RAM Usage Issue

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Posts: 50
Joined: April 25, 2016 - 12:19
RAM Usage Issue

I've been working on a sounfont for sometime, so I'd leave it active and it would load automatically when I'd start VMS (now using RC2). It reached a size of a little over 2Gb, but then I had trouble loading it with any soundfont editor. I've now split the soundfont into one larger and one small additional soundfont, both still loading into VMS without problems. But I noticed in Task Manager that instead of VMS using a around the current combined soundfont size of 2.2Gb RAM which was loaded, it was using over 4Gb. It was like it still wanted to use my old original 2Gb soundfont as well, although it was not selected or even in the list of soundfonts to select. So I selected both loaded soundfonts with the '-' option to remove them entirely from VMS, closed VMS without any soundfonts listed, and then reopened VMS, selected my two new soundfonts, and now when it starts VMS loads using the correct 2.2Gb RAM. A strange little bug.

http://kiwi6.com/artists/GEN_MIDI

Posts: 1972
Joined: March 25, 2012 - 01:19
Re: RAM Usage Issue

I've tried several times to load/unload soundfonts but was not able to reproduce the behavior you described.
Did it happen only once or it is reproducible?

If you're able to give a reproducible step by step sequence, post it here and I'll check it out.

Things to point out (maybe some are obvious for you, anyway):

  • Soundfonts are loaded/unloaded upon Apply/OK button click; if one of the virtual devices is in use, there could be a small additional delay.
  • In task manager you should look at the Private working set column.
    It reports the memory strictly related to a process, excluding shared memory areas and cached memory blocks; a just unloaded memory block could be kept available by the OS in case you need it again in a short time.
  • Private working set column could sometimes is not updated instantly but requires some seconds (not more than 10/15) to report new values.

Cheers

Posts: 50
Joined: April 25, 2016 - 12:19
Re: RAM Usage Issue

I load in one soundfont, then click '+' to load another. Then either click the green box to deactivate a soundfont, or click '-' to remove it completely, and click apply. I noticed in task manager when I deactivate or remove one soundfont and apply, VMS memory useage drops to around the size of the now one single soundfont loaded, but you can see the memory useage count up as if it were reloading the soundfont just deactivated/removed.

Or it can just be one soundfont loaded, and I either deactivate it or remove it from the list, and always click apply. It may be as you say the OS (Windows 7 64 bit) just keeping it available, but depending on the size of soundfont(s) used this could use a big percentage of RAM unnecessarily and prevent it being used elsewhere as needed? (Image attached).

Attachments (Only registered users)
_VMS.jpg

http://kiwi6.com/artists/GEN_MIDI

Posts: 1972
Joined: March 25, 2012 - 01:19
Re: RAM Usage Issue
Kj wrote:
It may be as you say the OS (Windows 7 64 bit) just keeping it available, but depending on the size of soundfont(s) used this could use a big percentage of RAM unnecessarily and prevent it being used elsewhere as needed?

AFAIK that RAM is kept there ready to be reused (this is good to speed-up softwares that release large memory-mapped files and immediately reloads them, i.e. during a configuration reload) till something else, like another process, reclaims it.

You could make this test:

  • copy your file.sf2 to file2.sf2, file3.sf2, ...
  • add all of them (disabled) to VMS
  • enable the first one, disable it and you'll have the "leaked" memory
  • enable file2.sf2 then disable it
  • repeat for file4 and others, but enable only once at a time
  • if this is a real memory leak you should go quickly out-of-memory, but I suppose memory will be automatically freed once you load a "new" soundfont and you're near memory limit...
Posts: 50
Joined: April 25, 2016 - 12:19
Re: RAM Usage Issue

I performed that test, with 3 copies of my soundfont, but each only activated individually. Each time task manager showed that the memory useage of VMS worked very well. When loaded the large soundfont and VMS was using about the amount of RAM as expected, around 1.9Gb, and when each of copies were disabled the VMS RAM useage dropped to only 15Mb. It does look as if it's not a memory leak, and only OS procedure as you suspected. :-)

http://kiwi6.com/artists/GEN_MIDI

Posts: 1972
Joined: March 25, 2012 - 01:19
Re: RAM Usage Issue

Glad to hear that ;)