3GB Switch Usage

Product: All Datamine Products

Version All versions

Symptoms: Memory-intensive
intensive operations initiated by Datamine applications cause
processes to fail under 32-bit
32 Windows operating systems

Cause: Process memory requirements exceeding the standard 2GB allocation

for ‘user mode’ virtual address space.

References: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-
http://technet.microsoft.com/en
us/library/bb124810(EXCHG.65).aspx

WHAT IS THE 3GB SWITCH FOR?

Windows 32-bitbit Operating systems include support for a start up switch that lets you tune
the allocation of use of memory and memory address space. This will allow more user data to
be loaded into an application which has been developed to take advantage of this setting,
such
h as NPV Scheduler or Studio 3. These applications are generically referred to as “Large
Address Aware”.

On systems that have 1 GB or more of physical memory, this start up switch can be used to
allocate more memory to applications (3 GB) and less memory to to the operating system (1
GB) This
his additional virtual address space helps reduce the amount
amount of memory fragmentation
in the virtual address space of the Exchange information store process.

What this means is that at any given moment in time, out of the 4 billion virtual addresses
available in a 32-bit
bit value, 2 billion of them are potentially usable
us by user-mode
mode code, unless
the 3GB switch is set, whereupon an extra billion virtual addresses are available, at the
expense of the same amount of virtual addresses available to, effectively, the operating
system.

Please note that, although documented, a system running with an enabled

enabled 3GB switch is not
‘officially supported’ by Microsoft due to known limitations (see the end of this note for more
information).

Notes

• The Windows XP 64-bit operating system is already configured to allow Large Address
Aware applications to make use of up to 4GB of addressable memory.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MEMORY IS LOW

Datamine applications will always attempt to notify you if system resources such as RAM are
in short supply, and will endeavour to return you to the working system in order to filter data
or make other changes to permit data to be loaded.

This documentation is confidential and may not be disclosed to third parties

without the prior written permission of Datamine Corporate Limited.

© Datamine Corporate Limited

The message that is displayed will depend on the context of the operation that is being
attempted. You may see, for example, the following message when attempting to render 3D
data in the Studio 3 VR window:

HOW TO CONFIGURE YOUR XP SYSTEM TO USE THE 3GB SWITCH

This operation should only be performed on Windows XP 32-bit operating systems that are at
service pack level 2 or above. To attempt this operation on an XP system with an earlier
service pack may render your system unbootable.

Please note that any changes made to your operating system files are performed entirely at
your own risk, and Datamine can assume no responsibility for any adverse affect altering
such files may have on your system. It is highly recommended that you take a backup of all
system files before editing them.

The quickest way to enable a 3GB switch on your system is to edit the boot initialisation file.
Please note that this should only be attempted by an IT professional.

1. Ensure you are logged into the local system via an account with full administrative
rights.

2. Open Windows Explorer (e.g. double-click My Computer on the desktop).

3. Go to the root level of the primary drive (normally C:\).

4. If hidden files are not visible, make them visible by selecting Tools | Folder Options
and selecting the View tab. In the Hidden Files and Folder group, enable the Show
hidden files and folders radio button. Click OK.

5. In Windows Explorer, locate the file boot.ini and open it with Notepad.

6. Locate the line that starts “multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)…” and, if not already

present, add a space and the text “/3gb” to the end.

7. Save the file.

8. Reboot your system. Once restarted, all large address aware applications will be able
to take advantage of the additional user mode address space.

KNOWN LIMITATIONS

Unfortunately, not all motherboards allow the default allocation of address space that is
provided by the 3GB switch. This manifests itself as a blue screen system failure when the
system restarts after editing the boot.ini file as shown above.

Please note that this is not related to a particular graphics card, and adjusting settings for the
installed card will not resolve the issue.

It is possible to fine-tune the address allocation that is performed, using an additional

parameter (“/userva”). However, the precise value for this parameter will vary depending on
the type of motherboard that your local system is using.

Using the “/USERVA” parameter

The following procedure can be performed in light of a blue screen failure to attempt to make
use of at least some of the available 1GB of virtual address space:
This documentation is confidential and may not be disclosed to third parties
without the prior written permission of Datamine Corporate Limited.

© Datamine Corporate Limited

2
1. Restart your local system in safe mode.

2. Re-open the boot.ini file in a suitable text editor and add the following additional
instruction after the “/3gb” parameter; “/USERVA=2900”

For example, if the following line was found in the boot.ini file:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /3gb

It would become:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin /3gb /USERVA=2900

3. Restart your system in normal Windows mode. If the blue screen failure persists,
repeat steps 1 and 2, but decrease the USERVA parameter value by 64 (e.g. from
2900 down to 2826).

4. If the failure continues, repeat with another 64 subtracted from the parameter value.
Continue this process until the system is permitted to start normally.

Each time you do this step, you are reducing the amount of additional User Mode
virtual address space, and increasing the amount that is required by the operating
system – once sufficient space is available for the OS, your system should start
without error.

OTHER THINGS THAT MAY HELP

If you are unable to set the /3GB switch due to an incompatible motherboard, the following
may help you to resolve data display issues, particularly where memory-intensive rendering
is required (such as in the VR window of Studio 3, for instance):

• Filter your incoming data to remove attribute columns that are not relevant to the
required display of data. For example, if you are going to be coloring based on an AU
field, filter out other attribute fields that aren’t important at the time. You can do this
by unloading the file from memory, and re-loading it from the Project Files control bar
with the <CTRL> key held down. This will display the data import filter dialog for the
specified data type, allowing you to load only those fields that you need.

• If you are viewing a block model, try viewing it as a plane or intersection as opposed
to showing full blocks. Your online help will show you how to do this.

• Some graphics cards are known to cause problems when they support a parameter
called “threaded optimisation”. Consult your graphics card technical instructions to
see if this could be causing the problem, and how to disable this facility.

• You may be using up too much memory by running multiple applications at the same
time. Any application that renders 3D data is likely to be memory-intensive (and will
give the CPU a lot to do, even on dual- or quad-core machines). Close down all non-
essential applications and (if you are able) background services before reattempting
the rendering operation.

• Finally, if you are concerned that your system is underperforming, you should contact
your IT department and ask them to analyse your system.

This documentation is confidential and may not be disclosed to third parties

without the prior written permission of Datamine Corporate Limited.

© Datamine Corporate Limited

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