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10.9 - disabling memory compression

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  10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-13 12:07 -0400
    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression billy@MIX.COM - 2014-04-13 17:57 +0000
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-13 15:35 -0400
    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2014-04-13 14:50 -0400
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-13 21:18 +0200
        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-13 15:55 -0400
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-13 15:37 -0400
        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2014-04-13 15:51 -0400
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Leonard Blaisdell <leoblaisdell@sbcglobal.net> - 2014-04-13 19:35 -0700
        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2014-04-14 16:34 +1200
          Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-14 16:30 -0400
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-20 10:53 +0200
              Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-20 09:27 -0400
        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2014-04-14 07:51 -0400
          Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-16 13:35 +0000
        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-14 16:30 -0400
          Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2014-04-14 17:36 -0400
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-14 18:06 -0400
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-20 09:15 +0200
          Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression me@home.spamsucks.ca (Király) - 2014-04-15 06:01 +0000
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-16 16:54 -0400
          Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-20 09:11 +0200
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-20 09:24 -0400
        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2014-04-15 02:10 +0000
    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Rick Jones <rick.jones2@hp.com> - 2014-04-14 23:32 +0000
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-14 19:58 -0400
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-20 09:45 +0200
        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-20 09:26 -0400
    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Kevin McMurtrie <mcmurtrie@pixelmemory.us> - 2014-04-15 00:38 -0700
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-16 16:58 -0400
    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-16 13:32 +0000
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-16 17:04 -0400
        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-17 00:04 +0000
          Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-17 15:15 -0400
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression android <here@there.was> - 2014-04-17 21:29 +0200
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression android <here@there.was> - 2014-04-17 21:29 +0200
              Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-17 15:48 -0400
                Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression android <here@there.was> - 2014-04-17 21:58 +0200
                  Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-17 16:07 -0400
                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression billy@MIX.COM - 2014-04-19 16:06 +0000
                      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-19 12:37 -0400
                      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-19 17:27 +0000
                      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-20 08:33 +0200
                        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-20 09:13 -0400
              Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-18 05:55 +0000
                Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-18 10:00 -0400
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2014-04-17 15:30 -0400
              Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-17 16:02 -0400
                Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression android <here@there.was> - 2014-04-17 22:10 +0200
                  Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-17 16:33 -0400
                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2014-04-17 21:54 +0000
                      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-17 18:13 -0400
                        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2014-04-17 23:59 +0000
                          Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-18 17:59 -0400
                            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2014-04-19 17:27 +0000
                            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Martin Frost me at invalid stanford daht edu <nospam@stanford.edu.invalid> - 2014-04-19 14:15 -0700
                              Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-19 18:06 -0400
                                Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Martin Frost me at invalid stanford daht edu <nospam@stanford.edu.invalid> - 2014-04-19 17:16 -0700
                                  Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-19 20:32 -0400
                                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2014-04-19 21:40 -0400
                                  Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2014-04-20 15:45 +1200
            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-18 05:46 +0000
              Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-18 09:44 -0400
                Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-18 21:06 +0000
                  Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2014-04-18 17:21 -0400
                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-18 17:30 -0400
                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2014-04-18 18:49 -0400
                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression billy@MIX.COM - 2014-04-19 16:33 +0000
                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-20 08:53 +0200
                      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-20 09:22 -0400
                      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-21 03:49 +0000
                  Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> - 2014-04-18 17:24 -0400
                  Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2014-04-18 17:25 -0400
                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-19 03:09 +0000
                      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression billy@MIX.COM - 2014-04-19 15:21 +0000
                        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2014-04-19 16:01 -0400
                    Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-20 10:47 +0200
                      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-21 03:52 +0000
                        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2014-04-21 04:26 -0400
                          Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2014-04-22 04:07 +0000
                            Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2014-04-22 08:15 -0400
                        Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2014-04-21 08:44 -0400
                  Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression Paul Sture <nospam@sture.ch> - 2014-04-20 10:42 +0200
      Re: 10.9 - disabling memory compression billy@MIX.COM - 2014-04-19 16:37 +0000

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#58570

On 2014.04.15, 02:01 , Király wrote:
> Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>> Not always so.  There are a variety of apps that shut off on closing the
>> window (red button).  The calculator and the App Store being a couple of
>> them.  There are others.
>
> The general guideline is that an edit-a-document app (TextEdit, Preview,
> Pages, basically apps that do nothing without an open document) will
> stay open afer all of its windows (i.e. documents) are closed. An app
> that isn't document based (Disk Utility, Contacts, Dictionary) will quit
> when its (usually single and does everything) window is closed.

Which makes sense to you and me but is confusing at first to Windows 
users coming to Mac.  I got over it in about my first day with a Mac - 
others may take longer.


-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

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#58707

On 2014-04-14, Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
> On 2014.04.13, 22:35 , Leonard Blaisdell wrote:
>
>> Housekeeping? You can quit a PC app from a window. You need to quit an
>> app with the Mac from the menu or command-q.
>
> Not always so.  There are a variety of apps that shut off on closing the 
> window (red button).  The calculator and the App Store being a couple of 
> them.  There are others.

This behaviour is programmable.  In a Cocoa app the following code in
AppDelegate.m does the trick:

-(BOOL) applicationShouldTerminateAfterLastWindowClosed:
(NSApplication *) sender {
    return YES;
}


> The general approach is that an app is not running "in its window" but 
> that its windows are extensions to the app.  But that doesn't apply in 
> all cases.
>
> Further, app that run in a terminal window will be force quit if the 
> terminal window they are running in is closed.

I have Terminal.app set to warn me and ask for confirmation if I try to
close it while something is running in a window.  I typically run half a
dozen or so Terminal windows and the confirmation is presented on a per
window basis - windows not running anything get zapped, those running
something ask for confirmation in turn.

-- 
Paul Sture

The final step of #heartbleed recovery is to call your mother, and advise
her to change her maiden name                                  -- @gojomo

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#58721

On 2014.04.20, 03:11 , Paul Sture wrote:
> On 2014-04-14, Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>> On 2014.04.13, 22:35 , Leonard Blaisdell wrote:
>>
>>> Housekeeping? You can quit a PC app from a window. You need to quit an
>>> app with the Mac from the menu or command-q.
>>
>> Not always so.  There are a variety of apps that shut off on closing the
>> window (red button).  The calculator and the App Store being a couple of
>> them.  There are others.
>
> This behaviour is programmable.  In a Cocoa app the following code in
> AppDelegate.m does the trick:
>
> -(BOOL) applicationShouldTerminateAfterLastWindowClosed:
> (NSApplication *) sender {
>      return YES;
> }
>
>
>> The general approach is that an app is not running "in its window" but
>> that its windows are extensions to the app.  But that doesn't apply in
>> all cases.
>>
>> Further, app that run in a terminal window will be force quit if the
>> terminal window they are running in is closed.
>
> I have Terminal.app set to warn me and ask for confirmation if I try to
> close it while something is running in a window.  I typically run half a
> dozen or so Terminal windows and the confirmation is presented on a per
> window basis - windows not running anything get zapped, those running
> something ask for confirmation in turn.

I wrote a program to keep my external disks up and spinning - if they 
spin down, sometimes the system will want to spin one up on silly things 
like changing a web page in a browser... so I also have terminal warn me 
if I CMD-Q/W that process.  I could BG it I suppose.


-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#58550

On 2014-04-14, Leonard Blaisdell <leoblaisdell@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> In article <534adc8b$0$18926$c3e8da3$cc4fe22d@news.astraweb.com>,
> Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hmm. There's a bunch of people (including my other half) complaining of 
>> getting "your computer is running out of application memory" errors that 
>> no one (certainly not anyone from Apple) knows how to fix. The basic 
>> Apple Duhfense League response seems to be "repair the the permissions." 
>> Yeah, right. Would this compressed memory thingie have ought to do with 
>> this? I haven't had the problem on the MacBook Pro with 4 gigs RAM, but 
>> the fancy new iMac (with 8 gigs) does it from time to time.
>
> Housekeeping? You can quit a PC app from a window. You need to quit an
> app with the Mac from the menu or command-q. My wife, who uses a PC at
> work and a Mac at home, instinctively closes a window with that red dot
> and assumes that the app has quit. She's getting better.

It may come as a surprise to some that different doesn't automatically
mean inferior.

> Get a whole bunch of dormant apps and associated limbo files and memory
> becomes an issue regardless of compression. Restart works well. Just a
> thought.

And just because some random person says memory becomes an issue doesn't
automatically make it true.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#58548

Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
> Of course there are helpful people out there so I found these
> helpful commands:

> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
> vm.compressor_mode: 4
> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$

> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".

> To set it to 1 (off):

>           sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"

> So I'm now running in that mode.

If 1 is off and 4 is on, what are 0, 2 and 3?

rick jones
-- 
The computing industry isn't as much a game of "Follow The Leader" as
it is one of "Ring Around the Rosy" or perhaps "Duck Duck Goose." 
                                                    - Rick Jones
these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway... :)
feel free to post, OR email to rick.jones2 in hp.com but NOT BOTH...

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#58549

On 2014.04.14, 19:32 , Rick Jones wrote:
> Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>> Of course there are helpful people out there so I found these
>> helpful commands:
>
>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
>> vm.compressor_mode: 4
>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$
>
>> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".
>
>> To set it to 1 (off):
>
>>            sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"
>
>> So I'm now running in that mode.
>
> If 1 is off and 4 is on, what are 0, 2 and 3?

Not sure if "3" is defined since "DEFAULT" or'd with "NO_SWAP" might end 
in tears...


http://opensource.apple.com/source/xnu/xnu-2422.1.72/osfmk/vm/vm_pageout.h

Near the bottom of that.


#define VM_PAGER_DEFAULT                0x1 /* Use default pager. */
#define VM_PAGER_COMPRESSOR_NO_SWAP         0x2 /* In-core compressor 
only. */
#define VM_PAGER_COMPRESSOR_WITH_SWAP           0x4 /* In-core 
compressor + swap backend. */
#define VM_PAGER_FREEZER_DEFAULT            0x8 /* Freezer backed by 
default pager.*/
#define VM_PAGER_FREEZER_COMPRESSOR_NO_SWAP     0x10    /* Freezer 
backed by in-core compressor only i.e. frozen data remain in-core 
compressed.*/
#define VM_PAGER_FREEZER_COMPRESSOR_WITH_SWAP       0x20    /* Freezer 
backed by in-core compressor with swap support too.*/



-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#58709

On 2014-04-14, Rick Jones <rick.jones2@hp.com> wrote:
> Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>> Of course there are helpful people out there so I found these
>> helpful commands:
>
>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
>> vm.compressor_mode: 4
>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$
>
>> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".
>
>> To set it to 1 (off):
>
>>           sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"
>
>> So I'm now running in that mode.
>
> If 1 is off and 4 is on, what are 0, 2 and 3?

Good question.  I am used to these sort of things being a bit pattern
so 3 would be a combination of 1 and 2.

One quick search led me to this unanswered question on Stack Exchange,
complete with links to various source files.*

<http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/118839/vm-compressor-mode-vm-compressor-mode-values-for-enabled-compressed-memory-in>

(I'll admit it's too early on a sunny Sunday morning for me to start
wading through the code)

* Given the copyright date of 2013 I see in vm_compressor.c, this may or
may not be the source used in 10.9.2

-- 
Paul Sture

The final step of #heartbleed recovery is to call your mother, and advise
her to change her maiden name                                  -- @gojomo

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#58722

On 2014.04.20, 03:45 , Paul Sture wrote:
> On 2014-04-14, Rick Jones <rick.jones2@hp.com> wrote:
>> Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> wrote:
>>> Of course there are helpful people out there so I found these
>>> helpful commands:
>>
>>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
>>> vm.compressor_mode: 4
>>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$
>>
>>> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".
>>
>>> To set it to 1 (off):
>>
>>>            sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"
>>
>>> So I'm now running in that mode.
>>
>> If 1 is off and 4 is on, what are 0, 2 and 3?
>
> Good question.  I am used to these sort of things being a bit pattern
> so 3 would be a combination of 1 and 2.
>
> One quick search led me to this unanswered question on Stack Exchange,
> complete with links to various source files.*
>
> <http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/118839/vm-compressor-mode-vm-compressor-mode-values-for-enabled-compressed-memory-in>
>
> (I'll admit it's too early on a sunny Sunday morning for me to start
> wading through the code)
>
> * Given the copyright date of 2013 I see in vm_compressor.c, this may or
> may not be the source used in 10.9.2

I posted the header the other day for the correct source:

http://opensource.apple.com/source/xnu/xnu-2422.1.72/osfmk/vm/vm_pageout.h

The defs are near the end of the file.


-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#58552

In article <hrWdnZbK8t3VK9fOnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@giganews.com>,
 Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:

> As most of you know, Mavericks has a nifty, fast and efficient memory 
> compression scheme to more efficiently employ allocated but more or less 
> dormant memory.  This really makes sense in Macs with 8 GB or less 
> memory and is especially a boon to laptops as it, in the end, saves 
> battery power (less swapping), (along with other features such as timer 
> coalescing).
> 
> On my 24 GB iMac, I checked the status of the memory lately and despite 
> running, at the time 4 OS' concurrently (OS X, Ubunutu, OpenSUSE and 
> WinXP) the compressed memory at the time was a mere 2.1 MB - that is 
> less than 1/100 of a percent of the installed memory while having about 
> 10 GB of free memory.
> 
> While the compression scheme is reputed to be very efficient (CPU wise) 
> it seems needless on systems with a large amount of installed memory and 
> esp. desktops that don't have an especial need to save the odd joule 
> here and there.
> 
> Of course there are helpful people out there so I found these helpful 
> commands:
> 
> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
> vm.compressor_mode: 4
> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$
> 
> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".
> 
> To set it to 1 (off):
> 
>           sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"
> 
> So I'm now running in that mode.

It shouldn't make any difference if you have lots of RAM.  What does 
'top' say?

I've found that compression happens after memory mapped files and caches 
start getting aggressively purged.  When a large database is running, 
compression kicks in after the disk is already thrashing badly on file 
I/O.

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#58571

On 2014.04.15, 03:38 , Kevin McMurtrie wrote:
> In article <hrWdnZbK8t3VK9fOnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>   Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>
>> As most of you know, Mavericks has a nifty, fast and efficient memory
>> compression scheme to more efficiently employ allocated but more or less
>> dormant memory.  This really makes sense in Macs with 8 GB or less
>> memory and is especially a boon to laptops as it, in the end, saves
>> battery power (less swapping), (along with other features such as timer
>> coalescing).
>>
>> On my 24 GB iMac, I checked the status of the memory lately and despite
>> running, at the time 4 OS' concurrently (OS X, Ubunutu, OpenSUSE and
>> WinXP) the compressed memory at the time was a mere 2.1 MB - that is
>> less than 1/100 of a percent of the installed memory while having about
>> 10 GB of free memory.
>>
>> While the compression scheme is reputed to be very efficient (CPU wise)
>> it seems needless on systems with a large amount of installed memory and
>> esp. desktops that don't have an especial need to save the odd joule
>> here and there.
>>
>> Of course there are helpful people out there so I found these helpful
>> commands:
>>
>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
>> vm.compressor_mode: 4
>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$
>>
>> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".
>>
>> To set it to 1 (off):
>>
>>            sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"
>>
>> So I'm now running in that mode.
>
> It shouldn't make any difference if you have lots of RAM.  What does
> 'top' say?

It does.   With mem compression on, there is a tiny sliver of 
compression (described above).  It's probably a tiny sliver of CPU as 
well - but there's really no point in having it at all on my computer so 
I turned it off.

top reports 0 swaps on my machine at present ... even with 3 VM's 
running under Fusion, + Photoshop + Bridge + the "usual" stuff.

> I've found that compression happens after memory mapped files and caches
> start getting aggressively purged.  When a large database is running,
> compression kicks in after the disk is already thrashing badly on file
> I/O.

On my SO's laptop, mem compression is effective from right after boot (2 
GB RAM with shared video memory).

-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

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#58568

In message <hrWdnZbK8t3VK9fOnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@giganews.com> 
  Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
> vm.compressor_mode: 4
> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$

> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".

> To set it to 1 (off):

>           sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"

> So I'm now running in that mode.

Don't do this. It's stupid, there's absolutely no reason for it, it will
probably (if not likely) fuck something up down the line and then you'll
be complaining about how your computer is acting weird or something and
you'll think it's OS X's fault instead of your own dumb fault (or Alan's
by proxy).

-- 
If I were you boys, I wouldn't talk or even think about women.  'T'ain't
good for your health.

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#58575

On 2014.04.16, 09:32 , Lewis wrote:
> In message <hrWdnZbK8t3VK9fOnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@giganews.com>
>    Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
>> vm.compressor_mode: 4
>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$
>
>> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".
>
>> To set it to 1 (off):
>
>>            sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"
>
>> So I'm now running in that mode.
>
> Don't do this. It's stupid, there's absolutely no reason for it, it will
> probably (if not likely) fuck something up down the line and then you'll
> be complaining about how your computer is acting weird or something and
> you'll think it's OS X's fault instead of your own dumb fault (or Alan's
> by proxy).

1. I've done it.
2. It is not stupid - I have much more memory than the laptops this is 
designed to help.
3. It is unlikely to affect anything down the road - and if it does, it 
is easily remedied.
4. As usual you shade things with ad hominem's.  Grow up.

-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#58586

In message <ivGdnYspFZvkbdPOnZ2dnUVZ_vadnZ2d@giganews.com> 
  Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
> On 2014.04.16, 09:32 , Lewis wrote:
>> In message <hrWdnZbK8t3VK9fOnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@giganews.com>
>>    Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
>>> vm.compressor_mode: 4
>>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$
>>
>>> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".
>>
>>> To set it to 1 (off):
>>
>>>            sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"
>>
>>> So I'm now running in that mode.
>>
>> Don't do this. It's stupid, there's absolutely no reason for it, it will
>> probably (if not likely) fuck something up down the line and then you'll
>> be complaining about how your computer is acting weird or something and
>> you'll think it's OS X's fault instead of your own dumb fault (or Alan's
>> by proxy).

> 1. I've done it.

I still say it's a stupid thing to do.

> 2. It is not stupid - I have much more memory than the laptops this is 
> designed to help.

It is stupid, you gain *nothing* and you much with the system in an way
that is unintended.

> 3. It is unlikely to affect anything down the road - and if it does, it 
> is easily remedied.

You have no idea what it might affect down the road, and you will
probably have no idea that the thing it does affect is affected by this,
and are also unlikely to even remember you did this. For no reason. For
no benefit at all.

> 4. As usual you shade things with ad hominem's.  Grow up.

You need to look that up, there was no ad hominem in my post.

-- 
"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great
pleasure." Clarence Darrow

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#58600

On 2014.04.16, 20:04 , Lewis wrote:
> In message <ivGdnYspFZvkbdPOnZ2dnUVZ_vadnZ2d@giganews.com>
>    Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>> On 2014.04.16, 09:32 , Lewis wrote:
>>> In message <hrWdnZbK8t3VK9fOnZ2dnUVZ_hudnZ2d@giganews.com>
>>>     Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>>>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$ sysctl -a vm.compressor_mode
>>>> vm.compressor_mode: 4
>>>> AlansMac:~ alanbrowne$
>>>
>>>> Compressor mode: 4 is "on".
>>>
>>>> To set it to 1 (off):
>>>
>>>>             sudo nvram boot-args="vm_compressor=1"
>>>
>>>> So I'm now running in that mode.
>>>
>>> Don't do this. It's stupid, there's absolutely no reason for it, it will
>>> probably (if not likely) fuck something up down the line and then you'll
>>> be complaining about how your computer is acting weird or something and
>>> you'll think it's OS X's fault instead of your own dumb fault (or Alan's
>>> by proxy).
>
>> 1. I've done it.
>
> I still say it's a stupid thing to do.

Without any firm reason to say so.  Just because Apple added it (and 
really, for laptops running on batteries - which is their largest 
market), does not mean it is required.  Were it bad then selecting the 
mode as I did would have been disabled.

>> 2. It is not stupid - I have much more memory than the laptops this is
>> designed to help.
>
> It is stupid, you gain *nothing* and you much with the system in an way
> that is unintended.

It is not stupid at all and it is not 'unintended' since it is a mode 
that can be set.  That module has several modes, actually.

And yes, there is a gain by turning it off.  Compression, even as cpu 
efficient as the technique used, does use cpu cycles.

>> 3. It is unlikely to affect anything down the road - and if it does, it
>> is easily remedied.
>
> You have no idea what it might affect down the road, and you will
> probably have no idea that the thing it does affect is affected by this,
> and are also unlikely to even remember you did this. For no reason. For
> no benefit at all.

Why is it important to you that I do as you say rather than as I want?

Out of several people who have replied, you're the only one saying it's 
a stupid thing (and for no founded reason).

And again I have my reasons (you present "fears") and there is a benefit 
(even if it's not much).

>> 4. As usual you shade things with ad hominem's.  Grow up.
>
> You need to look that up, there was no ad hominem in my post.

Really, please explain, above: QUOTE instead of your own dumb fault (or 
Alan's by proxy). UNQUOTE

Every time you reply to someone saying they are doing something "stupid" 
it is an attack on them.  Then there is your childish "by proxy" jibe).

I don't mind reasoned debate, but every time you object to something you 
tend to colour it with labels.

It's juvenile - at best.

-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

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#58601

In article <lZednfcNMN_dtc3OnZ2dnUVZ_qCdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
 Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:

> >> 4. As usual you shade things with ad hominem's.  Grow up.
> >
> > You need to look that up, there was no ad hominem in my post.
> 
> Really, please explain, above: QUOTE instead of your own dumb fault (or 
> Alan's by proxy). UNQUOTE

That would be one... ;-)
-- 
teleportation kills
http://tinyurl.com/androidphotography

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#58602

In article <lZednfcNMN_dtc3OnZ2dnUVZ_qCdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
 Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:

> And yes, there is a gain by turning it off.  Compression, even as cpu 
> efficient as the technique used, does use cpu cycles.

Have you noticed it? Do you know what kind of compression it is? Is it 
merely defraging the ram or is it reusing file fragments?
-- 
teleportation kills
http://tinyurl.com/androidphotography

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#58604

On 2014.04.17, 15:29 , android wrote:
> In article <lZednfcNMN_dtc3OnZ2dnUVZ_qCdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>   Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>
>> And yes, there is a gain by turning it off.  Compression, even as cpu
>> efficient as the technique used, does use cpu cycles.
>
> Have you noticed it? Do you know what kind of compression it is? Is it
> merely defraging the ram or is it reusing file fragments?

Noticed it?  Yes - there is no more compression indicated in the
              memory monitor.

Noticed it?  No - I can't say the computer is any faster - but
              that is of course subjective.

Algorithm: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lempel%E2%80%93Ziv%E2%80%93Oberhumer

-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#58605

In article <HZKdndcOP49rss3OnZ2dnUVZ_j-dnZ2d@giganews.com>,
 Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:

> On 2014.04.17, 15:29 , android wrote:
> > In article <lZednfcNMN_dtc3OnZ2dnUVZ_qCdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
> >   Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
> >
> >> And yes, there is a gain by turning it off.  Compression, even as cpu
> >> efficient as the technique used, does use cpu cycles.
> >
> > Have you noticed it? Do you know what kind of compression it is? Is it
> > merely defraging the ram or is it reusing file fragments?

Your link suggest that it's the latter.
> 
> Noticed it?  Yes - there is no more compression indicated in the
>               memory monitor.
> 
> Noticed it?  No - I can't say the computer is any faster - but
>               that is of course subjective.
> 
> Algorithm: 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lempel%E2%80%93Ziv%E2%80%93Oberhumer
-- 
teleportation kills
http://tinyurl.com/androidphotography

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#58607

On 2014.04.17, 15:58 , android wrote:
> In article <HZKdndcOP49rss3OnZ2dnUVZ_j-dnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>   Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>
>> On 2014.04.17, 15:29 , android wrote:
>>> In article <lZednfcNMN_dtc3OnZ2dnUVZ_qCdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
>>>    Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>>>
>>>> And yes, there is a gain by turning it off.  Compression, even as cpu
>>>> efficient as the technique used, does use cpu cycles.
>>>
>>> Have you noticed it? Do you know what kind of compression it is? Is it
>>> merely defraging the ram or is it reusing file fragments?
>
> Your link suggest that it's the latter.

No.  It's both.

The first : yes, it's noticeable as the compressed memory is now 
disabled and therefore in the monitor shows as zero compressed memory.

The second:  no, it's not like in casual use one notices that the 
overall machine "feels" faster.  I suppose I could write a program that 
allocates and writes to a lot of large memory blocks and deallocates 
them repeatedly and measure how quickly it does that with comp on and 
off - but I'd waste a lot of time doing that.

>>
>> Noticed it?  Yes - there is no more compression indicated in the
>>                memory monitor.
>>
>> Noticed it?  No - I can't say the computer is any faster - but
>>                that is of course subjective.
>>
>> Algorithm:
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lempel%E2%80%93Ziv%E2%80%93Oberhumer


-- 
"Big data can reduce anything to a single number,
  but you shouldn’t be fooled by the appearance of exactitude."
      -Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis, NYT, 2014.04.07

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#58661

Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> writes:

> it's noticeable as the compressed memory is now 
> disabled and therefore in the monitor shows as
> zero compressed memory.

On a machine with typically 4409MB used and 3783MB
free, since this thread began I have yet to see any
compressed memory.

Billy Y..
-- 
        sub     #'9+1   ,r0             ; convert ascii byte
	add     #9.+1   ,r0             ; to an integer
	bcc     20$                     ; not a number

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