Subject: Re: 'free' and 'top' show the wrong amount of RAM
From: Jason P. Stanford (Jason.Stanford@pobox.com)
Date: Thu Mar 02 2000 - 22:31:05 MST
Yes, but I think (and I am non-caffienated at the moment, so this may be
muddled thinking) since the basic storage unit of disk space as 1024
bytes gives it a coarser sizing than memory's basic unit of 2.
Disk : 1,000 * 1024 bytes = 1,024,000 bytes =~ 1MB
Memory : 2^20 bytes = 1,048,576 bytes =~ 1MB RAM
One megabyte of disk storage is comprised of 1,000 units of 1,024 bytes,
whereas one megabyte of memory (RAM) is comprised of 2^20 bytes.
Of couse, I am speaking without coffee, so I may be talking and thinking
mush at this point.
Robert Fout wrote:
>
> But aren't those the same thing, since 1024 bytes is base 2?
>
> what good is a standard if it's not the same?
>
> Bob
> ---------------------------------------
> "The knack to flying is learning how to
> throw yourself at the ground and miss."
>
> >From "Life the Universe and Everything"
> by Douglas Adams
>
> Robert Fout
> MacOS Guru and MkLinux/Yellowdog Linux User
> rfout@damien.edu
> http://osx.damien.edu/rfout/
> ICQ# 48433406
>
> > From: "Jason P. Stanford" <Jason.Stanford@pobox.com>
> > Organization: Sayonara Lehigh!
> > Reply-To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
> > Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 23:59:54 -0500
> > To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
> > Subject: Re: 'free' and 'top' show the wrong amount of RAM
> >
> > Well, I believe it comes down to the fact that memory *must* be based on
> > powers of 2 (2^n), as it has a fixed set of 2^n bits to play with.
> > Whereas disk space is based on storage allocation units of 1024 bytes.
> > Subtle...
> >
> > Robert Fout wrote:
> >>
> >> Wouldn't it seem odd to have two different definitions of MB... anyone here
> >> have some serious college degrees in computer science? I'm pretty sure that
> >> a MB is a MB is a MB (2^20 or 1024^2)
> >>
> >> Bob
> >> ---------------------------------------
> >> "The knack to flying is learning how to
> >> throw yourself at the ground and miss."
> >>
> >>> From "Life the Universe and Everything"
> >> by Douglas Adams
> >>
> >> Robert Fout
> >> MacOS Guru and MkLinux/Yellowdog Linux User
> >> rfout@damien.edu
> >> http://osx.damien.edu/rfout/
> >> ICQ# 48433406
> >>
> >>> From: "Jason P. Stanford" <Jason.Stanford@pobox.com>
> >>> Organization: Sayonara Lehigh!
> >>> Reply-To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
> >>> Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 23:24:20 -0500
> >>> To: yellowdog-general@lists.yellowdoglinux.com
> >>> Subject: Re: 'free' and 'top' show the wrong amount of RAM
> >>>
> >>> A hunch:
> >>>
> >>> Memory is 2^n power and disk space is (2^n * 1024). I might be a
> >>> little bit off. For example, 1MB of RAM is 2^20=1,048,576 and 1MB of
> >>> hard drive space is 1,000 * 1024 = 1,024,000 bytes.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Roy Koch wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> Hi Good buddy I wish I knew I can't believe someone here can't answer that
> >>>> question?
> >>>>
> >>>> Robert Fout wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> okay, i know everyone is excited about 1.2 coming out, but this is just
> >>>>> something I'm curious about: why 'free' and 'top' show the incorrect about
> >>>>> of RAM being in my machine (B&W G3/400 rev. 2)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> [rfout@bigblue rfout]$ free
> >>>>> total used free shared buffers cached
> >>>>> Mem: 127312 24844 102468 16608 940 14880
> >>>>> -/+ buffers/cache: 9024 118288
> >>>>> Swap: 131096 0 131096
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I have 128 of RAM, and 128 MB of swap (the amount of swap is shown okay,
> >>>>> but
> >>>>> not RAM)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> 127312/1024=124.328125
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I used RHL 6.1 a PIII/500 at school (with 64 MB of RAM) and 'free' on
> >>>>> those
> >>>>> machines showed them as having ‰62 MB of RAM.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Using
> >>>>>
> >>>>> What the heck is causing this.. is the ROM being stored in RAM... but that
> >>>>> wouldn't make sense on the PC?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Bob
> >>>>>
> >>>>> ---------------------------------------
> >>>>> "The knack to flying is learning how to
> >>>>> throw yourself at the ground and miss."
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> From "Life the Universe and Everything"
> >>>>> by Douglas Adams
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Robert Fout
> >>>>> MacOS Guru and MkLinux/Yellowdog Linux User
> >>>>> rfout@damien.edu
> >>>>> http://osx.damien.edu/rfout/
> >>>>> ICQ# 48433406
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a24 : Sun Apr 02 2000 - 21:09:29 MDT