mmap 2GB allocation limit on Win XP, 32-bits, Python 2.5.4

[Dave Angel]

Slaunger wrote:
> OS: Win XP SP3, 32 bit
> Python 2.5.4
>
> Hi I have run into some problems with allocating numpy.memmaps
> exceeding and accumulated size of about 2 GB. I have found out that
> the real problem relates to numpy.memmap using mmap.mmap
>
> I've written a small test program to illustrate it:
>
> import itertools
> import mmap
> import os
>
> files = []
> mmaps = []
> file_names= []
> mmap_cap=0
> bytes_per_mmap = 100 * 1024 ** 2
> try:
>     for i in itertools.count(1):
>         file_name = "d:/%d.tst" % i
>         file_names.append(file_name)
>         f = open(file_name, "w+b")
>         files.append(f)
>         mm = mmap.mmap(f.fileno(), bytes_per_mmap)
>         mmaps.append(mm)
>         mmap_cap += bytes_per_mmap
>         print "Created %d writeable mmaps containing %d MB" % (i,
> mmap_cap/(1024**2))
>
> #Clean up
> finally:
>     print "Removing mmaps..."
>     for mm, f, file_name in zip(mmaps, files, file_names):
>         mm.close()
>         f.close()
>         os.remove(file_name)
>     print "Done..."
>
>
> which creates this output
>
> Created 1 writeable mmaps containing 100 MB
> Created 2 writeable mmaps containing 200 MB
> ....
> Created 17 writeable mmaps containing 1700 MB
> Created 18 writeable mmaps containing 1800 MB
> Removing mmaps...
> Done...
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "C:\svn-sandbox\research\scipy\scipy\src\com\terma\kha
> \mmaptest.py", line 16, in <module>
>     mm = mmap.mmap(f.fileno(), bytes_per_mmap)
> WindowsError: [Error 8] Not enough storage is available to process
> this command
>
> There is more than 25 GB of free space on drive d: at this stage.
>
> Is it a bug or a "feature" of the 32 bit OS?
>
> I am surprised about it as I have not found any notes about these
> kinds of limitations in the documentation.
>
> I am in dire need of these large memmaps for my task, and it is not an
> option to change OS due to other constraints in the system.
>
> Is there anything I can do about it?
>
> Best wishes,
> Kim
>
>   
It's not a question of how much disk space there is, but how much 
virtual space 32 bits can address.  2**32 is about 4 gig, and Windows XP 
reserves about half of that for system use.  Presumably a 64 bit OS 
would have a much larger limit.

Years ago I worked on Sun Sparc system which had much more limited 
shared memory access, due to hardware limitations.  So 2gig seems pretty 
good to me.

There is supposed to be a way to tell the Windows OS to only use 1 gb of 
virtual space, leaving 3gb for application use.  But there are some 
limitations, and I don't recall what they are.  I believe it has to be 
done globally (probably in Boot.ini), rather than per process.  And some 
things didn't work in that configuration.

DaveA