers that are modified and certified to compensate for memory-addressing limitations. Or use the machine's configuration program to move system memory around the adapter if the program allows.

In some cases, the ISA (16-bit) host adapter driver must be loaded in memory below 16 MB. To do so, add the following to the startup.ncf file:

LOAD disk_driver

REGISTER MEMORY amount of memory to add

For more information, consult the driver documentation.

Determining the Amount of Memory

The following table lists common start address and amount values for standard computers.

In the table, total memory = start address + amount of memory to add.

Total Memory	Start Address	Amount of Memory to Add
20 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	4 MB = 400000h
24 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	8 MB = 800000h
28 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	12 MB = C00000h
32 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	16 MB = 1000000h
36 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	20 MB = 1400000h
40 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	24 MB = 1800000h
64 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	48 MB = 3000000h
112 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	96 MB = 6000000h
128 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	112 MB = 7000000h
256 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	240 MB = F000000h
400 MB	16 MB = 1000000h	384 MB = 18000000h
1 GB (1000 MB)	16 MB = 1000000h	984 MB = 3D800000h
3 GB (3000 MB)	16 MB = 1000000h	2984 MB = BA800000h
3 GB (3000 MB)	64 MB = 4000000h	2936 MB = B7800000h

REGISTER MEMORY requires that the amount of memory to be registered is stated in hexadecimal format. If you are adding an amount of memory that is not in the preceding table, then you need to calculate the amount.

Calculating the Amount of Memory

The following figure illustrates how to calculate the amount of memory you are adding:

Start with the amount of memory you are adding stated in decimal MB.

Obtain this number from the documentation that came with the memory you are adding.

Convert the memory value from MB to bytes.

NOTE: A megabyte of memory is more than a million bytes. One megabyte equals 1,048,576 bytes in decimal.

Convert the number of bytes from decimal to hexadecimal notation.

To do this calculation, you can either use a calculator that converts decimal numbers to hexadecimal, or you can convert manually.

For example, 1 megabyte = 1,048,576d, which is the same as 100000h.

So 1,048,576 bytes in decimal equals 100000 in hexadecimal.

To convert manually, consult a specialized manual.

Examples

To add 4 MB of memory above 16 MB, type

REGISTER MEMORY 1000000 400000

To add 24 MB of memory above 16 MB, type

REGISTER MEMORY 1000000 1800000

Additional Information

Topic	See
Editing the startup.ncf file	Using Server Batch Files
Displaying the total amount of memory the server is addressing	MEMORY