Java heap space out of memory problem

Hello guys,

I have a persistant and very annoying problem with matlab. From time to time (quite frequently, a couple of time a day), matlab starts to freeze without any reason and I hear my computer as if there was some heavy process running (even though there is no matlab process running, and many times it just happens at the start of matlab even before I have done anything). Eventually, either matlab crashes and I have to close it or the freeze stops and I get the error below (and after that matlab runs correctly without problem):

Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: GC overhead limit exceeded

It seems to have something to do with java heap space, and for no reason there seems to be something running taking all the space ?? I don't really understand what is happening. I have seen this thread : https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/newsreader/view_thread/240599 where somebody has a related issue. I have tried the fix suggested here (<http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/100335-why-do-i-receive-an-error-when-i-execute-the-fetch-statement-on-a-sql-server-database-using-database>) and I have added a java.opts file in my bin/glnx64 of matlab but it does not seem to fix the issue (although I think the error message are slightly different now, see below).

java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Failed to retrieve Exception Message
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Failed to retrieve Exception Message
Exception in thread "Explorer NavigationContext request queue" Exception in thread "HashSessionScavenger-2" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
java.lang.NullPointerException
Exception in thread "qtp348499891-116" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Exception in thread "BayeuxServer@834743137" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Exception in thread "qtp348499891-114" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space

Exception in thread "BayeuxServer@1405793791" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Exception in thread "TimerQueue" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
Exception in thread "Thread-292" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space

Additionally, I have the following java log error file written in my home directory:

Operating System: Linux 4.0.7-200.fc21.x86_64 #1 SMP Mon Jun 29 22:11:52 UTC 2015 x86_64
Processor ID:     x86 Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9, GenuineIntel
Host Name:        
Exception: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError thrown from the UncaughtExceptionHandler in thread "HashSessionScavenger-3"
Exception: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError thrown from the UncaughtExceptionHandler in thread "HashSessionScavenger-4"
Exception in thread "main" Exception in thread "main"

Do you have any idea on what causes this issue and how I can fix it ? It is really annoying and make matlab very inconvenient to work with...

Thanks in advance for your help

[Arc Lok]

First of all thanks for your answer :) For your advices: 1) I am actually working on linux (fedora 21 64-bits) and matlab is installed in 64 bits as well 2) Actually I don't remember the program being stable, previous version I used (matlab 2011b if i remember well) was working correctly as far as I remember but as soon as I switched to matlab 2015a the problem started 3) what do you mean byt using compatible compiler with matlab ?

[Yulin Chang]

I am having a similar problem on my Mac ( MATLAB slow/no response with high CPU usage ). Anybody has a solution for this problem?

[Namira]

I have also faced the same problem. I am using matlab2015a. It is really annoying. If you can solve the problem please inform me. Thanks.

[Side]

This problem may caused by Java Heap Memory too low.The default setting is 196M.You can set step by step like this:File->Preferences->General->Java Heap Memory.My Setting is 512M.

[Vasilisa Skvortsova]

I've tried to adjust Java Heap memory and disable Control Integration and Matlab immidiately freezes when I start it. I'm using Mac Catalina 10.15.4 and Matlab 2020a. Any chance to solve it?

[Jinqi Liu]

Hi, does anyone know how to fix this error:

render process terminated: null

java.lang.NoSuchFieldError: TS_PROCESS_OOM

I have checked this error and it shows something to do with limited memory.

I had increased the Java memory (MATLAB > General > Java Heap Memory). Also Home->Preferences->General->Source select " none". None of them worked for me and I can not operation my model.

[Jorge Ignacio Cisneros Saldana]

Home->Preferences->General->Source I de-selected the Matlab default which was " *Enable MathWorks Source Control Integration" and select " none" instead.

/Applications/MATLAB_R2022a.app/bin/matlab

This both suggestions worked for me also running from terminal in my M1 MAX.

such a pitty to buy such expensive apple computer and being useless. I mentioned i am pursung a Phd and do lots of parallel processing.I contacted Apple support and they said it works with Matlab totally fine, even better than Intel so i went ahead. But I guess they were wrong.

[Mathieu]

I have similar problem with an M3 chip and matlab 2024 a and b ... it's just so hard to use Matlab now, i just can't understand that.

None of the solution work...

Answer 1

[appBotSmith59]

Called MathWorks Tech Support this morning, 8 June 2016. With MatLab Tech-support trouble-shooting, my issue within R2016a was resolved by changing Matlab's default settings in Preferences as described for Mac OS 10x:

• going to Home->Preferences->General->Source and

de-selecting the Matlab default which was " *Enable MathWorks Source Control Integration" and

selecting " *none" instead.

According to MathWorks Tech-Support Rep, MathWorks made the " Enable...Source Control" the default setting starting with the MatLab R2014b release. In my case, MatLab was trying to integrate with GIT which caused extended processing until the "Out-of-Memory" error.

[SG]

appBotSmith59 Thank you for this answer!!! I'm working with windows 10 on matlab 2014b and lately started to test 2016b and it used to crash almost once an hour for no apparent reason. This change solved the problem completely!!!

[Real Name]

I am getting this on R 2019

[Al in St. Louis]

This fixed my issue with R2021a.

[Jinqi Liu]

Hi, do you know how to fix the error:

render process terminated: null

java.lang.NoSuchFieldError: TS_PROCESS_OOM

I have checked this error and it shows something to do with limited memory.

Answer 2

[Hernan Gonzalez]

MATLAB R2017a, Mac version.

The solution for me was to increase java heap space: Preferences/General/Java Heap Memory

[Kavitha Konduru]

This worked for me too..mine is MATLAB R2017a, Windows10.

Thank you.

[Obi Carwood]

Worked for me on R2020a, windows

[Asha Jain]

Worked for me too on windows R2020a. 64 bit windows 64 bit application. Below link may help https://javahungry.blogspot.com/2020/04/could-not-reserve-enough-space-object-heap.html

[Jinqi Liu]

It's not working for me, any other suggestions?

[mats lindberg]

Worked for me on R2020b, windows

[Bill Tubbs]

I increased the Java heap space from 128 to 2048 MB and it didn't solve the problem for me. Just takes even longer in the "busy" state before giving up. What levels are people choosing?

Answer 3

[Mehdi Adibi]

I have the same problem with 9.1.0.441655 (R2016b) on win10. I increased the Java memory heap to 384. Also Home->Preferences->General->Source I de-selected the Matlab default which was " *Enable MathWorks Source Control Integration" and select " none" instead. None worked for me and I can not work with matlab this way.

It is a shame such an expensive product is crap .. worthless.

Answer 4

[[e-mail] khilji]

hi arc lok!ur program crashes due to unresponsiveness of the program their could be many reasons try following methods. 1)if u use 64-bit windows then install 64 bit application else install 32 bit version of application. 2)if ur program was stable and now due to any reason it is try reinstalling application. 3)the also arises due using incompatible software version with matlab .Try using compatible compiler with matlab. if error still arises try the following link.hope this helps. Goodluck! http://javarevisited.blogspot.com/2011/09/javalangoutofmemoryerror-permgen-space.html

Answer 5

[[e-mail] khilji]

For executation of certain programs hving libraries from different languages like java u need a compiler. that compiler must b compatible with matlab use the "mex -setup" command to setup a compiler in matlab(in case u already hv any else download nd install the supported one set it up using above mentioned command nd follow the instructions.) The compatibility issue might b responsible fr memory dump. if the problem still persists then try changing the version of matlab u use as u mentioned"this error arrised in matlab 2015a" hope this works fr u!good luck!.

Answer 6

[appBotSmith59]

I encountered this error today [7 June 2016] using MatLab R2016a.

In the most recent past, I had a similar error in Android Studio which required increasing memory in a config file. Here's a link, http://lifeofcoding.com/2015/01/19/How-to-increase-Android-studio-memory-limit-in-Mac/. This worked for the Android Studio issue.

Does MathWorks have a recommended solution?

[ahp ahp123]

I've faced with this problem too, I was using 2015a which after some while I faced with that and then installed 2016a but the error remains.

I changed the version of java that matlab used to 1.8. but the matlab doesn't work correctly.

I think support team should involve. actually I can't work with matlab now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
          std::terminate() detected at Fri Apr 14 09:22:26 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Configuration:
  Crash Decoding      : Disabled
  Crash Mode          : continue (default)
  Current Graphics Driver: NVIDIA Corporation GeForce GTX 960M/PCIe/SSE2 Version 4.5.0 NVIDIA 375.39
  Current Visual      : 0x6b (class 4, depth 24)
  Default Encoding    : UTF-8
  GNU C Library       : 2.23 stable
  Host Name           : ahp
  MATLAB Architecture : glnxa64
  MATLAB Root         : /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec
  MATLAB Version      : 8.6.0.267246 (R2015b)
  OpenGL              : hardware
  Operating System    : Linux 4.4.0-72-generic #93-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 31 14:07:41 UTC 2017 x86_64
  Processor ID        : x86 Family 6 Model 94 Stepping 3, GenuineIntel
  Virtual Machine     : Java 1.7.0_60-b19 with Oracle Corporation Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM mixed mode
  Window System       : The X.Org Foundation (11804000), display :1

Fault Count: 1

Abnormal termination:
std::terminate()

Register State (captured):
  RAX = 00007f63b4957460  RBX = 00007f63e6ebd888
  RCX = 000000000000000a  RDX = 00007f63e6eacb78
  RSP = 00007f63b4957270  RBP = 00007f63b4957630
  RSI = 0000000000000000  RDI = 00007f63b4957280

     R8 = 0000000000000000   R9 = 00007f63ebd77740
    R10 = 00007f63e6ad8588  R11 = 00007f63b49572f4
    R12 = 00007f63e6ecd8c0  R13 = 00007f63b4958270
    R14 = 00007f63b4958250  R15 = 00007f63b4958630

    RIP = 00007f63e6bbbb0e  EFL = 00007f63b4957488

     CS = a94f   FS = ec78   GS = 7f63

Stack Trace (captured):
[  0] 0x00007f63e6bbbb0e /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00969486 _ZN2fl4diag5linux6x86_6412context_base12capture_dataEv+00000030
[  1] 0x00007f63e6bb8fe4 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwfl.so+00958436
[  2] 0x00007f63e25f0845 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwmcr.so+00784453
[  3] 0x00007f63e25f2740 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwmcr.so+00792384
[  4] 0x00007f63e25f2831 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwmcr.so+00792625
[  5] 0x00007f63e25f2bb3 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwmcr.so+00793523
[  6] 0x00007f63e25f2c23 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwmcr.so+00793635
[  7] 0x00007f63eba8c376           /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6+00586614
[  8] 0x00007f63eba8c3c1           /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6+00586689
[  9] 0x00007f63eba8c5d9           /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6+00587225
[ 10] 0x00007f63d5c50d6e /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwgui.so+00904558 _ZN11gui_objects11Rectangle2dC1Edddd+00000062
[ 11] 0x00007f63d5c1c2c1 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwgui.so+00688833 _ZN11gui_objects4font16PlainTextHandler21validateLogicalBoundsEv+00000737
[ 12] 0x00007f63d5c1c8de /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwgui.so+00690398 _ZN11gui_objects4font16PlainTextHandler16getLogicalBoundsEv+00000030
[ 13] 0x00007f6293d3fc2d /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwosgserver.so+02018349 _ZNK2hg14openscenegraph14OsgSceneServer27getTextLogicalBoundsBackEndERKN11gui_objects6CookieERKNS2_4font11StringPropsEbdRKNS6_11InterpreterESt6vectorINS2_11UTF16StringESaISE_EE+00000221
[ 14] 0x00007f6293d4aad5 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libmwosgserver.so+02063061 _ZN2hg19OsgSceneServerProxy28getTextLogicalBoundsCallbackEv+00000101
[ 15] 0x00007f63a661e844 /home/ahp/MatlabInstallationDirec/bin/glnxa64/libnativehg.so+00063556 Java_com_mathworks_hg_uij_TextBoundsRequestHandler_getTextLogicalBoundsCallback+00000020
[ 16] 0x00007f63bd012d98                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 17] 0x00007f63bd006058                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 18] 0x00007f63bd006058                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 19] 0x00007f63bd006706                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 20] 0x00007f63bd006706                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 21] 0x00007f63bd0068e1                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 22] 0x00007f63bd006233                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 23] 0x00007f63bd006058                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 24] 0x00007f63bd006058                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 25] 0x00007f63bd0068e1                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 26] 0x00007f63bd006058                                   <unknown-module>+00000000
[ 27] 0x00007f63bd56f758                                   <unknown-module>+00000000

Answer 7

[Seyed Mostafa Mousavi Kahaki]

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences. Select MATLAB > General > Java Heap Memory. Select a Java heap size value using the slider or spin box. Note. ... Click OK. Restart MATLAB.

[Olarewaju Richard]

Thank you Seyed Mostafa Mousavi, your comment was helpful. God bless you

Answer 8

[Alexandre3]

I had a similar problem when I passed from Matlab 2017b to Matlab 2018b. Specially when using Parallel Run, 2018b was freezing and then crashing. Then, I noticed that the default memory heap value was much higher than the one in 2017b. So, I decided to lower the heap memory in order to use the same as in the previous version (2017b). After that, everything worked just fine.

[Furqan Hashim]

Is there a reason why reducing helped instead on increasing heap size?

Answer 9

[kanika bhalla]

I had similar problem and got solved by increasing the Java heap memory. Thank you all for all of your answers.

Answer 10

[Lucky]

List<String[]> csvBody = reader.readAll();.

This consumes a lot of info if you're reading a big file.

Instead, read each row individually and then write each one individually:

    String[] strArray;
while ((strArray = reader.readNext()) != null) {
  // ...

  writer.writeNext(strArray);
}

Answer 11

[sreepathy]

The error you are encountering, java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space, occurs because MATLAB runs on a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). This is because, by default the JVM allocates a relatively small amount of heap memory. So now when the MATLAB or one of its internal processes consumes more memory than allocated, the JVM will actually freeze or either throw this error. The message GC overhead limit exceeded also indicates that the JVM is spending excessive time in garbage collection without being able to free enough memory. This also points you that the heap allocated is undersized for your workload.

To address this, you can increase the Java heap memory. MATLAB provides a direct way to do this: go to Home → Preferences → General → Java Heap Memory, move the slider to allocate more memory (for example, 512 MB, 1024 MB, or higher depending on your system RAM), and restart MATLAB. If MATLAB crashes before you can adjust this setting, you can create or edit a java.opts file in your MATLAB bin/<arch> directory and add a line like -Xmx1024m to manually set the maximum heap size.

Even after making the suggested changes if the problem persists, then you can check for other causes like any specific toolboxes, custom scripts, or background tasks are consuming more memory than usual. You know, at times, memory leaks in Java-based GUI components or large datasets loaded into the workspace can also trigger these issues. Monitoring MATLAB’s memory usage and trimming unnecessary data or processes can help.

So the main focus is to increase the Java heap space and then observe whether the crashes reduce. If not, then you can investigate possible memory leaks or scripts that are consuming memory continuously. Also you can check out this blog How to Solve OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space to understand more about this Java Heap Space error.