MATLAB Programming

Resolving “Out of Memory” Errors
Resolving “Out of Memory” Errors
MATLAB generates an Out of Memory message whenever it requests a
segment of memory from the operating system that is larger than what
is currently available. This section covers the following topics providing
suggestions on how to resolve such errors:
• “General Suggestions for Reclaiming Memory” on page 11-21
• “Compressing Data in Memory” on page 11-22
• “Increasing System Swap Space” on page 11-22
• “Freeing Up System Resources on Windows Systems” on page 11-23
• “Reloading Variables on UNIX Systems” on page 11-23
General Suggestions for Reclaiming Memory
When you see the Out of Memory message, use any of the techniques discussed
under “Using Memory Efficiently” on page 11-12 to help optimize the available
memory. If the Out of Memory message still appears, you can try any of the
following:
• Compress data to reduce memory fragmentation
• If possible, break large matrices into several smaller matrices so that less
memory is used at any one time.
• If possible, reduce the size of your data.
• Make sure that there are no external constraints on the memory accessible
to MATLAB. (On UNIX systems, use the limit command to check).
• Increase the size of the swap file. We recommend that your machine
be configured with twice as much swap space as you have RAM. See
“Increasing System Swap Space” on page 11-22, below.
• Add more memory to the system.
On machines running Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Windows 2000
Datacenter Server, the amount of virtual memory space reserved by the
operating system can be reduced by using the /3GB switch in the boot.ini
file. More documentation on this option can be found at the following URL:
11-21