garbage collecting! How to expand physical-mem used?

[David Combs]

garbage collecting!  How to expand physical-mem used?




My god, does my emacs thrash!  (I have it typing out whenever a
gc happens).

(I keep a *huge* *Buffer List*, .emacs.desktop, etc)

Anyway, while doing an ediff-buffers, the thrashing was really
heavy.  I wondered if I perhaps had lots of physical-memory
left unused on the computer -- so, while in one window ("frame",
I guess) running emacs thrashing, in another dtterm I did a
vmstat 2, and here it is.

Looks to me that although emacs is thrashing all to beat hell,
the computer itself is not.   (Do I read the vmstat stuff correctly?)

If so, the questions is, how to get emacs to grab a larger working
set (or whatever it's called -- more physical memory).

Any ideas? 

Thanks!


Here's the vmstat:



 kthr      memory            page            disk          faults      cpu
...
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  405  236  1  0 99
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  281  216  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  402  284  226  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  403  224  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  281  216  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  388  238  1  0 99
 1 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  405  475  246  3  0 97
 kthr      memory            page            disk          faults      cpu
 r b w   swap  free  re  mf pi po fr de sr dd dd f0 s2   in   sy   cs us sy id
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  402  297  225  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  8 102  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  410  762  327 16  5 79
 0 0 0 902088 135560  8 100  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  407  720  307 15  5 79
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  61  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  405  492  226 95  5  0
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  405  487  255 41  2 57
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  436  235  0  5 94
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  285  214  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  402  301  225  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  276  217  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  402  282  211  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  280  214  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  282  213  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  367  222  1  0 99
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  405  517  258  3  0 97
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  402  304  216  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  62  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  406  615  279 51  5 44
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  61  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  405  408  223 42  3 54
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  407  583  303 15  0 85
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  61  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  406  732  269 64  5 31
 kthr      memory            page            disk          faults      cpu
 r b w   swap  free  re  mf pi po fr de sr dd dd f0 s2   in   sy   cs us sy id
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  420  238 78  0 22
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  424  254  6  4 90
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  407  433  265  6  0 94
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  407  592  310 11  0 89
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  62  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  464  230 86  7  6
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  353  208 100 0  0
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  336  220 100 0  0
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  53  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  406  588  279 25  3 72
 0 0 0 902088 135560  8 115  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  406  616  269 50  8 42
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  61  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  406  580  253 71  4 25
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  447  247 77  0 23
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  61  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  407  597  263 49  2 48
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  402  336  204 99  1  0
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  405  545  284 42  1 57
 0 0 0 902088 135560  4  61  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  407  637  276 59  3 37
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  331  206 100 0  0
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  327  212 96  4  0
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  402  324  204 100 0  0
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  347  221 100 0  0
 kthr      memory            page            disk          faults      cpu
 r b w   swap  free  re  mf pi po fr de sr dd dd f0 s2   in   sy   cs us sy id
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  393  235 43  1 56
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  407  495  241  3  0 97
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  404  437  226  0  0 100
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  405  413  229  1  0 99
 0 0 0 902088 135560  0   0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  403  307  236  0  0 100





Thanks!