Janet Choate-2 wrote: > > Thanx for clarification on stating my problem, Charlie. > > I am attempting to merge to files, i.e.: > hi39 = merge(comb[,c("hillID","geo")], hi.h39, by=c("hillID")) > > if this is relevant or helps to explain: > the file 'comb' is 3 columns and 1127 rows > the file 'hi.h39' is 5 columns and 19758564 rows > > i started a new clean R session in which i was able to read those 2 files > in, but get the following error when i try to merge them: > > R(2175) malloc: *** mmap(size=79036416) failed (error code=12) > *** error: can't allocate region > *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug > R(2175) malloc: *** mmap(size=79036416) failed (error code=12) > *** error: can't allocate region > *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug > R(2175) malloc: *** mmap(size=158068736) failed (error code=12) > *** error: can't allocate region > *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug > R(2175) malloc: *** mmap(size=158068736) failed (error code=12) > *** error: can't allocate region > *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug > R(2175) malloc: *** mmap(size=158068736) failed (error code=12) > *** error: can't allocate region > *** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug > Error: cannot allocate vector of size 150.7 Mb > > so the final error is "Cannot allocate vector of size 150.7 Mb", as > suggested when R runs out of memory. > > i am running R version 2.9.2, on mac os X 10.5 - leopard. > > any suggestion on how to increase R's memory on a mac? > thanx for any much needed help! > Janet >
Ah, so it is indeed a shortage of memory problem. With R 2.9.2, you are likely running a 32 bit version of R which will be limited to accessing at most 4 GB of RAM. You may want to try the newest version of R, 2.10.1, as it includes a 64 bit version that will allow you to access significantly more memory- provided you have the RAM installed on your system. I'm not too hot on memory usage calculation, but someone else on this list may be able to give you a ballpark estimate of how much RAM this merge would require. If it turns out to be a ridiculous amount, you will need to consider breaking the merge up into chunks or finding an out-of-core (i.e. not dependent on RAM for storage) merge tool. Hope this helps! -Charlie ----- Charlie Sharpsteen Undergraduate-- Environmental Resources Engineering Humboldt State University -- View this message in context: http://n4.nabble.com/memory-error-tp1747357p1747733.html Sent from the R help mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.