[OS X TeX] Odd TeXShop error: "couldn't fork"
Michael S. Hanson
mshanson at wesleyan.edu
Fri Oct 12 15:12:15 EDT 2007
I have a recurring error that may or may not be triggered by running
TeXShop, but which nonetheless has me stymied. Google turned up
little, other than to suggest that it may be a Unix system-related
problem (which is otherwise way over my head). Although I have not
experienced the extent of instability problems with TeXShop that
others on this list have mentioned, I have noticed that I tend get
this error if TeXShop (and the OS) has been up and running for a
while (at least a week or two) and if I have opened several files in
TeXShop simultaneously.
The error is not directly seen in TeXShop: very rarely has it
crashed on me. (Although it certain has, from time to time.)
Rather, I see the problem reflected in other programs. For example,
if I try to open a new Terminal session, I see a blank window with
the words "Completed Command" in the window title bar -- I do not get
a prompt of any kind. If I attempt to connect to a remote server in
the Finder (via AFP), nothing happens -- except for a message in the
console.log that says: "fork error: Resource temporarily
unavailable". (I get one message every time I click on the "Connect"
button.) Scrolling up in the (very, very lengthy) console.log file,
I see something like "2007-10-12 11:26:34.851 TeXShop[17087] couldn't
fork".
Once my system gets to this point, the only thing I can do to clear
the problem is to reboot it. I am using a dual 2.7GHz PowerMac with
3 GB of RAM. (I'm not running out of memory as far as I can tell:
Activity Monitor reports no page outs, with 1.51 GB inactive and 783
MB free.) I am running OS X 10.4.10, and TeXShop 2.10beta8. I
believe this problem occurred with earlier versions of the OS and
TeXShop on this machine. I have not experienced this problem on my
home iMac G5 or my recently-acquired MacBook Pro, but I use both
machines much less intensively then the PowerMac -- particularly for
LaTeX-ing.
There are a number of folks on this list who are much more Unix-
savvy than I, so I am hoping for potential explanations -- and, if
possible, remedies -- for this reoccurring problem. Unfortunately,
it does not happen regularly, and I have not been able to figure out
exactly how to trigger it. It does seem to require my Mac to have
been running for a little while, as it usually takes a few weeks to
show up -- although once I recall it occurring twice within the span
of about a week. Unfortunately, my Mac's uptime is now measured in
similar time units. Thanks in advance for any constructive suggestions.
-- Mike
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