Start up disk - no available memory

2 year old MacBook Pro i5 17" 4GB RAM 500GB disk
Background... I'm a reasonably good Windows techie, this is my first MAcBook, so I'm really not up to speed on some of the Unix lingo, but I'm a fast learner and want to learn more about how this beast works!
Anyway ... I recently had a disk crash, replaced the HD at the Apple Store here in London, and then reloaded my files back from a Carbonite backup. Then feeling brame I upgraded to Lion and have been sorting out application upgrades all week. What a process....
Anyway, at pretty regular intervals, the machine will grind to a halt, the spinning beach ball of death will appear and a pop up window will open that says:
Your Mac OSX startup disk has no more space available for application memory.
The window lists all the open apps and gives me the opportunity to shut them down. At this point on Activity monitor I see almost zero free memory available, but plenty of CPU available. A few times I saw a process called SafariDAVclient using nearly 2GB of memory(!) I would kill it and it would reappear. it seems gone for good now, but Safari itself seems to eat up memory up to 2GB. My VM size seems huge to me (180GB) as well.
The message itself makes no sense to me because there is 320GB free on the HD.
Can anyone tell me in technical terms what the message means, and how I might change my configuration to prevent it from happening?
Also, what's up with Safari? Does it always use 2GB or memort? Seems insame for a browser.
Thanks in advance,
Jeff

Hi,
I don't have Lion installed, but some constant do exist among recent versions of OS X. Starting with your "huge" VM: in OS X, the system will consider all (or next to all) free space on your startup disk as available for swapping, as opposed to Windows, where VM is usually capped.
Safari caches a lot, one of the reasons it's so fast at rendering Web pages. Its using up to 2Gb of RAM on a machine that offers 4Gb total, and up to 180Gb in VM, is not unheard of, nor is it abnormal. It would probably use more if you had more RAM available, as the memory addressing cap at 2Gb for any given application in a 32-bit OS doesn't apply to Lion, which is 64-bit exclusive.
SafariDAVclient is a service that will let you sync bookmarks and browsing history over the Cloud with your MobileMe or Me.com account(s). See here for more info. It's probably the reason why your machine freezes after a while.

Similar Messages

Why does start up disk lose/gain memory?

I keep getting the "Your start up disk is almost full" message.
I delete (+empty trash) or transfer files to an external HD freeing up space (then delete/trash).
Often when I delete files my HD memory decreases! but reappears if I restart. I don't restart regularly preferring to sleep my computer.
Sometimes the HD memory decreases when I haven't downloaded anything.
Any hints please

Hi Stephen!
"13GB HD...try to leave 1GB free...but rapidly fills up."
If you are running Panther 10.3.x with only 1GB or less, of available free space, on a 13GB HD, I fear that may be your problem.
During everyday use, you are crossing the safe threshold.
You need to create additional free space.
Insufficient available space, can cause performance issues, system corruption, and possible loss of data.
Depending on Mac system usage habits, it is a general recommendation, to keep 10% to as much as 20%, of the Total capacity, available at all times.
Review the suggestions, in the documents that I have linked to below.
Authored by Dr Smoke:
Problems From Insufficient RAM And Free Hard Disk Space
Freeing Space On Your Mac OS X Startup Disk
Have you ever run any routine Maintenance procedures, as suggested in the articles linked to below?
Mac OS X 10.3/10.4: System Maintenance, authored by Gulliver
Maintaining Mac OS X, authored by Dr Smoke
Is the Mac shutdown overnight, or does it run 24/7?
If you turn the Mac off nightly, the Background Maintenance Tasks, are never run.
These can also be run, using a Third-Party utility, or manually using Terminal, to run the CRON Commands.
I use MacJanitor, when necessary.
INSTRUCTIONS TO RUN CRON MANUAL COMMANDS
Quit all applications/programs.
Navigate to HD > Applications > Utilities.
Double click on Terminal, to open.
At the prompt, type:
sudo periodic daily
Press Return.
Enter your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.
This will execute the daily script that is sheduled to run every night.
When completed, repeat this procedure, but change the command to:
sudo periodic weekly
This one rebuilds a database or two, and usually takes somewhat longer to complete. It is scheduled to run once a week.
Repeat again, with command:
sudo periodic monthly
Or they can all be run in one pass, which is preferable, with this command:
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
When the tasks complete, and return to the prompt, you may quit Terminal.
Restart the Mac, and run Repair Permissions.
TO REPAIR PERMISSIONS ON THE STARTUP DISK
1.Open Disk Utility, located in Applications/Utilities, and select the startup disk in the left column.
2.Click First Aid.
3.Click Verify Disk Permissions to test permissions or Repair Disk Permissions to test and repair permissions. (I never "Verify". Just run "Repair".)
Rerun RP, until the only messages reported, are listed here Spurious Permissions Errors Using: 10.3.x, authored by Michael Conniff.
When "Repair Permissions" is complete. Quit "Disk Utility".
ali b

MAC OS X start up disk out of memory space

Getting a warning message says no available memory space in MAC OS X start up disk.
What's best way to address?
Delete photos and email?
Add memory? Both? It is affecting "Applications"

Disk Space - Free Up
Disk Space – Free Up (2)
Disk Space Filling Up – OmniDiskSweeper
Disk Space Filling Up - WhatSize

Firefox has started using up my available memory significantly slowing other open programs.

When I am doing research or writing I have Firefox open with multiple tabs running as well as Microsoft Office applications. Within a short period of time, the entire computer slows down. System processes show 100% of CPU used with Firefox eating up about 80%. When I close Firefox and then disable that process, all other programs and computer speed return to normal. I'm only using 1/3 of the available memory. I use Windows 7 and have 3g of physical memory.

Start Firefox in [[Safe Mode]] to check if one of the add-ons is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).
* Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.
See:
* [[Troubleshooting extensions and themes]]

2011 Macbook Pro suddenly says no space available on start-up disk (plenty available) and USB drawing too much power (only charging phone). What's going on with my computer? No longer able to charge my iPhone 5.

Hi, all.
Two days ago I was using my computer, a 2011 Macbook Pro, and suddenly got the error message reading "Your Mac OS X startup disk has no more space available for application memory. To avoid problems with your computer, quit any applications you are not using. Closing windows and removing files from your startup disk will also help."
I was only using Google Chrome, nothing was running in the background, and I have 443 of 449.25 GB available (this is after clean-up I conducted after receiving the error message, but probably cleaned up less than 25 GB), so there should be no shortage of space. However, the message kept popping up and I deleted a few files and eventually it went away and hasn't reappeared.
However, last night and then again this morning I have been getting the error message that my USB drive is pulling too much power and has been disable. All that was plugged in was my iPhone 5 on the charger and my computer is also on its charger, so I don't know why this would be an issue, either. I have always charged my phone this way and never had a problem until today.
I haven't been able to charge my phone since. What's going on with my computer?

Regarding the USB, see if zapping the PRAM helps.
Regarding your storage space check out the following:
HD Space Checkers:
Disk Inventory X (FREE)
WhatSize (SHAREWARE)
OmniDiskSweeper (FREE)
GrandPerspective (FREE - donation)
Mac Performance Guide
Slimming your hard drive
===============
Quick fix How To Quickly Free Up Hard Drive Space on Mac OS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO-mlLApEuk

HT201364 Free up memory space on start up disk

How do you remove items from start up disk to free memory space?

You should never, EVER let a conputer hard drive get completely full, EVER!
With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.
If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your iMac's Trash icon in the Dock?
If you use iPhoto, iPhoto has its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Look through your other Mailboxes and other Mail categories to see If there is other mail you can archive and/or delete.
Other things you can do to gain space.
Once you have around 15 GBs regained, do a search, download and install OmniDisk Sweeper.
This app will help you locate files that you can move/archive and/or delete from your system.
STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Good Luck!

Help! Not enough start up disk space!

I have a new iBook G4 MAC with a 512 MB built-in HD, 1.42 GHz... I only have about 4,000 songs in my iTunes, and I keep getting a message that comes up saying that I do not have enough start up disk space available to put any more of my cds onto my computer... The message says that I must empty my trash and delete any files that I do not need in order to have more free space on my start up disk. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? This is a new computer, and I by NO means have anywhere NEAR the amount of files that I KNOW this computer can hold for me. How do I use a different start up disk, or free up my hard drive?
This is just confusing to me because if my ipod has a 10,000 song-storage capacity, and my computer cannot even store that many songs... I don't know-- that seems a BIT contradictory to me.
If you have any answers for me, please help...
--Leslie

Hello,
I have exactly the same problem. I have an old G3 ibook but I only have 600 songs on my ipod and I get the same message. I've removed virtually all my old documents and old applications and emptied my trash but nothing seems to work. Alternatively, is it possible to keep adding stuff to ipod and removing stuff off itunes or do the both need to always sync. I'm fairly new to macs so I'm not sure exactly how you find out how much disk space you have left but I can't imagine that I've filled up my drive as I have almost nothing on there!
Please help!

My MacBook Pro version 10.7.5 4GB (keeps crashing with the error message 'Your MAC OSX start up disk has no more space available for application memory' - what do i do

My MacBook Pro (version 10.7.5 4GB)keeps crashing with the error message 'Your MAC OSX start up disk has no more space available for application memory' - what do i do. I keep force quitting the applications and turning the computer off but it happens again after a while

Hhow much goal and free hard disk space is available? Sounds like you need to move some things off of that hard drive.

My iBook will not do anything just give me a pop up saying your Mac os x start up disk has no more space available for application memory

Having a problem with my iBook keeping getting pop up saying. Your Mac os x start up disk has no more space available for application memory? How do I correct this until this is fixed I can not use my iBook. Please help also will need step by step help as I have no idea what I am doing.
God bless. Thank you

Hello,
Using the Mac OS X disk you have for your iBook, incert and hold down 'C' during boot.
When it loads up the menu, click utilities and then Disk Utility. (Menu at the top)
In Disk Utility select your macintosh hard drive from the left.
In the right menu, select disk repair. Once the disk repair has finished, restart your iBook without the dsk in the drive.
It should loads into Mac OS normally.
Best of luck

IMac 27" Start Up Disk has no more space available for memory

I get this message on occasion now. The Message, "Your Mac OSX start up disk has no more space available for application memory".
I have a 1 TB HD ,799GB Available, 220GB Used. Running 10.6.2 OSX.
I have tried Onyx, repairing permissions in the disc utility, and the problem goes a way for a while but will pop up if I start running multiple apps.Rebooting seems to cure this problem for a while.
Looking for answers.
thanks

Hi and Welcome to Apple Discussions...
Try booting fron your install disc. The startup disk may need repairs.
Insert your install disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
*(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)*
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window. Where you see Capacity and Available. *Make sure there is always 10% to 15% free disk space*
If you cannot boot from your install disc, try booting in Safe Mode
Carolyn

My start up disk Macintosh HD is full on my McAir OSX 10.9.4 memory 4GB. I need to clear the disk so that I can update it with the new software IOS 10.9.5 requiring 2.05GB. Need guidance on how to clear space.

My start up disk Macintosh HD is full on my McAir OSX 10.9.4 memory 4GB. I need to clear the disk so that I can update it with the new software IOS 10.9.5 requiring 2.05GB. Need guidance on how to clear space.

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the Storage display seems to be inaccurate, try rebuilding the Spotlight index.
Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:
iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash
Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then restart the computer. That will temporarily free up some space.
According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation—not the mythical 10%, 15%, or any other percentage. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.
When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.
See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.
You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.
Deleting files inside an iPhoto or Aperture library will corrupt the library. Any changes to a photo library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.
Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.
ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.
Back up all data now.
If you have more than one user account, make sure you're logged in as an administrator. The administrator account is the one that was created automatically when you first set up the computer.
Install the app you downloaded in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.
Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C:
sudo /Applications/OmniDiskSweeper.app/Contents/MacOS/OmniDiskSweeper
sudo /Applications/GrandPerspective.app/Contents/MacOS/GrandPerspective
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator. Ignore any other messages that appear in the Terminal window.
The application window will open, eventually showing all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.
I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.
When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Message- start up disk has no more memory

I just bought a new MacBook Pro in July and have plenty of free space on my hard drive. I keep getting this error message popping up when I am watching shows with iTunes or playing music with the Sonos Player. "Your Mac OS X start up disk has no more space available for application memory. To avoid problems with your computer, quit any applications you are not using. Closing windows and removing files from your startup disk will help." Then the message will list Finder, Chrome, Sonos etc. Sometimes those listed programs/apps aren't even open. Any idea what is wrong? I have 295.81 GB free out of 499.42 on my hard drive

There is excessive swapping of data between physical memory and virtual memory. That can happen for two reasons:
You have a long-running process with a memory leak (i.e., a bug), or
You don't have enough memory installed for your usage pattern.
Tracking down a memory leak can be difficult, and it may come down to a process of elimination.
When you notice the swap activity, open the Activity Monitor application and select All Processes from the menu in the toolbar, if not already selected. Click the heading of the Real Mem column in the process table twice to sort the table with the highest value at the top. If you don't see that column, select
View ▹ Columns ▹ Real Memory
from the menu bar.
If one process (excluding "kernel_task") is using much more memory than all the others, that could be an indication of a leak. A better indication would be a process that continually grabs more and more real memory over time without ever releasing it. Here is an example of how it's done.
The process named "Safari Web Content" renders web pages for Safari and other applications. It uses a lot of memory and may leak if certain Safari extensions or third-party web plugins are installed. Consider it a prime suspect.
Another process often implicated in memory leaks is "inkjet8," which is a component of the HP printing softwre. If it's present, force-quit the process in Activity Monitor to solve the problem temporarily. If you don't use an HP printer, remove the software. Otherwise, if the problem is recurrent, update the software (which may not help) or contact HP support.
If you don't have an obvious memory leak, your options are to install more memory (if possible) or to run fewer programs simultaneously.
The next suggestion is only for users familiar with the shell. For a more precise, but potentially misleading, test, run the following command:
sudo leaks -nocontext -nostacks process | grep total
where process is the name of a process you suspect of leaking memory. Almost every process will leak some memory; the question is how much, and especially how much the leak increases with time. I can’t be more specific. See the leaks(1) man page and the Apple developer documentation for details.

I have an iMac 5.1 with Mac OSX 10.6.8 and 2 GB memory and an L2 cache of 4 GB. lately I have been receiving error messages of " start up disk almost full; please delete files." is the start up disk the same thing as the hard drive?

I have an iMac 5.1 with Mac OSX 10.6.8 and 2 GB memory and an L2 cache of 4 GB. lately I have been receiving error messages of " start up disk almost full; please delete files." is the start up disk the same thing as the hard drive? I opened the hard drive and from the column on the left of the menu I've selected "search for" and under that " all images" then "all documents" I've deleted a few files from each. Are documents and images that I have deleted from here also deleted from the folders on my desktop?

You should never, EVER let a conputer hard drive get completely full, EVER!
With Macs and OS X, you shouldn't let the hard drive get below 15 GBs or less of free data space.
If it does, it's time for some hard drive housecleaning.
Follow some of my tips for cleaning out, deleting and archiving data from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Have you emptied your iMac's Trash icon in the Dock?
If you use iPhoto, iPhoto has its own trash that needs to be emptied, also.
If you store images in other locations other than iPhoto, then you will have to weed through these to determine what to archive and what to delete.
If you use Apple Mail app, Apple Mail also has its own trash area that needs to be emptied, too!
Delete any old or no longer needed emails and/or archive to disc, flash drives or external hard drive, older emails you want to save.
Delete any other mail in your Junk folders. Also, look through your Sent Mail to see if there is anything that can be deleted.
Other things you can do to gain space.
Once you have around 15 GBs regained, do a search, download and install OmniDisk Sweeper.
This app will help you locate files that you can move/archive and/or delete from your system.
STAY AWAY FROM DELETING ANY FILES FROM OS X SYSTEM FOLDER!
Look through your Documents folder and delete any type of old useless type files like "Read Me" type files.
Again, archive to disc, flash drives, ext. hard drives or delete any old documents you no longer use or immediately need.
Look in your Applications folder, if you have applications you haven't used in a long time, if the app doesn't have a dedicated uninstaller, then you can simply drag it into the OS X Trash icon. IF the application has an uninstaller app, then use it to completely delete the app from your Mac.
Download an app called OnyX for your version of OS X.
When you install and launch it, let it do its initial automatic tests, then go to the cleaning and maintenance tabs and run the maintenance tabs that let OnyX clean out all web browser cache files, web browser histories, system cache files, delete old error log files.
Typically, iTunes and iPhoto libraries are the biggest users of HD space.
move these files/data off of your internal drive to the external hard drive and deleted off of the internal hard drive.
If you have any other large folders of personal data or projects, these should be archived or moved, also, to the optical discs, flash drives or external hard drive and then either archived to disc and/or deleted off your internal hard drive.
Good Luck!

Mac Book Pro 15" mid 2009 after installing new hard drive and 8 gb memory, start up disk is still full, start up from power off is very slow, and programs open immediately after start up EX. word, excel. Help?

I installed a new 1tb WD hardrive in my mid 2009 macbook pro along with upgrading from 4gb to 8 gb.
My start up disk is still almost full, booting up is extremely slow, and programs open up by themselves once booted up ex:word, excel.
New TB drive shows up alng with 8 GB but, new hard drive not updating somehere? What am I missing? See screenshots below

Thanks for the response, but I'm looking for answers to a few of the other answers before I look at completeing the steps above.
1. Whyis the new TB drive recognized in image 1 but still have the original 256GB size still recognized(and almost full) in image 1 also? The HD should now be 1 TB, not 256 correct? If this were the case, the HD, would only be fraction of full capacity, Where is the disconnect between reconizing the installed tb HD but, it not being used?
2.Image Number 2 shows once again that the new tb internal HD is recognized. However, in image 3, the HD 256GB drive is still shown underneath the new HD. Does this show that I am misssing something, some step, related to confirming the new HD should be fully reconized instaed of this old 256 that still remains?
3. In image 4, the SATA heading, shows the TB hardrive, However, in image 5, the 256GB drive is still being shown under the storage heading? Once again, seems like I've missed some simple step to make this all the same?
4.Why is the start up from boot up soooo slow now. I was never even close to this slow(slower than PC startup slow) before the new HD was installed. IS this common when updraging to a new HD? Doesn't seem right?
5. Why now all of a sudden when the computer finally boots up are certain programs automatically opening up, word, excel, when they have never opened up like this before?
Summary: 1. New memory issues, 2. Very slow start up, 3. Programs opening up automatically at startup.
Until I address these issues, I'm not going to worry about loking through and deleting heavy folders.
All responses welcomed!

Start up disk memory full but can I replace my memory with 1GB disk?

My start up disk memory is full. I have delete a majority of cluttered mess I do not need but I know that I will fill it up fairly soon. I have an external hard drive but how do I put some of my files onto that? If I put it on the hard-drive will I only be able to access it with the hard-drive plugged in?
And I currently have 512MB put into my Powerbook. Can I add in a 1GB memory card into my Powerbook without losing any of my files? And if I will lose my files will the Apple store (where I plan to get 1GB memory put in) put all my files on a disk and then replace it?

You can only use your external drive if it is hooked up, through direct USB/Firewire or through a network.
Adding RAM has no effect on the files you have on your hard drive. I'd suggest, considering how much Apple overcharges for RAM, that you get third party RAM and install it yourself, its not that hard.

Start up disk - no available memory

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