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I forgot how many RAM (DIMM) modules are installed on my laptop. I do not want to unscrew it but want to look it up on the console using bash. How do I gather this information?

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5 Answers 5

Reset to default
341

Since you don't mention, I'm assuming this is on Linux. Any of the following should show you (with root):

dmidecode -t memory 
dmidecode -t 16 
lshw -class memory
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  • 18
    lshw did the trick. Commented Mar 2, 2012 at 22:36
  • 17
    You still need to use sudo or be root for these commands. Commented Dec 3, 2017 at 22:46
  • @HSchmale, right, without sudo it doesn't give a very detailed report. Just the basic stuff. Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 6:53
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    dmidecode -t memory is equivalent to dmidecode -t 5,6,16,17. Commented Jun 21, 2020 at 10:25
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    Thanks! The lshw -class memory produced most human readable results. Commented Feb 11, 2021 at 16:10
59

Let's make it easy for the not so shell-savvy users:

sudo dmidecode -t memory | grep -i size

The output on my laptop would be:

Size: 2048 MB Size: 1024 MB

...showing that I have one 1GB module and one 2GB module installed.

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  • And if you have 1 slot free: "Size: No Module Installed". Commented Nov 7, 2022 at 14:22
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    sudo dmidecode -t memory | grep -E '^\s+Size:' is a bit better theses days Commented Mar 29, 2023 at 18:07
  • We need more answer like this. Commented Nov 17, 2024 at 2:35
16

In my case,

sudo dmidecode -t 16

reports this:

Handle 0x000A, 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

I would like to point out that I have only 4 GiB of RAM in one module. That info is shown by doing:

 sudo dmidecode -t 17

this is shown:

# dmidecode 2.11 SMBIOS 2.7 present. Handle 0x000B, DMI type 17, 34 bytes Memory Device Array Handle: 0x000A Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: Unknown Data Width: Unknown Size: No Module Installed Form Factor: DIMM Set: None Locator: ChannelA-DIMM0 Bank Locator: BANK 0 Type: Unknown Type Detail: None Speed: Unknown Manufacturer: Not Specified Serial Number: Not Specified Asset Tag: None Part Number: Not Specified Rank: Unknown Configured Clock Speed: Unknown Handle 0x000C, DMI type 17, 34 bytes Memory Device Array Handle: 0x000A Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: 64 bits Data Width: 64 bits Size: 4096 MB Form Factor: SODIMM Set: None Locator: ChannelB-DIMM0 Bank Locator: BANK 2 Type: DDR3 Type Detail: Synchronous Speed: 1600 MHz Manufacturer: Hynix/Hyundai Serial Number: 11111111 Asset Tag: None Part Number: HMT351S6CFR8C-PB Rank: Unknown Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz

And, as you can see, Bank 2 is full and Bank 0 empty. Board has only two slots for RAM, but they have to be double channel.

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6

Even though the OP prefers to avoid unscrewing to physically inspect, I strongly suggest everyone do just that since the answer back from command line probes can be misleading. On my laptop, command line probes say I have 4 slots (2 used, 2 empty), yet upon unscrewing I actually have 2 slots (perhaps I have 2 hidden slots elsewhere yet not visible removing bottom panel) :

sudo dmidecode | grep -A 9 "System Information" System Information Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Product Name: CX61 0NC/CX61 0ND/CX61 0NF/CX61 0NE Version: REV:1.0 Serial Number: FFFFFFFF UUID: 03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009 Wake-up Type: Power Switch SKU Number: To be filled by O.E.M. Family: To be filled by O.E.M. # ------- sudo dmidecode -t 16 # dmidecode 2.12 SMBIOS 2.7 present. Handle 0x0024, DMI type 16, 23 bytes Physical Memory Array Location: System Board Or Motherboard Use: System Memory Error Correction Type: None Maximum Capacity: 32 GB Error Information Handle: Not Provided Number Of Devices: 4 # ------- sudo dmidecode -t 17 # dmidecode 2.12 SMBIOS 2.7 present. Handle 0x0025, DMI type 17, 34 bytes Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0024 Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: 64 bits Data Width: 64 bits Size: 4096 MB Form Factor: SODIMM Set: None Locator: ChannelA-DIMM0 Bank Locator: BANK 0 Type: DDR3 Type Detail: Synchronous Speed: 1600 MHz Manufacturer: 830B Serial Number: 91D82E7B Asset Tag: 9876543210 Part Number: M2S4G64CB8HG4N-DI Rank: 2 Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz Handle 0x0027, DMI type 17, 34 bytes Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0024 Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: Unknown Data Width: Unknown Size: No Module Installed Form Factor: DIMM Set: None Locator: ChannelA-DIMM1 Bank Locator: BANK 1 Type: Unknown Type Detail: None Speed: Unknown Manufacturer: [Empty] Serial Number: [Empty] Asset Tag: 9876543210 Part Number: [Empty] Rank: Unknown Configured Clock Speed: Unknown Handle 0x0028, DMI type 17, 34 bytes Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0024 Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: 64 bits Data Width: 64 bits Size: 4096 MB Form Factor: SODIMM Set: None Locator: ChannelB-DIMM0 Bank Locator: BANK 2 Type: DDR3 Type Detail: Synchronous Speed: 1600 MHz Manufacturer: 830B Serial Number: 20DC2E7C Asset Tag: 9876543210 Part Number: M2S4G64CB8HG4N-DI Rank: 2 Configured Clock Speed: 1600 MHz Handle 0x002A, DMI type 17, 34 bytes Memory Device Array Handle: 0x0024 Error Information Handle: Not Provided Total Width: Unknown Data Width: Unknown Size: No Module Installed Form Factor: DIMM Set: None Locator: ChannelB-DIMM1 Bank Locator: BANK 3 Type: Unknown Type Detail: None Speed: Unknown Manufacturer: [Empty] Serial Number: [Empty] Asset Tag: 9876543210 Part Number: [Empty] Rank: Unknown Configured Clock Speed: Unknown

ubuntu 14.04

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  • Where do you see 4 installed modules? -t 17 clearly shows 2 modules of 4GB each, and 2 unused (and probably unimplemented) slots. Commented Oct 3, 2015 at 1:12
  • @Dani_l, can you elaborate on what "No Module Installed" mean I would think it means you have a place to stick your ram that seems to be empty, but that seems to not be the case for OP... could you elaborate so us mere mortals understand Commented Mar 16, 2016 at 11:33
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    @azorius (and probably unimplemented) means the bios/chipset can handle 4 slots, but the board manufacturer decided not to include 2 of the possible slots the bios can support in the physical realm that is the actual MB. Since dmidecode talks to the bios, rather than the actual physical screws,bolts and glue, it only knows what's in the dmi table - which is that it can handle 4 slots, but for 2 of them there is no info, so the assumption is that they are merely uninstalled, rather than non-existing. Commented Mar 16, 2016 at 15:43
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[root@kr0 ~]# lsmem RANGE SIZE STATE REMOVABLE BLOCK 0x0000000040000000-0x000000063fffffff 24G online yes 1-24 Memory block size: 1G Total online memory: 24G Total offline memory: 0B
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