Alice Freezing??

**Alice Freezing?? -** 07-14-2007, 11:59 AM

My Alice is just about always freezing up. Then it takes about 5 minutes to "X" out. I have Windows XP. Do you think it's just because I have a slower processor (Celeron D), or what? Could you all give me your opinions? Thanks!

07-14-2007, 12:47 PM

A slow processor will cause problems - but mainly with playing a world. Make the playback window smaller and see if the problem goes away.

If the display is really bad and obviously the cause of the crashes, it may be an ond graphics card. Try "slow and steady" Alice.

The more likely cause is too little available memory for the program. Will let others describe the problem better - but basically Alice doesn't get rid of old files ("garbage collection") very well. With an older computer and a large program (greater than 6-10 M), you can almost come to a stop after you've been working for a while. One solution is to just save your program often (a good idea anyway) and then quit and restart Alice.

There are other things you can do - a forum search will show many of these - but they are mainly related to specific problems like large music files, etc.

04:23 PM

Thanks, I'm pretty sure the problem is the processor, because I have about 78 Gigs left on my C-Drive, and I just got this computer last year.

04:58 PM

HardDisk space seldom affects ALICE. RAM, on the other hand, will bring an ALICE world to it's knees.

They advertise that ALICE needs between 128 and 256 mbytes of memory. I support the premise that the more memory you have the better for ANY graphical progams. As others have said, if you have sound included in your program that will significantly impact performance, as sounds consume significant amounts of memory.

Search the Forum for the ALICE program "Guitar Villans", it's only 8.9kb but on a machine with only 526 mbyte of memory it will skip.

I could be wrong but I suspect your problem is not HardDisk space.

If, as I suspect, you are running from a laptop with a minimum of 512 meg or less, that probably accounts for the slowness. PLUS . . . .

Most programming languages have a "Garbage Collection" feature. This takes effect when you "close" a program - it is supposed to free up all memory reserved when your program started. ALICE, and numerous other programs, are atrocious for NOT doing this. The only way to free memory is to reboot.

Good luck,

07-14-2007, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lanceA

.... The only way to free memory is to reboot. (Bold added.)

Whoa! - As much as I've used Alice (and griped about crashes), I never realized that - although I have tended to reboot after a couple of crashes as a matter of course.

Thanks for the "heads up."

07-14-2007, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lanceA

...The only way to free memory is to reboot.

Thanks, I think that is the answer to my problem.

**Why No Garbage Collection -** 07-14-2007, 09:32 PM

If Alice is written in Python (or Java? or some mixture?) and these languages have automatic garbage collection - why is Alice plagued with "memory leaks" as suggested by the previous posts??? I switched from writing code in C++ to Java just because I was tired of never being able to plug all my memory leaks (well, there were other reasons)

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	#1 (permalink)
islandfever Guest Status: Posts: n/a	Alice Freezing?? - 07-14-2007, 11:59 AM My Alice is just about always freezing up. Then it takes about 5 minutes to "X" out. I have Windows XP. Do you think it's just because I have a slower processor (Celeron D), or what? Could you all give me your opinions? Thanks!

	#2 (permalink)
DrJim Guest Status: Posts: n/a	07-14-2007, 12:47 PM A slow processor will cause problems - but mainly with playing a world. Make the playback window smaller and see if the problem goes away. If the display is really bad and obviously the cause of the crashes, it may be an ond graphics card. Try "slow and steady" Alice. The more likely cause is too little available memory for the program. Will let others describe the problem better - but basically Alice doesn't get rid of old files ("garbage collection") very well. With an older computer and a large program (greater than 6-10 M), you can almost come to a stop after you've been working for a while. One solution is to just save your program often (a good idea anyway) and then quit and restart Alice. There are other things you can do - a forum search will show many of these - but they are mainly related to specific problems like large music files, etc.

	#3 (permalink)
islandfever Guest Status: Posts: n/a	07-14-2007, 04:22 PM Thanks, I'm pretty sure the problem is the processor, because I have about 78 Gigs left on my C-Drive, and I just got this computer last year. Last edited by islandfever; 07-14-2007 at 04:23 PM. Reason: sure and left spelled incorrectly

	#4 (permalink)
lanceA Guest Status: Posts: n/a	07-14-2007, 04:54 PM HardDisk space seldom affects ALICE. RAM, on the other hand, will bring an ALICE world to it's knees. They advertise that ALICE needs between 128 and 256 mbytes of memory. I support the premise that the more memory you have the better for ANY graphical progams. As others have said, if you have sound included in your program that will significantly impact performance, as sounds consume significant amounts of memory. Search the Forum for the ALICE program "Guitar Villans", it's only 8.9kb but on a machine with only 526 mbyte of memory it will skip. I could be wrong but I suspect your problem is not HardDisk space. If, as I suspect, you are running from a laptop with a minimum of 512 meg or less, that probably accounts for the slowness. PLUS . . . . Most programming languages have a "Garbage Collection" feature. This takes effect when you "close" a program - it is supposed to free up all memory reserved when your program started. ALICE, and numerous other programs, are atrocious for NOT doing this. The only way to free memory is to reboot. Good luck, Last edited by lanceA; 07-14-2007 at 04:58 PM. Reason: Added the "Garbage Collection" paragraph

	#7 (permalink)
JungleJim Guest Status: Posts: n/a	Why No Garbage Collection - 07-14-2007, 09:32 PM If Alice is written in Python (or Java? or some mixture?) and these languages have automatic garbage collection - why is Alice plagued with "memory leaks" as suggested by the previous posts??? I switched from writing code in C++ to Java just because I was tired of never being able to plug all my memory leaks (well, there were other reasons)