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I have redhat version 4.4 kernel 2.6.x 32-bit OS, but I have 64-bit system with 32G RAM. I have older PCI cards I must use, so I can't not upgrade ...
  1. #1
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    Accessing > 4G RAM space

    I have redhat version 4.4 kernel 2.6.x 32-bit OS, but I have 64-bit system with 32G RAM. I have older PCI cards I must use, so I can't not upgrade to 64 bit OS.
    I see all 32G RAM from /proc/meminfo or free commands.
    I use malloc() in my C progrmming to get RAM memory, but I need to go beyond 4G. Malloc return 32-bits and it only go upto 4G of RAM.
    Please advice how I can allocate memory from greater than 4G RAM space. Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Linux Guru smolloy's Avatar
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    Hmmm..... I really don't think it's possible to use >4G of RAM with a 32 bit OS. If you can't upgrade to 64 bit, then I think you might be stuck.
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  3. #3
    Linux Guru techieMoe's Avatar
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    It is possible to recompile the Linux kernel to handle more than 4GB of RAM on a 32-bit machine. Server distributions do it. In Redhat Enterprise I think they call it the PAE (Physical Address Extension) kernel. I had an article on it at one point but I seem to have misplaced it.
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