Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > macOS > allocating RAM to programs in jaguar & panther

allocating RAM to programs in jaguar & panther
Thread Tools
zanyterp
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: manticore or people's republic of haven
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 12:32 AM
 
i am wondering if it is possible to change how much RAM each app uses in os X.2/3 as was possible in os 9 and earlier? or is this a feature that is not needed due to the more modern memory management scheme? (or is that something else entirely?) thanks!!

nick
some people are like slinkys: they don't do much, but are fun to push down stairs.
     
gorickey
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Retired.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 12:42 AM
 
I think this will sum it up best for you...

http://homepage.mac.com/simx/mughelp.../overview.html

     
chabig
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 12:50 AM
 
A) You can't manually allocate RAM.

B) You are right. The memory architecture is way more advanced and fully automatic. Your programs will not lack for RAM. Each running program "thinks" it has a full 4 gigabytes all to itself.

Chris
     
iohead
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 12:51 AM
 
Originally posted by gorickey:
I think this will sum it up best for you...

http://homepage.mac.com/simx/mughelp.../overview.html

A statement from the above page:

"Thankfully, with the advent of Mac OS X, all of that has changed. With UNIX underneath the user interface, we now have a Macintosh operating system that has a very modern and very efficient memory management system."
I find it ironic that many seem to think UNIX is some kind of (modern) magic pill :-) Both UNIX and virtual memory are well over 30 years old! When System 1 (Mac OS 1) came out (I think in 1984), both UNIX and virtual memory were present.

-A
     
jmiddel
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Land of Enchantment
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 01:40 AM
 
If you need to force an app to take more memory, ie give it priority, you can use the 'renice' unix command, this freeware utility claims to do it with GUI: 'BeNicer' found at versiontracker.com
     
iohead
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 01:48 AM
 
Originally posted by jmiddel:
If you need to force an app to take more memory, ie give it priority, you can use the 'renice' unix command, this freeware utility claims to do it with GUI: 'BeNicer' found at versiontracker.com
nice'ing a process would give it more CPU time, in the simplest terms - not memory.

-A
     
zanyterp  (op)
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: manticore or people's republic of haven
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 02:20 AM
 
Originally posted by chabig:
A) You can't manually allocate RAM.

<snip>Chris
so if my apps start slowing down it would be another problem then? i had been doing fine running several at a time but now i am getting more lag time in my responses from apps and switching programs. . . :hmmm: thanks!!

nick
some people are like slinkys: they don't do much, but are fun to push down stairs.
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 02:41 AM
 
Originally posted by zanyterp:
so if my apps start slowing down it would be another problem then? i had been doing fine running several at a time but now i am getting more lag time in my responses from apps and switching programs. . . :hmmm: thanks!!
Well, it's quite possible that you're running low on physical memory.

If you have a lot of programs open, memory will be swapped in and out of RAM depending on how it's needed. Depending on how much RAM you have, how many applications you are running, and how fast your hard drive is, this can be a major slowdown.

I would advise at least 512MB RAM if you're gonna do a lot of stuff.

-s*
     
chabig
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 09:28 AM
 
Spheric is right. A general slowdown means you could benefit from more RAM. The problem isn't that specific apps need more memory, the system as a whole is being tasked too much for the resources available.

Whatever your machine, you probably have at least one DIMM slot. If it's empty, spend $100 and put a 512MB DIMM in. If it's not empty, replace whatever is there with a 512MB DIMM.

I've never run OS X with anything less than 640MB, and it doesn't slow down on me.

Chris
     
mitchell_pgh
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Washington, DC
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 5, 2003, 09:38 AM
 
yah, my home system has 256 of RAM, and it's dog slow now.

Photoshop, Illustrator etc. etc. are RAM hogs.

I'm bumping to 1Gig...
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:54 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,