Ubuntu 10.04 32-bit – How to check if kernel is PAE-enabled

32-bitpaeubuntu-10.04

I know that 32-bit 10.04 enables PAE on installation when it detects 3+ GB RAM, but I'd like to know a way to manually check (i.e. in the terminal) that PAE is, in fact, enabled.

Best Answer

On current versions of Ubuntu on the 386 architecture, PAE is enabled on -generic-pae kernels but not on -generic or -virtual kernels, so you can check if the output uname -r ends with -pae. This isn't very robust though, since it depends on intimate knowledge of what Ubuntu uses for kernel options.

Some distributions provide the kernel configuration in /proc/config, so you can test with </proc/config fgrep -x CONFIG_X86_PAE=y. Ubuntu doesn't, but it does keep the kernel configuration in a well-known place, so you can test with </boot/config-$(uname -r) fgrep -x CONFIG_X86_PAE=y.

Note that grep -w pae /proc/cpuinfo tells you whether your processor supports PAE. The flag will be present whether the kernel supports PAE or not.

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