imac memory problem

[monkeydo_jb]

I've got a problem with a dv imac (is that what they call the colored ones?) at work. I'm the junior network admin so I get the pleasure of fixing it since the other admins I work with HATE apple.

I haven't run the mac os for around 8 years (except for tinkering with x a few times).

It has os 9 on it and 256 MB of RAM. When the user has Lotus Notes (5.0.9) and tries to work in any other program he gets an error from the OS (not notes) saying he doesn't have enough free memory to complete the action.

Does os 9 have a place where you have to designate RAM like for the os and applications? Anyone with mac knowledge please grace me with a little help.


-jeff

p.s. I try to defend apple at work, but they only laugh, especially when I tell them I will buy a PB when the new ones are released

 

[mmmdreg]

can't you select info for the app and set the preferred memory and all from that location?

 

[FattyMembrane]

do what mmmdreg says. click once on the application, select "get info" from the "file" menu in the finder, and you will be able to allocate as much ram as you would like for the application (you can only allocate memory while the app is not running). 256 megs should be plenty for os9 if you're not doing heavy media editing, so just let the owner know this little trick and it will save you lots of late night computer phone calls.

 

[Hemingray]

But he said the error is coming from the Finder, not the notes program. So what is the Finder saying, exactly? Is it one of the "Try Again/Restart" buttons alert?

 

[Gus]

The error would more than likely come from the OS no matter what. I believe it was a type 10,11,or 12 error. Internet Explorer in OS 9 was fond of issuing its own warning, but allocating more memory to the app as stated above should definitely fix the problem. Might want to check and see if Virtual Memory is turned on. While VM has issues with sound recording programs, the system is actually designed to run better with VM turned on.

Good Luck!

Gus

 

[monkeydo_jb]

I allocated it more RAM and it seems to be fixed. Guess the os was handing out the error for notes.

Thanks for all your help!


-jef

 

[rainman::|:|]

Glad things are working for you. A little more information for you on proper usage of this tip. When you get an error like this, depending on the application, you should set the memory a few megs higher at a time-- you don't want to allocate too much RAM or else you could lock up other system resources. I would usually bump the minimum size to the preferred size, and increase the preferred size by about 4,096K at a time...

and definitely make sure Virtual Memory is on-- even at bare minimum, it does affect just about every program's memory usage and performance, even if VM isn't being actively used.


pnw