[BUG] Memory Leak when reinitializing Picamera2 with new camera_num, results in OSError: [Errno 12] Cannot allocate memory

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
35/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Stale
Tech stack
python
Domain
embedded-iot

Research direction

Start with the reproduction loop and trace Picamera2.start() and configure_() in picamera2.py into dmaallocator.py and dma_heap.py, where allocation fails. Run the script while monitoring memory and DMA-heap usage, then determine whether repeated close/reinitialization releases resources. Done means repeated camera changes no longer grow memory indefinitely or reach OSError: [Errno 12].

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Describe the bug
Every time I initialize Picamera2 with a new camera_num, more memory seems taken by the Picamera2 object. Eventually the system runs out of memory and I get a OSError: [Errno 12] Cannot allocate memory error.

To Reproduce

from picamera2 import Picamera2, Preview
import time

while True:
    for i in range(1):
        picam2 = Picamera2(camera_num=i)
        picam2.start_preview(Preview.NULL)
        picam2.start()
        picam2.capture_file("device/runtime/picture.jpg")
        picam2.close()
    time.sleep(0.1)

Expected behaviour
Expected that this script could run forever without an error.

Console Output, Screenshots

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/myles/dev/zeebo/device/picam2_memoryleak.py", line 8, in <module>
    picam2.start()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/picamera2/picamera2.py", line 1149, in start
    self.configure(config)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/picamera2/picamera2.py", line 1104, in configure
    self.configure_(camera_config)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/picamera2/picamera2.py", line 1087, in configure_
    self.allocator.allocate(libcamera_config)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/picamera2/allocators/dmaallocator.py", line 43, in allocate
    fd = self.dmaHeap.alloc(f"picamera2-{i}", stream_config.frame_size)
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/picamera2/dma_heap.py", line 98, in alloc
    ret = fcntl.ioctl(self.__dmaHeapHandle.get(), DMA_HEAP_IOCTL_ALLOC, alloc)

Hardware :
RPi 4. Gen3 wide angle and Gen2 camera connected to an Arducam Camera Board V2.2

Additional context

Dominant language
Python
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