Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > alt.os.linux.slackware > #26686

Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE

Show all headers | View raw

Rich <rich@example.invalid> writes:

> Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:
> 
>> Before I do any more grovelling through kernel parameter and such
>> that I don't fully understand, tomorrow I'm about to increase the RAM
>> in the hope that the excessive buffering of writes that appears to be
>> hogging memory will be self-limiting.
> 
> More ram will delay the onset of the write spikes, but will also likely
> cause the result of making those that do hit take longer to go away
> (because there's now more ram to write out than before).

Yeah, that's exactly what happened.

I need to find a way to say "only read in x bytes (or n buffers)
before writing and cleaning up dirty buffers.  Don't use all of RAM
before writing."  Still perusing [src]/Documentation/sysctl/vm.txt.

>> Possibly.  I don't know how to determine [if the HD is using PIO].
> 
> "hdparm" perhaps?

Right.  hdparm -I  says (in part):

    DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5 udma6
         Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
    PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
         Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns

The '*' is alleged to indicate the mode in use (altho the manpage is a
little ambiguous.)  So probably not doing PIO.

>> On the 14.1 system, I've spent hours defeating new "features" that
>> I don't want.
> 
> Unsure on what new 'features' you spent hours defeating.  My 14.1
> install amounted to basically: install from dvd - copy over /home
> and /root from backup, system operated same as before.

Just off the top of my head, getting aumix to work right; figuring out
that network-manager won't run under twm; reverting Emacs to a version
that doesn't do ugly stuff; expunging UEFI; writing a script that
displays battery status; especially tedious, getting .Xmodmap right so
that keys work as I want in X. (Xmodmap keysym assignment has gotten
more complicated.)

> But then I don't run gnome, or kde, or whatever the lightweight desktop
> 'environment' is.  Just fvwm2, so copying in /home from backups copies
> in the .fvwm2rc, and a 'startx' has things back just the way they were
> before.

I use twm.  Newer versions of various apps/utilities come with
built-in huge icons.  Instead of a nice little icon with jutst the
window name, I get a big rectangle with a logo (Firefox, xterm,...).
Totally screws up the way I use twm with a column of a 8 or a dozen
little icons on the left.

Still working on the excess memory problem.

Tnx,
-- 
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada

Back to alt.os.linux.slackware | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-04-11 02:47 -0300
  Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE Thomas Richter <thor@math.tu-berlin.de> - 2016-04-11 09:14 +0200
    Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE root <NoEMail@home.org> - 2016-04-11 16:54 +0000
  Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2016-04-11 07:22 +0000
  Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE philo <philo@privacy.net> - 2016-04-11 04:19 -0500
    Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-04-13 00:06 -0300
      Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE philo <philo@privacy.net> - 2016-04-13 13:26 -0500
  Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@invalid.es> - 2016-04-11 11:30 +0200
  Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE Joe Beanfish <joebeanfish@nospam.duh> - 2016-04-11 13:17 +0000
  Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2016-04-11 15:43 +0000
    Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-04-12 23:42 -0300
      Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2016-04-13 03:29 +0000
        Re: HD writes hog RAM with SATA HD replacing an IDE Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-04-15 03:08 -0300

csiph-web