Are latest Puppy releases PAE or non-PAE?

[3guesses]

The last time I downloaded a Puppy Linux release was 6.0 and that stated that it was PAE. However, the leatest relase (7.5) comes in 32-bit and 64-bit flavours - there's no mention of PAE/non-PAE. Are the 7.5 flavours both PAE? I don't seem to be able to find any information to say one way or the other.

[bigpup]

Xenialpup 7.5 which is the 32bit version is not PAE.

Usually you can identify a PAE version because it will have PAE in the version name.
No PAE in the name, it is not PAE.

Xenialpup64 7.5 does not need PAE.
The Max RAM limit is much higher in 64bit Linux.
All 64bit Puppies should be able to see and use more than 4GB of RAM.
64bit Linux OS have no problem seeing and using up in the TB of RAM.

If you have a computer with more than 4GB of RAM.
Use the 64bit version.
Unless you have a really old processor that is not 64bit and can only use 32bit.

[mikeslr]

Hopefully Sailor Enceladus doesn't mind my advising that he recently built a Hugh-4.4.131-slacko.tar.bz2 (Kernel + zdrv) currently available at http://www.mediafire.com/file/lmwleo73r ... ko.tar.bz2. (For those who don't already know, "Hugh" is a term of Art. The package is only 34 Mbs, and its contents are used instead of files about the same size).

I swapped it into my 32-bit Slacko 5.7.1 and PupSysInfo reports:

Distro: Slacko Puppy 5.7.1
Memory Allocation:
Total RAM: 7974 MB
Used RAM: 656 MB
Free RAM: 7318 MB
Buffers: 66 MB
Cached: 488 MB
Total Swap: 0 MB
Free Swap: 0 MB

Actual Used RAM: 102 MB Used - (buffers + cached)
Actual Free RAM: 7872 MB Free + (buffers + cached)

Linux Kernel: 4.4.131 (i686)
Kernel Version: #1 SMP Fri May 4 19:31:01 EDT 2018
PAE Enabled: Yes

I get similar results after swapping it into the 32-bit Tahrpup.

Pae is supposed to enable a 32-bit system to access more than 4 Gb of RAM. Perhaps other pae kernels built for Puppies can also do that. I haven't checked. But I hope that Ally will add this built to the collection on archive.org.

mediafire is a great free resource. But I think being able to obtain files from a centralized host with a Search box for finding what is there is better. And I prefer not abusing mediafire's generosity by keeping files there longer than they have to be.

mikesLr

[8Geee]

A non-PAE version marked i686 or 4G will address up to the limit of 4Gb. Otherwise the MS-Windows limit of about 3.5Gb is imposed.

An example of a "full 4Gb" non-PAE is 01micko's Slacko5.7. It uses kernel 3.4.82, with i686-4G, thus over-riding the Windows limit. BUT, the 4Gb limit is still there (limited by being 32-bit).

IHTH
8Geee

[davids45]

G'day,

Xenialpup64 7.5 does not need PAE.
The Max RAM limit is much higher in 64bit Linux.
All 64bit Puppies should be able to see and use more than 4GB of RAM.
64bit Linux OS have no problem seeing and using up in the TB of RAM.

Just an idle question from someone without a computer with more than 2GB RAM:

- when I put a 64-bit kernel into a 32-bit Pup, would this allow accessing RAM memory above 3-4GB, ... if I had so much memory?

David S.

[s243a]

You ca n tell if a puppy is PAE or not by using Pup-SysInfo

[davids45]

G'day s243a,

Thanks for the suggestion.

I looked in my Pup-Sysinfo in a few places but couldn't easily find anything about its PAE state.

Here's the Memory report which seemed the most likely place to find something about PAE - maybe it's using a different 3-letter acronym?:

▶—— COMPUTER MEMORY ——◀

Personal Storage Folder:
Name: /stretch75-64bitk4172/stretchsave-stretch75_64bitk4172
Total Size: 29G
Free Space: 9.4G
Location: partition sda1

Memory Allocation:
Total RAM: 1737 MB
Used RAM: 1413 MB
Free RAM: 324 MB
Buffers: 73 MB
Cached: 964 MB
Total Swap: 999 MB
Free Swap: 999 MB

Actual Used RAM: 376 MB Used - (buffers + cached)
Actual Free RAM: 1361 MB Free + (buffers + cached)

Memory Stats (/proc/meminfo):
MemTotal: 1779336 kB
MemFree: 329392 kB
MemAvailable: 740444 kB
Buffers: 75060 kB
Cached: 987924 kB
SwapCached: 0 kB
Active: 503676 kB
Inactive: 835936 kB
Active(anon): 324028 kB
Inactive(anon): 380512 kB
Active(file): 179648 kB
Inactive(file): 455424 kB
Unevictable: 0 kB
Mlocked: 0 kB
SwapTotal: 1023996 kB
SwapFree: 1023996 kB
Dirty: 24 kB
Writeback: 0 kB
AnonPages: 225608 kB
Mapped: 139152 kB
Shmem: 427924 kB
Slab: 82796 kB
SReclaimable: 50564 kB
SUnreclaim: 32232 kB
KernelStack: 2624 kB
PageTables: 2788 kB
NFS_Unstable: 0 kB
Bounce: 0 kB
WritebackTmp: 0 kB
CommitLimit: 1913664 kB
Committed_AS: 1096540 kB
VmallocTotal: 34359738367 kB
VmallocUsed: 0 kB
VmallocChunk: 0 kB
AnonHugePages: 61440 kB
ShmemHugePages: 0 kB
ShmemPmdMapped: 0 kB
DirectMap4k: 53052 kB
DirectMap2M: 1773568 kB

▶—— PHYSICAL MEMORY ——◀

Installed Memory: 1792 MB
Installed Memory: 512 kB
Maximum Memory: 4 GB
Number Of Slots: 4
Maximum Memory: 1 MB
Number Of Slots: 1

Memory Module 1
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 512 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Locator: XMM1
Type: DDR2
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 667 MT/s
Manufacturer: JEDEC ID:7F 7F 7F 7F 43 00 00 00
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: RML1520AG38D6F-667

Memory Module 2
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 512 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Locator: XMM2
Type: DDR2
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 667 MT/s
Manufacturer: JEDEC ID:7F 7F 7F 7F 43 00 00 00
Serial Number: 00000000
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: RML1520AG38D6F-667

Memory Module 3
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 256 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Locator: XMM3
Type: DDR2
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 533 MT/s
Manufacturer: JEDEC ID:C1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
Serial Number: 24451F03
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: 64T32000HU3.7A

Memory Module 4
Data Width: 64 bits
Size: 512 MB
Form Factor: DIMM
Locator: XMM4
Type: DDR2
Type Detail: Synchronous
Speed: 533 MT/s
Manufacturer: JEDEC ID:7F 7F B5 FF FF FF FF FF
Serial Number: A4745D84
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: ..................

Memory Module 5
Data Width: 2 bits
Size: 1024 kB
Form Factor: Chip
Locator: SYSTEM ROM
Type: Flash
Type Detail: Non-Volatile
Speed: Unknown
Manufacturer: Not Specified
Serial Number: Not Specified
Asset Tag: Not Specified
Part Number: Not Specified

Internal Cache
Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 1
Installed Size: 28 kB

External Cache
Configuration: Enabled, Not Socketed, Level 2
Installed Size: 2048 kB

Cache Information
Configuration: Disabled, Not Socketed, Level 1
Installed Size: 0 kB

Cache Information
Configuration: Disabled, Not Socketed, Level 2
Installed Size: 0 kB

Perhaps this needs a computer with more than 4GB of RAM to indicate if PAE is on or off?

David S.

[bigpup]

This is only in a 32bit Puppy.
PAE is only used or not used in 32bit OS.

A 64bit kernel and 64bit Puppy does not use PAE.
The fact that it is 64bit, makes it able to use and see more than 4GB or memory.

Pup-Sysinfo>Sys-Specs>Kernel

Example kernel info for a 32bit Puppy:
See image.

[bigpup]

The processor also has to support PAE to use it.
Intel Pentium Pro (and above) should support PAE.
(except the 400 MHz-bus versions of the Pentium M).

If the processor does not support PAE.
PAE enabled, could and probably will, keep it from booting.

[davids45]

G'day bigpup,

Thanks for the clarification regarding PAE and a kernel's bits.

David S.