Run out of Application Memory

[johnodd4]

It's most likely that a application is running in the background and because you are on maverick and your machine will support yosemite it is a option however i would check into if your programs are yosemite compatible.

The macbook air only requires 2 gig's of ram when running yosemite on it.

 

[pm-r]

Maybe the OP would like to read these:
How to Fix Mavericks
Mavericks: Your System has Run out of Application memory

And if they need more, add this:
https://www.google.ca/search?client...&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&ei=nDTEVM3AD4mBqQXhsIDoBg

 

[dtravis7]

Harry, he said he has an MBA! Macbook Air. No AIR has upgradeable ram.

 

[Rod]

There is a great article on this subject from Apple Support here;
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6751041?start=0&tstart=0
It covers memory leaks in detail, one possible explanation.

 

[bobtomay]

I used FreeMemory Pro - think it was 99 cents - they have a free one also

A little search in the App store and you'll find a couple of free memory cleaners that have very good ratings.

I will say that Yosemite consistently uses more memory than 10.8 or 10.9. In fact my total 4 GB stays in use pretty much at all times. It's using 3.5 GB on a reboot where 10.8 & 9 were only using about 2 GB after a restart. But, I haven't had the slow down issues when memory needed to be swapped between apps like I had with the previous couple of versions. My swap used remains insignificantly small compared to 10.8 and 10.9.

This 2011 model is beginning to get long in the tooth.

 

[Rod]

I used FreeMemory Pro - think it was 99 cents - they have a free one also

A little search in the App store and you'll find a couple of free memory cleaners that have very good ratings.

I will say that Yosemite consistently uses more memory than 10.8 or 10.9. In fact my total 4 GB stays in use pretty much at all times. It's using 3.5 GB on a reboot where 10.8 & 9 were only using about 2 GB after a restart. But, I haven't had the slow down issues when memory needed to be swapped between apps like I had with the previous couple of versions. My swap used remains insignificantly small compared to 10.8 and 10.9.

This 2011 model is beginning to get long in the tooth.

Hi Bobtomay, I have downloaded FreeMemory Pro myself and I would be interested in what preferences you set. i.e. Algorythm, Warning Level and Smart Auto Free. When you have a minute.
Cheers,
Rod

 

[bobtomay]

Never did change any of the default settings to let it work automatically. I had it set to open at Login and used it manually to free up memory whenever I wanted. I didn't want it activating trying to free memory if I was encoding video for example.

In my initial testing of just watching how much was free, found I was experiencing issues at all times when it fell below 100 MB and quite often with as much as 200-250 MB free. So my habit was to use it before I had a problem - whenever I noticed my memory was getting below about 500 MB - unless I had an active app that I knew was actually using and needed that RAM.

The primary big hog for me was Safari and still is in 10.10, but it seems the memory management is drastically better about releasing Safari content when another app needs it than previously. For some reason, it doesn't take me long to have 8-10-15 tabs open in a browser.

 

[dtravis7]

The latest Safari is for sure a LOT better at not leaking and memory growing.

I might own FreeMemoryPro. Will have to check my purchased apps.

 

[Rod]

Never did change any of the default settings to let it work automatically. I had it set to open at Login and used it manually to free up memory whenever I wanted. I didn't want it activating trying to free memory if I was encoding video for example.

In my initial testing of just watching how much was free, found I was experiencing issues at all times when it fell below 100 MB and quite often with as much as 200-250 MB free. So my habit was to use it before I had a problem - whenever I noticed my memory was getting below about 500 MB - unless I had an active app that I knew was actually using and needed that RAM.

The primary big hog for me was Safari and still is in 10.10, but it seems the memory management is drastically better about releasing Safari content when another app needs it than previously. For some reason, it doesn't take me long to have 8-10-15 tabs open in a browser.

I for one am surprised at how much memory my email client uses. Anyway thanks for that info. I have set my limit at 100 Mb so I will see how that goes. I am surprised at how fast/well everything works with only 300 Mb free. Haven't got down to 200 Mb yet but I will be using HandBrake later so we'll see. Either way it is a really interesting exercise and I like how it is approved for family sharing. I was able to Airdrop a copy to my wife's computer sign it with my iTunes/App store password and instal. So for one price ($2.49 for this version) we have it on two computers.

 

[lclev]

Yeah go to Yosemite. I have a MB Air with 4GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive. I have never gotten an out of memory message. I have had message, word, chrome, excel and voila open all at the same time and never had an issue. I never had an issue under Mavericks either. But I do run Onyx on a regular basis - not sure if that helps or I just got luck and have a good MB AIr.

Lisa

 

[chas_m]

All "memory cleaner" apps are complete snake oil. They do absolutely nothing the system doesn't do by itself, when needed, automatically.

 

[pm-r]

All "memory cleaner" apps are complete snake oil. They do absolutely nothing the system doesn't do by itself, when needed, automatically.

I'd tend to agree after doing some reading and investigating, especially if using OS X Mavericks 10.9.x or later, even though I used to use Free Memory and then Free Memory Pro with SL 10.6.8, but I really wondered if it really helped at all other than to make the user feel better with more memory "available".

It seems that all most of them do is run variations of the purge command. Otherwise, the OS should handle any installed memory properly. The key word being "should"…

 

[Rod]

Chas-m, one thing that has been a bit of an eye opener using Free Memory Pro is how well my MBP (with it's stock standard 4 Gb RAM running Yosemite) runs with only say 150 Mb free. So I suppose the value of this exercise has been becoming more aware of what uses what and how little free memory is required. I might be hovering on the limit but so long as I don't reach it everything works fine.

 

[chas_m]

Chas-m, one thing that has been a bit of an eye opener using Free Memory Pro is how well my MBP (with it's stock standard 4 Gb RAM running Yosemite) runs with only say 150 Mb free. So I suppose the value of this exercise has been becoming more aware of what uses what and how little free memory is required. I might be hovering on the limit but so long as I don't reach it everything works fine.

The reason is because "free" RAM (as reported by the system) is only part of your available RAM. As innumerable articles on Activity Monitor will tell you, "inactive" RAM is also "free," but Apple classifies it differently because it contains previous RAM contents no longer in use that you might reactivate by opening the app again, so as to perform better.

So in fact, only "wired" (RAM reserved for essential system functions) and "active" (RAM being used by the open fonts, applications, menubar items, widgets, etc) are actually "in use" and everything else is readily available when called for.

At the moment for example, I have 1.4GB of "wired" RAM, and 9.34GB of in-use RAM. This is out of 16GB of RAM. But "free" tells me I have only about 1GB of RAM "free" (I'm using the terms used by pre-Yosemite Activity Monitor. Yosemite has a different vocabulary) when in fact I have 6GB of available, not-being-used RAM.

In Yosemite, RAM is divided into App Memory ("active"), File Cache ("inactive"), Wired and "Compressed" (for me this is ALWAYS zero). Yosemite makes use of RAM compression for users with less RAM (say 8GB or even 4GB) in order to make programs run as smoothly as possible. That's why people who have 8GB of RAM but don't run more than say two programs at a time are likely not seeing any RAM issues, just like I don't with 16GB of RAM. Ooh you clever Apple engineers!

So "memory cleaning" apps just run the PURGE command on demand, which just dumps the "inactive" RAM into "free" RAM and makes not even the tiniest whit of difference in performance, and in fact can interfere with memory compression that would have actually worked better.

 

[dbjenney]

Out of Application Memory

I am having the same problem. I have an Imac, running OSX 10.9.5, 8gb memory. I think I know what the problem is, but have not found a solution. If you go to applications > utilities > Activity Monitor, this is where I find a process eating up all the memory. Its called InstallerS (not responding), you can watch it eat up all the memory. I have been quitting that process right after boot up--which allows me to work trouble free. But that's just a work around, not a fix. I will attach the Activity Monitor window for example.

I have read threads about creating a new user account to see if the problem persists, but haven't tried that yet. If anyone has a solution, let me know please.

 

[RDLSAT]

I have a mid 2010 Macbook Pro w/ 8GB ram that exhibits the same problem. For me the culprit is always the same. The Mail app starts hogging memory and bogs everything else down. Stopping and restarting Mail releases the memory, but only temporarily. The problem first started with the Yosemite Beta and is still occurring with Yosemite 10.10.2. I have filed several problem reports with Apple but, as yet, no fix is in sight.
I have a 2007 iMac w/ 6GB ram and a 2010 mac mini w/ 8GB ram running 10.10.2 and exactly the same apps and more. Neither of them exhibit any problems with memory pressure.
I hope Apple will release an update that addresses the issue. Good luck on finding a resolution.

 

[pm-r]

I'd do a search for "InstallerS" with Find Any File for the name that "equals" InstallerS and see what it might belong to. And it sounds like you don't need it as it's not even working properly.

You can get Find Any File here: Thomas Tempelmann - Find Any File

 

[syd1]

memory

I have one of the las g-5's made and was having memory trouble. It was quite easy to replace memory(ram) with larger capacity. I installed the OS and we have slowed down a bit. Therefore, I plan to install another 8gig which is the uppermost limit. As I am elderly I do not plan to buy another mac, because the newer iMac's do not have dvd capacity. So I intend to baby this along. And by the way, I never had any trouble with the latest OS.

 

[Greenmanwest]

Its likely the offending process is an ad or spyware program like Genieo or Downlight.
Try going to your Users & Groups under the Login Items tab - and uncheck InstallerS if its there, or anything else that you don't recognize.
That may stop it from launching on startup, which it appears to be doing in your case.
While you are there, turn off anything else that launches at Login that is not essential (the only items I have open at Login are my Dropbox and a third party font manager I use - everything else is unchecked to ensure a fast startup!) Then restart your Mac.
Then, read this article on the Mac Forum -
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203987
it will tell you how to remove Genieo and other injection ad/spyware that you may have inadvertently installed.
This issue is usually not a problem with Mac OS per se, but with something that you inadvertantly downloaded and installed along with something else. Frequently these programs show up as a checkbox option when you are installing free software - unfortunately the checkbox is marked by default and if you rush through the installation process, you might miss the step where you can uncheck it!

 

[NateS]

…Would you suggest upgrading to Yosemite?

I wouldn't if I were you. My brand new MacBookPro non-retina 9,2 came with 8GB ram and I could not run Yosemite without getting constant spinning beachballs. Had to install 16GB to eliminate the beachballs and delays.

Nate