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Haswell Trad/T440p: Support for 16GB DDR3L modules with NRI?

Support #626: Haswell Trad/T440p: Support for 16GB DDR3L modules with NRI?

Added by Christian Schrötter about 2 months ago. Updated 14 days ago.

Status:
In Progress
Priority:
Normal
Assignee:
Category:
chipset configuration
Target version:
Start date:
01/29/2026
Due date:
% Done:

0%

Estimated time:
Affected versions:
Needs backport to:
Affected hardware:
Haswell Trad (e.g. T440p)
Affected OS:

Description

There are rumors, that 16GB modules may be supported with NRI, even though the original BIOS nor the MRC blob support them in a T440p. I really wanted to test this myself, but unfortunately with limited success...

I have tested two different RAM modules over the last two months:

  • ZimaBlade - 16GB PC3L-10600S (returned to seller)
  • Micron MT16KTF2G64HZ-1G6A1 - 16GB PC3L-12800S

Both showed identical errors:

  • The graphics output (via VGA) is mangled and unusable. Only a small "condensed" area is visible.
  • EDK2 and memtest86+ start successfully (with the mentioned graphics issue), but memtest86+ crashes after a few seconds and causes a reset/reboot.
  • GRUB2 loads successfully, but Debian (12/13) hangs at some point. Probably during kernel initialization.

The 16GB module from Micron starts up in other devices (Igel M340C + Lenovo T450s) without any problems and survives a memtest86+ over several hours. So it doesn't appear to be defective.

I then added various other 2/4/8 GB modules in addition to the 16GB module. Funnily enough, this changes the graphics output! Now every second line (each consisting of a few pixels in height) is displayed correctly. Unfortunately, this does not change the fact, that memtets86+ crashes and Debian can't boot.

I purchased a USB dongle (with a FT232H chip) specifically to read all Coreboot debug logs and have attached these along with my build configuration for v25.12!

I would like to know whether 16GB modules are really not supported in a T440p with NRI, or whether this could be a bug? I am happy to execute further tests or flash specific commits.


Files

defconfig (650 Bytes) defconfig Christian Schrötter, 01/29/2026 10:06 AM
1769676506-2512-nri-2gb.log (51.8 KB) 1769676506-2512-nri-2gb.log Christian Schrötter, 01/29/2026 10:09 AM
1769677242-2512-nri-16gb-bottom.log (137 KB) 1769677242-2512-nri-16gb-bottom.log Christian Schrötter, 01/29/2026 10:09 AM
1769677400-2512-nri-16gb-top.log (85.4 KB) 1769677400-2512-nri-16gb-top.log Christian Schrötter, 01/29/2026 10:09 AM
1769677514-2512-nri-16gb+2gb.log (152 KB) 1769677514-2512-nri-16gb+2gb.log Christian Schrötter, 01/29/2026 10:09 AM
1769677649-2512-nri-16gb.log (85.4 KB) 1769677649-2512-nri-16gb.log Christian Schrötter, 01/29/2026 10:09 AM
1772412470-c940d20-nri-16gb-top.fixed.log (151 KB) 1772412470-c940d20-nri-16gb-top.fixed.log Christian Schrötter, 03/02/2026 01:30 AM
1772412665-c940d20-nri-16gb-bottom.fixed.log (150 KB) 1772412665-c940d20-nri-16gb-bottom.fixed.log Christian Schrötter, 03/02/2026 01:30 AM
1772412740-c940d20-nri-16gb+2gb.fixed.log (189 KB) 1772412740-c940d20-nri-16gb+2gb.fixed.log Christian Schrötter, 03/02/2026 01:30 AM
1772413121-c940d20-nri-2gb-bottom.fixed.log (105 KB) 1772413121-c940d20-nri-2gb-bottom.fixed.log Christian Schrötter, 03/02/2026 01:30 AM
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