Out of Memory Error when building WebHelp

[kafkascampi]

I'm using MadCap Flare on a relatively small project (only 5MB in size). I'm trying to attach a custom skin that is also very small. I've changed the background gradient colors on 4-5 elements, changed the text label for TOC, and set the MadCap logo image to "none" and that's about it.

Whenever I try to build the project with the skin, I get an "out of memory"
error. If I monitor my system memory while the build is going on, it never gets above 60% usage, and yet Flare is still "out of memory".

The system I'm using is a VM running Windows XP, with 2GB of RAM allotted. I know, running a VM is not optimal, but it should be more than enough for this task.

It doesn't seem to be a specific change to the skin that triggers this behavior, either. When I first started getting this error, the last edit I had made was to remove the MadCap logo. So I tried again with a blank skin and removed the logo as my first edit, and the build was successful that time. Then, I changed the background gradient colors on the toolbar and tried to build again, and it was "out of memory".

[RamonS]

How much drive space do you have in the VM left? How did you set the swap file size in Windows?

Setting up the development environment in a VM is a smart move. If things break you are back in business within a matter of minutes. And if you get a new PC, no problem with that either.

[kafkascampi]

Not sure on the swap file, but I have 2GB allocated to the VM. I don't think drive space is the issue...we've tried it on a couple of machines with no change in outcome.

[RamonS]

Well, how much drive space is there? And is it a fixed or dynamic disk? Drive space may, but does not have to be a reason. I mention it, because it is typically easy to check. Also, where do you run the VM? On ESX or locally? If you run it on ESX, does it have the resources restricted in any way?

[KevinDAmery]

Just to take a different tack, have you tried replacing the gradient? Maybe it's the gradient itself that's the problem.

[kafkascampi]

Wanted to wrap this thread up. It turns out our issue was related to our logo image: the file had become corrupted when moving between the mac and windows desktops. Replacing it with a new image fixed the problem. Thanks to Madcap for helping us with the issue.

[KevinDAmery]

Glad it's working - although that is one waayyyy off base error message.