I/A Series Niagara 4.8 or later Upgrade and JACE 8000 Memory Requirements

[WaynePeters]

Issue

Unable to upgrade a JACE 8000 to I/A Series Niagara 4.8 or later due to insufficient memory allocation.

Product Line

TAC IA Series

Environment

• I/A Series Niagara 4
• I/A Series JACE 8000

Cause

I/A Series Niagara 4.8 or later running on a JACE 8000 will consume approximately 40 MB more memory than Niagara 4.7 due to new features including a new OS (operating system) and JRE (Java Runtime Engine).

Resolution

The following information will help identify if there is sufficient system memory to upgrade to Niagara 4.8 or later and if not, how to tune memory parameters to increase required system memory. Use the following analysis to determine if a Niagara 4 platform, operating at release 4.7 or earlier, requires a memory allocation adjustment PRIOR to upgrading to version 4.8 or later.

1. Determine the amount of Free Physical RAM in the embedded platform while running the current release (prior to a 4.8 or later firmware upgrade)
   1. Open the embedded platform with the Niagara Platform Administrator tools.
   2. Check the amount of Free Physical RAM that is currently available. The image below displays where the information is located.
   3. If the amount of Free Physical RAM is greater than 40,000 KB (40 MB), the JACE 8000 platform is ready to perform an upgrade to Niagara version 4.8.  If the amount of Free Physical RAM is less than 40,000 KB (40 MB), the platform will require adjustment to the NRE Memory allocation using the steps below.
      
      
2. Determine the amount of memory allocation required
   1. Subtract the current amount Free Physical RAM (MB) from the required 40 MB allocation. In the example above, 40 MB – 26.3 MB = 13.7 MB. Round this value up 14 MB.
   2. Next, add a buffer value of 10 MB to the previous result for a new total of 24 MB.
   3. System memory will be freed by reducing size of RAM disk used for histories. Ensure that /mnt/aram0 contains at least this “allocation adjustment” free space.  Using the above example, there is 326,944 KB (approximately 326 MB) of available memory that can be re-allocated to satisfy the additional 24 MB requirement.  Note: If there is not enough free space available in the /mnt/aram0, please contact Product Support for more options.
      
      
3. Adjust the NRE Memory allocation
   1. Use the Platform Administrator tool to locate and select the Configure NRE Memory button as shown below.
   2. Record the current memory allocations for Heap Space and Meta Space by reviewing the memory sizes shown below.
   3. Increase the Meta Space by using the Meta Space slider to provide additional working space. Slide the Meta Space adjustment shown below to add 40 MB to the existing value of 48 MB increasing the Meta Space to 88 MB.
   4. Increase the System Reserve by the required 24 MB calculated in the example above. Slide the System Reserve adjustment shown below to set the value to 24 MB.
   5. Return (increase) the Heap Space back to the original 384 MB size by adjusting the Heap Space slider shown below.
   6. The final adjustment will bring the Meta Space back the original 48 MB size by adjusting the Meta Space slider shown below.
4. Save the changes and reboot the JACE 8000.  Using the information from Step 1, verify that the Free Physical RAM is now above 40 MB.  If confirmed, the JACE 8000 platform is ready to perform an upgrade to I/A Series Niagara version 4.8 or later.