System memory is lower than installed

I have a relatively old laptop, Dell Inspiron 5559 with 16 GiB of RAM. It had Windows 10 installed and it showed the whole amount of RAM but I decided to install ubuntu 64 bit on it. I installed 20.04, then upgraded to 20.10 and now to 21.04. It only shows a total amount of memory of 2.5 GiB in the configuration window and also as output for free command (spanish OS):

 total usado libre compartido búfer/caché disponible
Memoria: 2,5Gi 1,6Gi 108Mi 417Mi 802Mi 256Mi
Swap: 15Gi 893Mi 14Gi

sudo lshw shows this:

 *-memory descripción: Memoria de sistema id físico: 46 ranura: Placa de sistema o placa base tamaño: 16GiB *-bank:0 descripción: SODIMM DDR3 Síncrono 1600 MHz (0,6 ns) producto: M471B1G73EB0-YK0 fabricante: Samsung id físico: 0 serie: 12151215 ranura: DIMM A tamaño: 8GiB anchura: 64 bits reloj: 1600MHz (0.6ns) *-bank:1 descripción: SODIMM DDR3 Síncrono 1600 MHz (0,6 ns) producto: HMT41GS6BFR8A-PB fabricante: SK Hynix id físico: 1 serie: 12121212 ranura: DIMM B tamaño: 8GiB anchura: 64 bits reloj: 1600MHz (0.6ns)

I've upgraded the BIOS firmware from 1.7.0 to 1.9.0 but it made no difference.

I don't have an EFI partition so I have UEFI Legacy enabled in the BIOS.

I've read similar issues for other people but not with such a difference in the amount of memory.

memtest86+ runs the tests and shows no errors but it also shows that the total amount of memory is 2.5 GiB.

The laptop has 2 graphic cards. I don't know if this could affect the issue anyhow but they are:

 *-pci:0 descripción: PCI bridge producto: Sunrise Point-LP PCI Express Root Port #1 fabricante: Intel Corporation id físico: 1c información del bus: pci@0000:00:1c.0 versión: f1 anchura: 32 bits reloj: 33MHz capacidades: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list configuración: driver=pcieport recursos: irq:122 ioport:e000(size=4096) memoria:df200000-df2fffff ioport:c0000000(size=268435456) *-display descripción: Display controller producto: Sun XT [Radeon HD 8670A/8670M/8690M / R5 M330 / M430 / Radeon 520 Mobile] fabricante: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] id físico: 0 información del bus: pci@0000:01:00.0 versión: 81 anchura: 64 bits reloj: 33MHz capacidades: pm pciexpress msi bus_master cap_list rom configuración: driver=radeon latency=0 recursos: irq:131 memoria:c0000000-cfffffff memoria:df200000-df23ffff ioport:e000(size=256) memoria:df240000-df25ffff

and

 *-pci descripción: Host bridge producto: Xeon E3-1200 v5/E3-1500 v5/6th Gen Core Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers fabricante: Intel Corporation id físico: 100 información del bus: pci@0000:00:00.0 versión: 08 anchura: 32 bits reloj: 33MHz configuración: driver=skl_uncore recursos: irq:0 *-display descripción: VGA compatible controller producto: Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] fabricante: Intel Corporation id físico: 2 información del bus: pci@0000:00:02.0 versión: 07 anchura: 64 bits reloj: 33MHz capacidades: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom configuración: driver=i915 latency=0 recursos: irq:130 memoria:de000000-deffffff memoria:b0000000-bfffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memoria:c0000-dffff

Any help to determine the cause of the issue would be appreciated.

EDIT: dmidecode output

# dmidecode 3.3
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.8 present.
Handle 0x0046, DMI type 16, 23 bytes
Physical Memory Array Location: System Board Or Motherboard Use: System Memory Error Correction Type: None Maximum Capacity: 16 GB Error Information Handle: Not Provided Number Of Devices: 2
Handle 0x0047, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0046 Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: 64 bits Data Width: 64 bits Size: 8 GB Form Factor: SODIMM Set: None Locator: DIMM A Bank Locator: BANK 0 Type: DDR3 Type Detail: Synchronous Speed: 1600 MT/s Manufacturer: Samsung Serial Number: 12151215 Asset Tag: 9876543210 Part Number: M471B1G73EB0-YK0 Rank: 2 Configured Memory Speed: 1600 MT/s Minimum Voltage: Unknown Maximum Voltage: Unknown Configured Voltage: 1.35 V
Handle 0x0048, DMI type 17, 40 bytes
Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0046 Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: 64 bits Data Width: 64 bits Size: 8 GB Form Factor: SODIMM Set: None Locator: DIMM B Bank Locator: BANK 2 Type: DDR3 Type Detail: Synchronous Speed: 1600 MT/s Manufacturer: SK Hynix Serial Number: 12121212 Asset Tag: 9876543210 Part Number: HMT41GS6BFR8A-PB Rank: 2 Configured Memory Speed: 1600 MT/s Minimum Voltage: Unknown Maximum Voltage: Unknown Configured Voltage: 1.35 V

EDIT: Adding partition information as requested

/dev/sda1 1,0 MB BIOS Boot
/dev/sda2 70 GB Ext4 Linux Filesystem /
/dev/sda3 16 GB Linux Swap
/dev/sda4 500 MB Ext4 Linux Filesystem /boot
/dev/sda5 425 GB Ext4 Linux Filesystem /home

BIOS report the whole amount of memory, 16 GB.

1 Answer

your hardware seems good, but you platform configuration seems to be badly handled by the O/S maybe because a little bit old (2015)

in order to diagnose, can you try this :

• keep UEFI Legacy enabled in the BIOS
• activate an option called "memory remap", if available in your BIOS
• boot from your system installed on hardrive

or

• switch your BIOS in "full UEFI" mode
• boot on a Live Ubuntu 64bits from an USB stick

?

PS : temporarily, so as to get a fresh O/S configuration or in order to run in full UEFI mode, you can also boot on a Live Ubuntu 64bits from an USB stick (instead of your harddrive)