M17x R2 acting like 32bit system

couple months ago i had to replace the motherboard in my m17xr2. i just noticed couple days ago that it is saying 4gb installed 2.86 usable. this is usually seen when u put 4 gigs into a 32bit system. would the motherboard have jumpers that are not set right that would turn a 64bit motherboard into a 32bit motherboard? if not, anyone got a solution to this. i would like all my memory usable.

thanks

 

No, there are no jumpers in the R2 that set the system for 32 or 64 bit. Does the the systems control panel still say the OS is running at 64 bit?

 

yep. says 64bit. 4gb installed 2.86 useable

 

Interesting. Check your BIOS. The first BIOS screen should show the total RAM installed in the system and how much is in each slot. Then run the PSA (preboot systems assessment). Restart, and hit F12 when the Alien head logo comes up. Then select diagnostics (or ePSA, whichever is the last option). Then follow the directions on screen to run thru the hardware test. If it finishes the preliminaries without finding any errors, then select the option to run the extended memory tests. This will test your RAM thoroughly for any hardware errors. We want to eliminate any possibility of it being a problem with the RAM itself.

 

came up with something called WCMch test failed with a memory compare error

 

Take out one of your RAM modules and run the tests again. We are now trying to isolate if one of the modules has gone bad. If it still gives the same error, then swap out the RAM modules so you test only the one you previously removed. If it STILL gives you the error, then it could be the BIOS, the motherboard, or the chipset(apart from both RAM modules going bad simultaneously).

 

ram failure.. i had same issue with 32GB and only 6GB being usable. in the end was a defective dimm.
run memtest or dell diagnostics.

 

I would recommend running an extended memory test on our PSA.