Bridge CS4 - low on memory error

Report · Dec 05, 2008

Hi - I am getting this error rather frequently after processing e.g. 50 RAW images in a batch. With plenty of RAM (4GB) on WIN XP Pro. Any hints will be much appreciated.
Vlad

Report · Nov 20, 2009

Hi

In exactly the same boat. Windows 7 64 bit running on Quad Core 3.5Ghz with 8Gb RAM and 7 Local Drives none smaller than 300Gb and scratch disks all with loads of space.

Bridge constantly now gives me low memory errors and wants to close. Have tried purging/moving cache etc and all the permission issues. HAve turned and left off UAC. Tried it on a 32 bit version of Windows 7 too with the same type folders/files and it also gives the low memory error so that rules out the 64bit question, at least for me anyway.

Have really noticed it since getting a EOS 5D MKII. I have 100% previews turned on (like previously said - why wouldn't you want that turned on to check your images quickly for sharpness!! and even free software does it with no issue!) and Always High Quality turned on and also generate Monitor Size Previews. If I turn all these off it takes longer to die but whats the point..... Haven't shot a wedding with this camera yet but not looking forward to Sunday after my next wedding as instead of me just trying to preview a couple of hundred files i'll be looking at a couple of thousand!

As mentioned previously if I do any sort of local brush adjustment it also dies even quicker.

The only thing I haven't done is uninstall. Take to long and shouldn't need to anyway - it was working fine. Especially as I know based on what people have done here that it will have no effect.

Adobe, please acknowledge! At least we can then be patient knowing it's in hand...... Have tried tech support with same issues of queues.

In anticipation of a fix/patch that works

Report · Nov 20, 2009

I haven't had mine crash now since Apple sent out the snow leopard update. I also increased the cache size in the preferences to 4gb instead of 1 which is the default.

i am keeping my fingers crossed.

It has worked about 4 days now with no problems

Report · Nov 20, 2009

rocktweten wrote:
I haven't had mine crash now since Apple sent out the snow leopard update. I also increased the cache size in the preferences to 4gb instead of 1 which is the default.
i am keeping my fingers crossed.
It has worked about 4 days now with no problems

Nobody reads post #2.

Report · Nov 20, 2009

Curt,

#2 was read and dismissed long ago. Too bad it is not that easy.

I tested 1,2,5,10,20 GB settings, all to no avail.

Dave

Report · Nov 21, 2009

To All - regarding "nobody reads post #2"

I was trying to find the common thread in all the discussion.

Rocktweten said "I haven't had mine crash now since Apple sent out the Snow Leopard update. I also increased the cache size in the preferences to 4gb instead of 1 which is the default. I am keeping my fingers crossed. It has worked about 4 days now with no problems."

It Rocktweten remains crash free the only common thread is increasing the RAW cache from 1 to 4 gigs.

The only other conclusion about the "memory leak" is that it is tied to the operating system. If changing OS to Snow Lepord solved the problem it would leave the ball in Microsoft's ballpark.

If any of the users in this thread change from XP or Vista to Windows 7, I would hope they would add to this thread whether it helped or not. Not a software geek, so do not know if there is enought difference between Vista and Win 7 to solve the problem you folks are talking about.

There was a long thread on "memory leak" in the photoshop forum about 9 months ago. A lot of participants in the discussion, and some data flowing to Adobe to back up claims. I believe it was Chris Cox doing the responding as Adobe employee. There never was any "smoking gun" as I remember it, nor any solution to those afflicted.

There are so many variables of hardware and software that can influence how a program runs. If the problem can not be replicated on a computer at Adobe, the problem is almost impossible to fix.

And I am just a user like you.

Report · Nov 21, 2009

Thanks Curt for spelling it out and point taken.

However, saying that switching to the latest snow leopard update and changing cache fixed the problem and saying it therefore must be an Microsoft problem is not quite a sound argument as the problem existed on PC and Mac alike which immediately to me points to a fundamental program issue. Yes that would appear that the OS is the cause on face value but i'm no software geek either(despite being a Systems Administrator for 8 years in my past) but i'm pretty sure than Adobe writes the whole software independantly for Mac and Apple so there is probably quite a high chance that a problem could exist on a Mac platform and not a windows and vice versa. Now that Mac is on an x86 platform they may even be able to port it across in some way which would also support a program flaw that has carried across. Could be wrong though about their ability to do that.

I already stated I had experienced the problem on 32bit and 64bit versions of Windows 7 and Reply 6 has someone with Windows XP Sp3 experiencing the problem also so it looks like program a issue.

I understand about the whole million permutations of hardware argument, but if you are using software rendering option, should that really come into the argument. How can a free viewer like Fastone or irfanview do the exact same thing in terms of 100% viewing without issue or worrying about card drivers and tweaking setting to achieve the nirvana of correct operation. Don't get me wrong I look bridge and it does most of what I need it to do.

I seriously seriously doubt Adobe have not replicated this problem at their labs. The fact I found it that easy to find this forum is an indication of an issue somewhere.

It may well be a problem locally only, but when more than one person gets a problem like this under similar circumstances across operating systems it really does beg the question.

Anyway, will keep trying things, watch this thread and look for the one you are referring too for some more insight.

Cheers

Report · Nov 22, 2009

It has been awhile since I studied this issue but from what I remember Fastone and Infanview achieve quick speed by using the jpeg image from the camera rather than the full image. Now what they do with RAW images and 100% view I don't know what. I believe Bridge it uses the edited RAW image and this is can be a huge image to process and requires the correct video card drivers and ACR.

So we need to compare apples to apples.

And this from Adobe help sheet

Out of memory errors

Camera Raw, as well as other plug-ins and filters in Photoshop, use large contiguous chunks of RAM, sometimes up to 100 MB per image. You may see out of memory errors when these plug-ins cannot access enough contiguous RAM because you don't have enough RAM or the RAM is too fragmented.

If you occasionally get out of memory errors, restart Photoshop to defragment your RAM. If these errors occur frequently, decrease the memory slider in Photoshop in 5% increments to see if giving less memory to Photoshop allows Camera Raw and other filters and plug-ins the amount of contiguous RAM that they need.

Maybe this has been beat to death, but thought the statement restart Photoshop to defragment your RAM was interesting and may relate to your problem, as many have said they can restart for temp fix.

Report · Nov 22, 2009

I just want to update everyone. It has been about a week or so since that problem started. I have loaded many photos into bridge through out the week and it hasn't happened again.

I ran disk warrior on all the drives to straighten out the directorys also. I don't think that had anything to do with fixing the problem though.

I don't know if increasing the that cache from 1 to 4 gb did anything at all helped either.

I wish I had more info for you.

Rock

Report · Jan 23, 2010

OK I want to chime in here. Having just found this discussion after 1 hour of waiting on hold for Adobe tech support.

I have been running CS4 for about 4 months on a Macbook Pro. Snow Leopard. Out of the blue I started getting the death blow of "low memory" with bridge. Adobe had no answers for me and had me do the typical solution steps such as purging cache and increasing cache size. Adobe suggested it was an Apple issue.

What is weird is that I am getting the same issue now on my other Macbook Pro which is running Tiger. Both machines have ample ram and free hard disk space.

I even did a complete erase and restore of the operating system and then reloaded CS4. I thought for sure this would solve the problem since I had been using CS4 without issue for so long.

I would love to just fall back to CS3 but it cannot handle the raw files generated by the latest cameras.

Report · Jan 23, 2010

If you'll check all of the posts, you'll see that it is an Adobe problem.

It happens in varieties of Windows and Apple OS, on everything from modest laptops to monster 2 or 4 multi-core processors with 16GB RAM or more.

I don't know why Adobe always pulls this stuff. The have something that works, then break it in the next version and disavow the problem.

Dave

Report · Jan 28, 2010

Hi Dave,

I sent a terse letter to Adobe explaining the frustration and I and many other users were having. I was contacted immediately by tech support and given a variety of steps to try. In going through them I realized that this issue was only happening to me when I tried to access a particular folder that had 1200 low res jpg files in it from a casting. I typically work with raw and tiff files in folders larger than that so I was really suprised that bridge could not handle the small jpgs. When I accessed this folder with Bridge CS4 I could watch them memory use go up in the activity monitor until it reached over 2gb and Bridge popped up a low memory error. Bridge CS3 seems to handle this folder of files fine and non appear to be corrupt. However, there must be an unseen issue with one or more of the files.

As to why others are experiencing this issue I can only speculate. As for me I work with files within a particular folder until I am finished with a project and then I am done with it. Somebody who keeps images on drives for routine access may continue to experience this if one or more images within those libraries are corrupt.

Just a thought for everyone.

Report · Jan 28, 2010

--

RockTweten

Tweten's Photography

www.twetensphotography.com

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK

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524 Hill Ave

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701-352-1513

Report · Jan 28, 2010

Thomas,

Thank you very much for this update!

So there are certain characteristics of some files that CS3 can handle elegantly, but CS4 cannot and suffers a "loss of memory". Very interesting!

Did you send Adobe a copy of one of these files that CS4 gets confused over?

Let's hope that Adobe figures out what they did right in CS3 and ports it forward to CS4.

Dave

Report · Jan 29, 2010

I may talk with Adobe further about having them review the files. Want to try these on someone else's machine and see if I can duplicate the issue.

That way I will know for sure that it is the files I suspect. I can't pinpoint one file though because non appear to be corrupt.

Report · Jan 29, 2010

"Corrupt" may be an inaccurate or exaggerated term, especially if Bridge CS3 and other software has no problems with the files. And, of course, another question is: "how did they get that way"? I suspect that Adobe (Bridge/ACR/Lightroom) is causing its own problems to these files in question. And even if not, CS4 should be able to elegantly handle them as CS3 does.

This has been a long-documented problem that has caused many users to suffer. Please feel confident that your problems, experiences, and observations are valid. I encourage you to simply send Adobe the files without checking them on someone else's machine. Adobe people are paid to develop their software and sell it to us. We are the customers and are not paid to do that. This isn't a volunteer, open-source project. Your contribution has already been immensely enlightening and helpful. The responsibility for troubleshooting and fixing the product falls on Adobe.

Report · Nov 21, 2009

I must be missing something. Ive read post two and if you're getting at what i think you're getting at then yes i've had already tried (i wont say every) loads of different combinations of cache size in Camera Raw and General Preferences. None of them have had any effect.

If thats not what you're getting at then you might have to spell it out for me..

Report · Nov 20, 2009

rock wrote:

I haven't had mine crash now since Apple sent out the snow leopard update. I also increased the cache size in the preferences to 4gb instead of 1 which is the default.

i am keeping my fingers crossed.

It has worked about 4 days now with no problems

Report · Oct 05, 2010

Hi Guys,

I'm experiencing the same thing all of a sudden on a dual quad mac pro with three 2Gb internals and 12 GB of ram. Just began yesterday and several times today the thumbnails in bridge went completely corrupt right after the message. I don't have hours to spare to wait for Adobe to talk to me. Funny, I couldn't even get through today to buy the new edition of lightroom. This is no way to run a railroad!

JW

Report · Apr 17, 2011

If you have problems setting the read only attribute in windows please see this article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549

Report · Apr 17, 2011

I managed to fix this by setting the folder permissions manually using the attrib command. I also dedicated 2 folders to the bridge cache AND the camera raw cache. No problems now!

I am running windows 7 32-bit 4GB RAM.

Separate from my windows/adobe hard drive, I have an external 1TB drive with 300GB free. I used 2 folders on this drive:

f:\camerarawcache

f:\bridgecache

I have also set the bridge preferences to a cache size of 500,000 and checked "Keep 100% previews in cache". The "Automatically Export Cache...." option is unchecked.

In The CAMERA RAW PREFERENCES:

I set a max camera raw cache size of 50GB.

I have gone thru in bridge now and viewed a folder of 306 CR2 files generated by the Canon 5dMKII @ 100% full screen

I am aware all of these settings are probably overkill but my workflow is much more ass kicking now. I am pretty sure this is the lemonde stand in hell we have all been searching for.

Please respond if this works for anyone else having problems with everyone else's suggestions.

-FM