r.buffer

[Johnny Duke]

Anna Edwards wrote:
> 
> I am trying to buffer a very large file at a high
> resolution to ensure accuracy of road definition.
> 
> I am using GRASS version 4.1.3 NRCS version operating on
> SunOS.
> 
> r.buffer input='proad at PERMANENT' output='proadbuff'
> units='meters' distances='3'
> 
> ERROR: G_malloc: out of memory
> 
> I was thinking that I had buffered a similar coverage very
> recently and am not sure why am incurring this error...
> 
> Any suggestions??
> 
> Many Thanks
> Anna Edwards
> University of Georgia

Anna Edwards,

I had the same problem. The cause of this probelm is not enough
swap space. To see how much swap space you have run /etc/pstat -T
you see the total amount of swap sapce and the total amount being used.

To increase this swap space 

login as su root

cd to a directory where you can use 100MBs of space.

mkdir -v 100MB swapfile

after this run swapon -a( This will tirn on the new swap space)

run /etc/pstat -T you see the new swap space.

Also clean out your /tmp, /var/tmp, /var/adm/messages if the are large.

the way I do it is to copy an empty file over the large message file.

Johnny Duke
GIS Tech
USDA/NRCS
jduke at ar.nrcs.usda.gov