Oh Brain, you need to recompile a kernel to handle that much memory...
it's an option under the processor section of the kernel config.

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003, Rowan Smith wrote:

> In the past I have had to specify memory amount as a command line option
> when linux boots. This is the relevant portion of the lilo man page:
>
> mem=###[,K,M,G]
> Specifies the maximum memory in the system in bytes, kilobytes,
> megabytes, or gigabytes. This option is not removed from the
> command line, and is always passed to the kernel.
>
> rowan
>
> Simper, Brian D wrote:
>
> >Is there a theoretical or functional maximum memory you can put in a
> >Linux machine?  I have a server with 2GB installed but the free command
> >stubbornly says:
> >
> ># free
> >             total       used       free     shared    buffers
> >cached
> >Mem:        902768     672416     230352          0      45820
> >193564
> >-/+ buffers/cache:     433032     469736
> >Swap:       522216      25124     497092
> >
> >This is Red Hat Linux 9 machine with a stock kernel.  Am I missing some
> >crucial point?  Has anyone else dealt with a lower than expected
> >reported memory?
> >
> >Thanks,
> >
> >Brian
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