Update,
after a clean restart of my mac, clearing caches etc. and reducing the default to some folders I still get 1,24 GB real memory and 1,25 GB virtual memory. Since I’ve a total of 3 GB RAM this is just not workable.
Will try out 1.02 when it comes out but so far no joy.
On my MacBook Pro (4GB) running OS X 10.7.3, DEVONsphere Express is using a consistent 145MB real and 167.7 virtual memory.
800mb out of 9gb on a MacPro
10.6.8
Mac Pro (4.1)/16GB RAM/10.7.3
Idle: 0.1% in 4 Threads
Folders to Index: 250GB
DVE uses
in MEM: 1.05GB
on DISK: 5.4GB
spliced into
Files: 4.7GB
Index: 700MB
Same here. Memory usage didn’t change with a significant reduction in the index. Maybe a trade off could be made with speed. If things are kept in a database that isn’t always loaded in memory but is only occasionally queried with the current document, that could help.
Seems pretty clear that those seeing modest memory usage are the exception and not the rule.
The last thing most of us need is to add an app to our normal usage that consistently demands 500 meg or more of real RAM. I hope the folks at DevonTech can find a way to address and remedy this. The app looks like it has promise, but this issue is a dealbreaker for me.
I’m also seeing a large memory usage. I indexed two directories with a total of 6000 files. I did this in DEVONsphere and DEVONthink. The memory usage in DEVONsphere was 391 MB. When I opened the database in DEVONthink and did some searches the memory usage was about the same (plus or minus 10 MB).
So the in-memory resident index for the two products is the same. Since you can close a database in DEVONthink this is an acceptable memory load. It is not acceptable in DEVONsphere since it is always open.
It’s nice to reuse a code base between two products. This won’t work in this case.
Regards,
Barry
OP here.
I just tried out the latest update (1.2). Much better memory use.
After a few searches, use has been stable at ~367 MB. Given that I have 8 gig, that is probably tolerable.
Now, I’ll get to see how useful it really is and keep an eye on memory use . . . . 
I appreciate the quick update.
Updated to 1.2 today. With an unchanged index scope I found the memory dropped from 390 MB to 350 MB. It continues to climb as I search.
Since the memory jumps as you do searches is there anyway to clear things to return to ground zero. When DEVONsphere is first started it only consumes about 108MB. It would be great to return to that after searches. I’d rather have the memory saving rather than the time savings.
Actually, I have been experiencing a similar pattern with DevonThink Pro Office. Free memory dwindles continuously as I use the software, the point of suffocation.
However, at least in the case of DTPO there are no indications of memory leaks: the application seems to return unused memory to the system, as it should be doing, but the OS fails to release this “inactive” memory and turn it into “free” (an important distinction that has been noted several times in this forum). This must be an OS issue rather than a DevonThink issue.
Hi Macula,
Yeah, Free plus Inactive (in Activity Monitor) is the available memory you have to play with. The kernel readily gives up the inactive memory as needed so it’s effectively free. It’s important, as you say, to not consider Free Memory the only free memory. Exiting DTPO would likely just return the memory to Inactive. Many people do panic when they see low Free Memory numbers. It’s good to not to use that figure to understand the memory problems with DEVONsphere.
It’s best to pay attention to the Real Memory consumed by DEVONsphere Express. Portions of that memory is either in Wired or Active. That is the amount that is growing and is unavailable for other use.
If DEVONsphere could somehow be reset I would expect its Real Memory footprint to drop back to 100MB. But probably the memory saved would not go immediately into Free. It would likely spend some time as Inactive until it is released by the kernel.
Here’s hoping that DEVONsphere provides some facility for this. Ideally it would be some kind of time out on the memory consumed. So for example, if I don’t open DEVONsphere for 15 minutes then it would be nice for the consumed Real Memory to be released.
Regards,
Barry
Same here. The devonbot process is using up to 100% of CPU and brings my Mac to an almost complete halt. Quitting DevonSphere Express has no effect - devonbot continues working with the same performance loss to the machine.
I’d noticed some slowing when I first installed it, but carried on as I found the app very useful. Eventually, though, I stopped using it for ten days or so, and have just relaunched it, with this result. I realize it’s probably indexing, but even so the degree of this effect makes it useless. Maddening, and NOT what one expects from a Devon product. Given the number of posts this is obviously a serious problem experienced by many users, so it’s a bit disappointing not to have had a better response from the devs. A touch of the blasé about responses so far, guys…
Here’s hoping you can sort it out fast, as the app itself is very useful indeed. I could get to rely on it very quickly.
PS I’m using v 1.3.