Windows Server 2003 Enterprise can recognise greater than 4GB of memory, but the limit for a pagefile which is used to used to dump memory to is 4095MB.
When a server hangs, or becomes unresponsive a STOP error is not generated, and must be triggered manually. This can cause some difficulty on servers that may not have an attached keyboard such as Blades.
1) Limit the memory to less than 4095MB
Update BOOT.INI with the /maxmem switch
[boot loader]
redirect=UseBiosSettings
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="4GB: Windows Server 2003, Enterprise" /maxmem=4044 /noexecute=optout /fastdetect /redirect /pae
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows Server 2003, Enterprise" /noexecute=optout /fastdetect /redirect /pae
2) Set the pagefile to 4095MB
The pagefile on the system driver (C:) needs to be set to 4095 initial and maximum sizes.
- Ensure there is sufficient space on the system drive (C:) for the additional pagefile space
- Right click on
My Computer and select
Properties from the context menu
- Select the
Advanced tab
- Click
Settings under
Performance
- Select the
Advanced tab
- Click
Change under
Vitual Memory
- Select
C:
- Select the
Custom size radio button
- Enter
4095 for
Initial size (MB)
- Enter
4095 for
Maximum size (MB)
- Click
Set
- Click
Yes to the warning about memory size
- Click
OK
- Click
OK
- Click
OK
3) Enable Crash Dump Registry Entries
Set the following registry entries:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl]
; Enable Complete Memory Dump
"CrashDumpEnabled"=dword:00000001
; Allow Crash Dump via NMI
"NMICrashDump"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters]
; Allow Crash Dump via PS/2 Keyboard
"CrashOnCtrlScroll"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\kbdhid\Parameters]
; Allow Crash Dump via USB Keyboard
"CrashOnCtrlScroll"=dword:00000001
If there is insufficient space on C: the memory dump can be written to another drive
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl]
"DumpFile"=<path to MEMORY.DMP>
4) Reboot the server
This will activate all the changes made above.
5) Generate a test crash dump
For a PS/2 or USB keyboard, or from the console of VMware virtual machine:
Press
Right CTRL + Scroll Lock + Scroll Lock
For an HP blade from the HP BladeSystem Onboard Administrator:
- Select the server under
Device Bays
- Select
iLo
- Select
Web Administrator
- Select
Diagnostics
- Click
Generate NMI to System
This should BSOD the server and create a memory dump. If none of the above methods work the crash dump can be generated using the Citrix SystemDump utility