From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 17 20:57:52 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3DDB81065673 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:57:52 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org) Received: from mail1.sea5.speakeasy.net (mail1.sea5.speakeasy.net [69.17.117.3]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 18BEC8FC0C for ; Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:57:51 +0000 (UTC) Received: (qmail 26677 invoked from network); 17 Mar 2010 20:57:51 -0000 Received: from dsl092-078-145.bos1.dsl.speakeasy.net (HELO be-well.ilk.org) ([66.92.78.145]) (envelope-sender ) by mail1.sea5.speakeasy.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 17 Mar 2010 20:57:51 -0000 Received: by be-well.ilk.org (Postfix, from userid 1147) id A46CD5088A; Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:57:50 -0400 (EDT) From: Lowell Gilbert To: Mario Lobo References: <201003171546.00190.lobo@bsd.com.br> <44d3z2epp4.fsf@be-well.ilk.org> <201003171625.56749.lobo@bsd.com.br> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:57:50 -0400 In-Reply-To: <201003171625.56749.lobo@bsd.com.br> (Mario Lobo's message of "Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:25:56 +0000") Message-ID: <448w9qekdt.fsf@be-well.ilk.org> User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.1 (berkeley-unix) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Measuring Free memory X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:57:52 -0000 Mario Lobo writes: > On Wednesday 17 March 2010 19:03:03 Lowell Gilbert wrote: >> First, you'll need a precise definition of what you mean by "free memory". > > Free physical memory available. Not precise enough to have a clear answer. Does it have to be zeroed already, or do clean inactive pages count? [etc. for buffer cache, VM page cache...] >> >> Add the "-H" flag to get that value more precise. I suspect, however, >> that precision isn't really the right term for what you're after. > > I caught the -H flag right after I wrote the mail. The result has to be > multiplied by 1024. > > It's possible you're right but what I am trying to do is to monitor the amount > of free physical memory still on the system. > > To make a long story short, I am in a long stretch in trying to find out why > 8-STABLE amd64+VBox+nvidia driver is freezing my system to power button point. Ah. That's different. Generally it's more useful to track paging rates, assuming memory has anything to do with the freeze (which may not be the case). -- Lowell Gilbert, embedded/networking software engineer, Boston area http://be-well.ilk.org/~lowell/