Out of memory issue

Share icon

Wed, 11/04/2015 - 08:42 am

One of my Igor file contains nearly 300 images with total file memory of ~3 GB. When I try to add more data, Igor display Out of memory error.
While going through Memory Management details, it seems on Mac OS X, each 32-bit application (such as Igor Pro) is allocated 4 GB of virtual address space. However, I face error. Could any one help me to solve the problem. Are there any way to increase memory in Mac. I am using Yosemite.

Thanks in advance for your interest.

Best, Maniraj
The 4 GB address space must hold both your data and the application, so there is actually less than 4 GB of data space. In addition, depending on how the data was loaded into Igor, you may be suffering from memory fragmentation. There are strategies for coping with fragmentation, but...

Modern applications on Macintosh are all 64-bit applications. Igor 7 should handle your situation. See the banner on the front page of IgorExchange. We are trying to ramp up beta testing slowly, so you may not get an immediate response.

John Weeks
WaveMetrics, Inc.
support@wavemetrics.com

November 4, 2015 at 09:22 am - Permalink

I am looking for Igor7 official release to increase memory.
Beforehand, are there any difference between using image as matrix or x, y, z waves, in terms of memory?
Specifically for handling few 100's of images.

February 14, 2016 at 09:22 am - Permalink

mslv86 wrote:
I am looking for Igor7 official release to increase memory.
Beforehand, are there any difference between using image as matrix or x, y, z waves, in terms of memory?
Specifically for handling few 100's of images.

You haven't specifically described the circumstances under which you are getting the out of memory error, so it's hard to say for sure. If you're running into memory fragmentation issues, it's possible that Igor could allocate memory for three separate x, y, and z waves but would not be able to allocate memory for a single 2D wave. But if memory fragmentation is the problem, you're likely to get inconsistent out of memory errors because the exact state of your memory will change from time to time.

If you're not able/willing to use the 64-bit Igor Pro 7 beta, your best bet for the moment is to load less data per experiment. Once you get into experiment sizes in the multiple gigabytes, you're going to get inconsistent behavior and in my opinion it's not worth spending much time trying to squeeze as much data as possible into the experiment.

In case you aren't aware, there is a 64-bit version of Igor Pro 6, but that's Windows only. It is also technically a beta, so if you are not allowed to use "beta" versions then you'll need to wait a bit until we officially release Igor Pro 7.

February 15, 2016 at 06:49 am - Permalink

I more often run out of memory due to memory fragmentation issues. But, main problem is total memory of 4 GB. I am trying to put more details in single experiment which is not successful.

Thanks for your reply.

February 15, 2016 at 01:04 pm - Permalink