OS-Specific Notes

Linux

Argos has to reserve a contiguous chunk of dynamic space for its operations. The bigger this reservation is; the more data Argos can handle. The default amount of contiguous dynamic space reserved by Argos is 512 MB's on 32-bit Linux and 16000 MB's on 64-bit Linux. You can specify the amount of memory you'd like to reserve by supplying the optional --dynamic-space-size argument to Argos. The following 2 examples illustrate how to reserve 1500 MB's of memory:

• If you usually launch Argos in a terminal, do

  argos --dynamic-space-size 1500

• If you usually launch Argos through the menu system of your desktop environment, do the following:

  1. Open file chi-square-works-argos.desktop in the /usr/share/applications/ directory.

  2. Look for

     Exec=env LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/argos/lib /usr/local/argos/bin/argos

  3. Edit it into

     Exec=env LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/argos/lib /usr/local/argos/bin/argos --dynamic-space-size 1500

  On 32-bit Linux, using a dynamic space size in the neighborhood of 4000 MB's or bigger may cause Argos not to start at all. Please note that you'll need root privilege to edit chi-square-works-argos.desktop .

Windows

• Argos has to reserve a contiguous chunk of dynamic space for its operations. The bigger this reservation is; the more data Argos can handle.

  32-bit Windows

  On a 32-bit computer, the theoretical maximum amount of contiguous dynamic space is 4096 MB's. In reality, one rarely can find a contiguous chunk of dynamic space bigger than 1024 MB's.

  After a fresh installation, the following will happen the first time you invoke Argos:

  Argos would try to start up with a 1024-MB reservation of contiguous dynamic space. If it manages to start up within a certain amount of time (2 seconds, the default), it'll save the number 1024 in file C:\PROGRAM FILES\ARGOS\BIN\DSS [1]. If it fails to start up at 1024 MB's within a certain amount of time, it'll repeat the process again with a smaller dynamic space reservation (10 MB's less, the default) until it starts up successfully. Upon a successful start, Argos will save the amount of contiguous dynamic space it manages to get in file C:\PROGRAM FILES\ARGOS\BIN\DSS.

  Next time when you invoke Argos, Argos will go through the steps described in the above indented paragraph with the number 1024 replaced by the number in file C:\PROGRAM FILES\ARGOS\BIN\DSS. Because there is a stochastic component involved in the process of starting up Argos, the DSS number of the last Argos invocation is greater than or equal to the DSS number of the current Argos invocation. As a result, the number in file C:\PROGRAM FILES\ARGOS\BIN\DSS will gradually decrease over time. With modern hardware, we do not believe the DSS number on your computer will drop below 512. If you ever would like to reset it to a number as big as possible for your computer, one of the following 3 methods will do:

  1. Delete file C:\PROGRAM FILES\ARGOS\BIN\DSS and Argos will follow the steps described in the above indented paragraph.

  2. Use an editor to put a bigger number in file C:\PROGRAM FILES\ARGOS\BIN\DSS. A number between 1024 and 1400 will suffice for this purpose. If the new number is bigger than the maximum amount of contiguous dynamic space possible on you computer, it'll take a while for Argos to start up the first time after you put in this number.

  3. Take the following four steps:

     1. Invoke the Microsoft command, Command Prompt, from the start menu to get a black window.

     2. Change directory into the C:\PROGRAM FILES\ARGOS\BIN\ directory [2] with the cd command in the black window.

     3. You'll see PANZA.EXE in the this directory.

     4. In the black window, type

        panza --max-dss

        or

        panza --max-dss 1100

        (you may use a number other than 1100) and wait awhile for Argos to find the maximum possible DSS number on your computer. "panza --max-dss" starts the search from 1400 MB's downward. If the maximum possible DSS on you computer is smaller than 1100 MB's, "panza --max-dss" will take 60 more seconds than "panza --max-dss 1100".

  64-bit Windows

  Argos on 64-bit Windows goes through the same process to reserve a contiguous chunk of dynamic space as Argos on 32-bit windows does, except for with different parameters. Instead of trying to reserve 1024 MB's of contiguous dynamic space, Argos invoked for the first time after being installed will reserve 16000 MB's of contiguous dynamic space. Because 64-bit Windows has an enormous memory space, the tiny amount of 16000 MB's of contiguous dynamic space can be reserved successfully on the first try. So most likely, you'll find 16000 as the DSS number on a 64-bit Windows machine.

• You can optionally specify a GTK theme to use with Argos. Available GTK themes are:

  Clearlooks		Crux		Default		Emacs		Industrial
  Kiwi		Mist		MS-Windows		MurrinaAquaIsh		MurrinaBlu
  MurrinaCandido		MurrinaCandy		MurrinaCappuccino		MurrinaChrome		MurrinaCream
  MurrinaCrystal		MurrinaCrystalCurve		MurrinaCrystalHuman		MurrinaCrystalLine		MurrinaEalm
  MurrinaElement		MurrinaFancyCandy		MurrinaGilouche		MurrinaLoveGray		MurrinaNeoGraphite
  MurrinaVerdeOlivo		Murrine-Gray		Murrine-Light		Murrine-Sky		Orangine
  Raleigh		Redmond		ThinIce

  To specify a GTK theme, create a .gtkrc-2.0 file containing a line like (using Clearlooks as an example):

  gtk-theme-name = "Clearlooks"

  in the directory specified by your HOME environment variable. The specified GTK theme will take effect the next time you launch Argos. If you do not specify a GTK theme, the default is MS-Windows.

  If you do not have a HOME environment variable, here is how to create one:

  1. Right-click the My Computer or Computer icon on your Windows desktop.

  2. Choose Properties from the context menu

  3. Click the Advanced tab or Advanced system settings link, depending on the flavor of your Windows.

  4. Click the Environment Variables button

  5. Under the User variables section, click the New... button

  6. Enter HOME in the Variable name field and the path in the Variable value field. Make sure to end the path with a back slash (such as C:\THIS\IS\MY\HOME\DIR\).

  7. Click the OK button.