TSV_TNEW_PAGE_ALLOC_FAILED — TSV_TNEW_PAGE_ALLOC_FAILED short dump

The dump fires inside the SAP memory management layer when a work process needs another page of memory to grow an internal table, string, or object and the underlying allocation call to the operating system returns failure instead of a usable address. It is not a program exception in the ABAP sense; it is the kernel's memory manager reporting that it could not get what it asked for. This differs from the roll-memory dumps (TSV_TNEW_BLOCKS_NO_ROLL_MEMORY, TSV_TNEW_OCCURS_NO_ROLL_MEMORY), which usually mean an SAP-configured limit was reached cleanly. PAGE_ALLOC_FAILED more often means the request hit a wall below SAP's own limits, typically actual physical memory, swap space, or an OS-level process memory ceiling. Treat it first as a capacity question, then as a code question.

If the ST22 call stack points to custom code with an unbounded loop or a table growing without limit, the fix is a code correction: add package-based processing, clear internal tables between iterations, free objects and RFC connections explicitly. This requires a change request and a transport. If the failure coincides with genuinely high but legitimate load (period-end, mass conversion) and OS memory headroom exists, the fix is a parameter adjustment to em/initial_size_MB, the relevant heap parameters, or the paging file size limits, done by Basis and requiring an instance restart, so it goes through change management like any kernel-level parameter change. If OS monitoring shows the host itself was out of physical memory or swap regardless of SAP settings, the fix is infrastructure: add RAM, increase swap, or move competing workloads off the host, which is a Basis and infrastructure decision outside ABAP scope. If the leak is inside a standard SAP program, raise an incident with SAP support rather than attempting a workaround in the standard code.

The reflex is to raise em/initial_size_MB or the heap area parameters and restart the instance, on the assumption that more configured memory automatically solves the problem. If the underlying cause is a runaway internal table or a leak, this only postpones the same dump to a larger data volume or shifts the failure onto other processes on the same host, and can turn one work process's crash into a host-wide out-of-memory condition. If the underlying cause is OS-level memory exhaustion, raising the SAP-side parameter does nothing at all, because the ceiling being hit is below SAP's configuration, not at it.

Enforce package-based (array or cursor) processing for any report or interface expected to handle non-trivial data volumes, so no single work process ever needs to hold an entire dataset in memory. Review ST02 and OS memory trends regularly, particularly before period-end or data migration windows, rather than reacting only after a dump. Include memory sizing in the sign-off for any new mass-processing custom development, and size background work process memory limits deliberately rather than leaving defaults untouched as data volumes grow year over year.

Basis owns the instance parameters, OS memory and swap configuration, and any restart required to change them. ABAP development owns any fix to a program identified in the call stack as the source of unbounded growth. The handover note should state the program and line from ST22, the memory category and size that failed, whether OS-level memory was actually exhausted at the time, and the job or transaction context (batch versus dialog, data volume processed).

Closely related to TSV_TNEW_BLOCKS_NO_ROLL_MEMORY and TSV_TNEW_OCCURS_NO_ROLL_MEMORY, which cover roll and extended memory exhaustion under SAP-configured limits rather than OS-level allocation failure, and to SYSTEM_NO_ROLL and MEMORY_NO_MORE_PAGING, which sit in the same memory-exhaustion family. Frequently seen alongside long-running background jobs, mass data programs, and custom reports built without internal table size limits.