[AuPhalanx]

http://www.computerworld.com/newslet...0.html?nlid=PM

From Computerworld... I think that someone should email MacJanitor to them.

Have fun... Tony.

[Spheric Harlot]

Interesting.

I thought modern OSen clean up after themselves nowadays?

-s*

[voodoo]

NASA OS X isn't the most advanced OS in the World

[voodoo]

"_The Spirit rover dedicates 32MB of its 128MB of RAM to the on-board Wind River VxWorks operating system and a host of science applications, and as the mission progresses, technicians are scheduled to periodically delete old files and directories to clear out the memory for reuse, he said.

But with all the excitement after the Mars landing on Jan. 3, and with data being returned to Earth by the rover, that step was not performed quickly enough by mission technicians.

"We just ran out of memory, ran out of RAM," Deliman said. "This is why we initially lost contact" with the rover. The six-wheeled vehicle runs hundreds of tasks simultaneously in normal operations, with each operation using its own chunk of RAM, he said.

"It's like having an old Windows machine that has a very little bit of disk space [remaining]," Deliman said. "When you run up against the end of your disk, if you don't clean it up, your system becomes unstable."

[cenutrio]

I'm probably wrong but 128 MB RAM hardware does not impress me much.

[RooneyX]

Originally posted by cenutrio:
I'm probably wrong but 128 MB RAM hardware does not impress me much.

That was just the memory on the graphics card they were using to render that fake Martian landscape.

[clod]

Originally posted by cenutrio:
I'm probably wrong but 128 MB RAM hardware does not impress me much.

It's a very basic computer. The processor runs at only 200 MHz. It's so basic because the more basic the system is, the lower the probability of errors.

[macvillage.net]

I'd recommend NASA hit up this site:
http://www.crucial.com

[mixin visuals]

its bad when nasa can't afford more ram

[AuPhalanx]

It doesn't sound like a lot of RAM or even a very powerful computer, but look at it this way:

That computer took a bunch of G's during launch and while escaping the Earth; it then hurled through space really fast; and then it plummeted through Mars' atmosphere only to impact the surface with only a big beach ball lookin' balloon to protect it.

When you think about that, also think about the forums here where people complain about the lid on their PowerBook having 3mm of play.

It sort of puts things into perspective. Other than that, clod is correct--simple != fewer problems.

Have fun... Tony.

[The Placid Casual]

Originally posted by RooneyX:
That was just the memory on the graphics card they were using to render that fake Martian landscape.

Lol!

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by mixin visuals:
its bad when nasa can't afford more ram

If you'd send a $200-million probe a couple of dozen million miles through one of the most hostile environments imaginable, to drop it onto another planet (bouncing around on airbags), with absolutely no chance of ever replacing any defective part at all, would YOU load it up with bleeding edge consumer hardware?

[Mediaman_12]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
If you'd send a $200-million probe a couple of dozen million miles through one of the most hostile environments imaginable, to drop it onto another planet (bouncing around on airbags), with absolutely no chance of ever replacing any defective part at all, would YOU load it up with bleeding edge consumer hardware?

There's also the fact that it has to be hardened against being continuously blasted by the suns radiation while working on the surface of Mars.

I was amazed that they just left a huge bunch of old files (from the getting to Mars' part of the mission) on there.

[wataru]

Originally posted by macvillage.net:
I'd recommend NASA hit up this site:
http://www.crucial.com

Everyone makes mistakes. Crucial sent me the wrong replacement part just yesterday.