Assigning more than 2 GB memory on Mac OS X

[Peter Richterich]

This post describes the steps to allow CodonCode Aligner to use more than 2 GB memory on Mac OS X 10.5.6 and newer.

Prerequisites:

• Any Mac with a Core 2 Duo processor, or a MacPro with at least one quad-core Intel Xeon processor (or a newer processor)
• Mac OS X 10.5.6 or newer, with all Java updates applied
• CodonCode Aligner version 3.0.3 or newer

You can use the "About this Mac" menu item in the Apple menu to check your processor and memory.

On computers that meet these requirements, CodonCode Aligner will run in 64-bit mode, which enables it to access more than 2 GB or memory. Please note that the computer should also have more than 2 GB of built-in RAM - otherwise, assigning more than 2 GB may fail, or lead to very poor performance.

Assigning more memory to CodonCode Aligner

1. If CodonCode Aligner is still running, quit.
2. Start CodonCode Aligner
3. Choose "Preferences" from the "CodonCode Aligner" menu
4. Select "Memory"
5. Change value for "Maximum available memory" to a new value (e.g. 3000 for about 3 GB of memory). Please note that this value should be about 1 GB lower than the built-in memory. Also, make sure that your hard disk has at least several GB of free space left.
6. Click "OK". This will restart CodonCode Aligner.