Re: Memory Leak

Thanks again HJ. Based on your def. of a *leak*:

",A memory leak would be where RAM is consumed, and never released, even after the database is closed, and all Oracle executables ended in a 'normal' fashion. I'd also expect a memory leak to get progressively worse over time, until we reach the point that the machine simply ceases to function, or crashes."

 I think we're pretty much on the same page.

While I don't think it has gotten progressively worse yet, it's not just a matter of RAM being consumed and then released. I don't even have to start any programs or databases. I use an application MaxMem that monitors RAM consumption, and can free it up when it memory isn't released and starts to run low. I wasn't running MaxMem continously prior to this problem arising, so I don't really have anything to benchmark the issue, other than the fact that I rarely, if ever, had a memory issue in the past. I have now inserted MaxMem into my startup routine.

Now, as an example, all I have to do is start up my pc, and once it has completed the start up cycle, and before I have clicked on anything at all, my memory is down to <15% free. If I don't free up memory with MaxMem every few minutes, the pc will eventually freeze/lock-up, requiring a reboot.

I may have mis-spoke earlier about the steps leading up to the issue. I wasn't making notes so I'm not sure. It may very well be that I tried running Universal Installer in silent mode before the leak "appeared". I tried that after the extraction from the zip file, but this did not give me a complete install, and I had to delete the files created and run the setup.exe normally. The leak MAY have appeared after running the installer in silent mode. That certainly makes more sense than having it appear right after unzipping the files.

In the meantime, I'm going through MS's knowledge base and researching as much as I can. Thanks again.

Lance

"Howard J. Rogers" <howardjr_at_www.com> wrote in message news:3be05443$0$15798$afc38c87_at_news.optusnet.com.au...
> Comments embedded.
> HJR
> --
>
> Oracle Resources : http://www.geocities.com/howardjr2000
> ========================================
>
>
> "Lance" <lancehatfield_at_atl.mediaone.net> wrote in message
> news:ZwRD7.3467$KE2.2390859_at_typhoon.jacksonville.mediaone.net...
> > Thanks for the reply. I am looking to upgrade to XP, but haven't seen
> > anything being offered by Oracle for that platform. Has Oracle
certified
> 8i
> > (or 9i) for XP?
> >
>
> No. But it's certified for 2000, and XP is just 2000 with knobs on. I
have
> it working here. But no, it's not certified -but probably will be soon.
>
> > I won't argue the point about Win98, but in it's defense, I haven't had
a
> > memory leak problem (at least, nothing nearly as dramatic as what is
> > currently happening) in the 2+ years I've been running on it. It wasn't
> > until I extracted the 8.1.7 zip file that the problem occurred. Not
> saying
> > it's Oracle's fault, but somehow, this triggered the situation. No
other
> > changes had/have been made to my system for at least a week prior to
this.
> >
>
> Well, I'm not defending Oracle, either. But merely unzipping files would
> not induce a memory leak. If you *ran* something, and not merely
unzipped,
> fair enough.
>
> > One point I failed to mention in my original post, which could very well
> be
> > part of the problem is that I am running 96MB ram.
> >
>
> You need 128M for 8i. 512M is the stated minimum for 9i (but I've got it
> going in 256M without difficulty). But then I upgraded to 1Gb, and
haven't
> looked back!
>
> > My main goal right now is to stop the leak, as it is a royal pain in the
> > a$$. Of course, if it continues, it might help convince my wife to let
me
> > upgrade with a new PC altogether! Seriously though, I rather fix this
> issue
> > for now.
> >
>
> Honestly: I can't see that its fixable. Taking what you wrote literally,
> you had a perfectly decent machine, you unzipped a file but didn't execute
> it, you developed a memory leak. Either you are using a weird unzipper
> (unlikely), the file was infected with a virus or worm (equaly unlikely if
> it came direct from technet or Oracle CDs), or our definitions of memory
> leaks is in divergence.
>
> After you extracted the files, but before you ran them, how did you
> determine that a memory leak had developed? What tools/diagnostics told
you
> that?
>
> And after you ran the installer, you said you developed a "horrendous"
> memory leak -again, how did you diagnose that? What I'm getting at is
that
> if you did a default installation, you would have got a database created
> with some very large memory settings, and I would expect RAM consumption
to
> go through the roof -but that's not my definition of a memory leak. A
> memory leak would be where RAM is consumed, and never released, even after
> the database is closed, and all Oracle executables ended in a 'normal'
> fashion. I'd also expect a memory leak to get progressively worse over
> time, until we reach the point that the machine simply ceases to function,
> or crashes.
>
> Certainly, if memory consumption shot through the roof merely by unzipping
a
> few files, and before any installation, something's wrong. That's why I
> want to know what the actual figures were, and what you used to obtain
them.
>
> We need to be clear that it *is* a memory leak and not just large memory
> consumption.
>
> Regards
> HJR
>
>
>
>
> > Thanks again!
> >
> > Lance
> >
> > "Howard J. Rogers" <howardjr_at_www.com> wrote in message
> > news:3bdf6ad4$0$27003$afc38c87_at_news.optusnet.com.au...
> > > Well, two key phrases in your post sprang to my attention: "Even
before
> I
> > > ran the Universal Installer...." and "I uninstalled all the Oracle
> > > files...and am still experienceing the memory leak".
> > >
> > > The other key phrase was "...for Win98".
> > >
> > > You're using a dodgy operating system that experienced memory problems
> > > before Oracle got anywhere near your machine. Incidentally, the idea
of
> > > using third-party memory utilities on Win98 is a disaster waiting to
> > happen.
> > >
> > > It's got zilch to do with Oracle, and everything to do with Windows 98
> (or
> > > your particular configuration of it, anyway). Do yourself a favour,
and
> > > upgrade to Windows XP Home -memory leaks will be a thing of the past,
> and
> > > Oracle will work quite nicely on it. (If you insist, go for Windows
> 2000
> > > Professional -which is basically XP, but without all the glitz). Not
a
> > > cheap option, I agree. And I won't even say that Oracle never has
> memory
> > > leaks, because it does, occasionally -but not before you run the
> installer
> > > it doesn't!
> > >
> > > Regards
> > > HJR
> > > --
> > >
> > > Oracle Resources : http://www.geocities.com/howardjr2000
> > > ========================================
> > >
> > >
> > > "Lance" <lancehatfield_at_atl.mediaone.net> wrote in message
> > > news:H2JD7.3304$KE2.2233643_at_typhoon.jacksonville.mediaone.net...
> > > > Good evening,
> > > >
> > > > Hoping someone here might be able to point me in the right direction
> > with
> > > a
> > > > problem I've encountered. I recently downloaded 8.1.7 for Win98 to
> help
> > > > study for OCP. Even before I ran the Universal Installer, but after
> > > > extracting the zip file, I noticed that my PC was experiencing a
> serious
> > > > memory leak.
> > > >
> > > > I successfully ran the installer, but noticed that the memory leak
was
> > > > horrendous. I decided to go ahead and uninstall all the Oracle
files,
> > and
> > > > deleted all the folders associated with the installation and the
> > extracted
> > > > zip file. However, I am still experiencing the memory leak. For
> > example,
> > > > if I start up or reboot my computer, once it has fully cycled
through
> > the
> > > > startup, the pc is running with about 15% memory free. I can free
it
> up
> > > > (using MaxMem), but it will quickly run back down, without running
any
> > > > programs.
> > > >
> > > > I'd appreciate any suggestions anyone might have for this newbie.
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
Received on Thu Nov 01 2001 - 05:40:45 CST