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    Command line only?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by domyalex, Nov 5, 2008.

  1. domyalex

    domyalex Notebook Consultant

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    Hi to all!
    So, I'm doing this graduate school project, but the application (graph partitioning) just runs out of memory (I "only" have 2 GB).
    So, the question is: is it possible to boot OS X (10.4) with command line only (like you can do in Linux)? Maybe that would be enough.
    And yes, I know RAM is pretty cheap these days, but it's not really on my radar at this time.

    Thanks!
     
    domyalex, Nov 5, 2008
    #1
  2. Hep!

    Hep! sees beauty in everything

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    Wow, if OSX can't just page that data to the HDD, OSX is even worse than I thought.
    I think you might have a simpler solution available....
     
    Hep!, Nov 5, 2008
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  3. domyalex

    domyalex Notebook Consultant

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    Yes, it can page, obviously.
    Now, when you try to partition the USA road network (23 millions nodes), believe, the last thing you want is paging coming in the middle and stopping your computation.
    Plus, when you try to allocate memory, paging is not an option. Either you can hold the data structure, or you don't.
    And yes, I tried running the same application under Windows XP, with the same exact results.

    So, please avoid starting flame wars, I think we had enough already.
    </rant>
     
    domyalex, Nov 5, 2008
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  4. MilesInCO

    MilesInCO Notebook Enthusiast

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    If you change your login method to be a typed username (instead of icons to click), and then login as ">console" with no password, you'll get a full screen terminal.

    Not sure if it really shuts down all the GUI stuff, or just doesn't show it on screen.
     
    MilesInCO, Nov 5, 2008
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  5. domyalex

    domyalex Notebook Consultant

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    Thx, didn't know that!
    Unfortunately, it still loads a bunch of stuff (I could see mds, iStat, automount, etc. running)...
     
    domyalex, Nov 5, 2008
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  6. JWest

    JWest Master of Notebookery

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    I'd just invest in more RAM. You can get it pretty cheap from OWC.
     
    JWest, Nov 5, 2008
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  7. Robgunn

    Robgunn Notebook Evangelist

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    There is single user mode (cmd+s at boot) but I wouldn't recommend it. Bearing in mind that your data structure is storing only what you need, then more RAM is your only hope of keeping from dipping into the filesystem.
     
    Robgunn, Nov 5, 2008
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  8. circa86

    circa86 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    can't you just start in single user mode?

    isn't it jus Cmd+S on startup? or maybe just S?
     
    circa86, Nov 5, 2008
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  9. domyalex

    domyalex Notebook Consultant

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    Thx for the replies people!

    I tried both Safe Mode (Shift) and Single User mode (cmd + s), but I still got the same error while trying to allocate the memory, it seems like it is just beyond my capacity.

    While I'd like to get additional RAM, it still doesn't guarantee that it will be able to solve the issue.

    Anyways, I learned new things today and that is always good!

    Thanks again.
     
    domyalex, Nov 5, 2008
    #9