[G5] RAM allocation

[Gary Kimes]

What is the easiest way to monitor RAM allocation?  -Gary


On Jan 4, 2006, at 8:51 AM, Zane H. Healy wrote:

> At 9:57 AM -0500 1/4/06, Joel Esler wrote:
>> I am too.  I think it's a fantastic computer.  However, I have  
>> noticed a RAM issue.  I have 2.5 Gs of RAM in my Dual 2.0, and I  
>> have noticed that after I boot and start my regular programs,  
>> (Mail, iTunes, VPN Client, and Adium.  I have about 1500M free.   
>> However, after running it for a few days, starting a quitting a  
>> few programs.
>> (Terminal, Entourage, Safari, Firefox..) Right now I am sitting at  
>> 680M free, basically I have noticed that some RAM is getting  
>> caught out there somewhere, any thoughts?
>
> Well, my basic thought on the subject isn't very constructive, and  
> that is that Memory Management on Mac OS X *SUCKS*!
>
> Having gotten that out of my system, one thing that I've noticed is  
> that Safari basically doesn't release memory, it just keeps  
> steadily increasing the amount of RAM that it uses, the longer it's  
> running. The only way to totally reclaim that memory is to quit out  
> of Safari.
>
> Another application that I run into issues with is iPhoto, the  
> memory requirements for it can be downright *insane*!  iPhoto is  
> the reason that I upgraded my Dual 2Ghz from 1.5GB to 3.5GB of  
> RAM.  Prior to upgrading the RAM, it had reached the point where  
> starting iPhoto would cripple, if not totally lock up my system (to  
> the point where it had to be powered off, as it was totally  
> unresponsive).
>
> I think there are a few other programs that are also guilty of  
> using steadily more RAM, but Safari is the main one I've noticed.   
> On an interesting note, I've also noticed that the longer that MS  
> Word '04 is running, the more CPU it seems to use.
>
> The irritating thing for me is that I expect to start a computer,  
> log in, fire up the programs I use and leave everything running  
> till the next power outage, unless I have to reboot for patches.  I  
> have other systems that stay up for well over a year if allowed to,  
> but with Mac OS X, I'm actually doing good to have the system up  
> for as long as I used to keep my G4/450 AGP (it was part of the  
> first shipment of G4's to dealers) running Mac OS 9 up.
>
> BTW, logging out is as unacceptable as having to reboot the system.
>
> 		Zane
>
>
> -- 
> --
> | Zane H. Healy                    | UNIX Systems Administrator |
> | healyzh at aracnet.com (primary)    | OpenVMS Enthusiast         |
> | MONK::HEALYZH (DECnet)           | Classic Computer Collector |
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> |                http://www.aracnet.com/~healyzh/               |
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