HD install intermittant latency?

[PattiMichell]

After installing Knoppix 6.2 to HD (an SD drive, actually, but using the HD install utility) it seems oddly latent at times, as if it's still decompressing, recompressing kernel components or something. I've tried both KDE and LXDE - it's the same. SD drives are much faster than that. Is there a setting I can change to stop that sort of behavior? This is the only problem I've discovered so far with Knoppix - it's a great distro otherwise!

Also, should I mount /tmp to a hard drive so that I don't wear out the SD drive unnecessarily? (I've already set /swap to the SATA hard drive swap file of my OpenSuSE installation)

Also, looking for 6.3 DVD but can't find it.

TIA - PattiMichelle:mrgreen:

[krishna.murphy]

After installing Knoppix 6.2 to HD (an SD drive, actually, but using the HD install utility) it seems oddly latent at times, as if it's still decompressing, recompressing kernel components or something. I've tried both KDE and LXDE - it's the same. SD drives are much faster than that. Is there a setting I can change to stop that sort of behavior? This is the only problem I've discovered so far with Knoppix - it's a great distro otherwise!Patti- the usual advice on this forum is to NOT use the hd-install unless you're wanting to re-master your own version of Knoppix. Have you tried it with the flash install utility? That provides quite acceptable performance in most cases.

Also, should I mount /tmp to a hard drive so that I don't wear out the SD drive unnecessarily? (I've already set /swap to the SATA hard drive swap file of my OpenSuSE installation)
That sounds like it might be a good idea. You can also use the flash install utility with a hard drive, but choose wisely which partition-type you install on. And FYI, the high-end (brand name) flash drives show no sign of wearing out at 100,000 cycles according to a study reported on ZDnet - they have anti-wear algorithms built in to prevent that.

Also, looking for 6.3 DVD but can't find it.The word seems to be that those kinds of release only ever go out to conference attendees and magazine buyers.

TIA - PattiMichelle:mrgreen:

Cheers!
Krishna :mrgreen:

[PattiMichell]

Thanks - I did try the flash-install utility, but I thought there were some issues with adding applications and keeping system configuration(s) in that case since the installation never actually gets changed... Is there a specific reason that a HD-install should be slower than a flash install?

Thanks for the info on the newer SD! (ANd, is 100,000 cycles a lot for a hard drive?)

[krishna.murphy]

Thanks - I did try the flash-install utility, but I thought there were some issues with adding applications and keeping system configuration(s) in that case since the installation never actually gets changed... This latest versions (6 and above) have a feature called the "persistent store" that allows you to make changes as if you had an actual hd-install when in fact the original system you install doesn't change. The file systems (fixed=compressed and variable=non-compressed) are merged to make one normal-seeming unified system.

Is there a specific reason that a HD-install should be slower than a flash install?I could only speculate on details, but basically it's that Knoppix is a highly-modified version of Debian that does "unusual things" in order to facilitate operation from optical/flash media, and it's better to use the features it has advantageously than to "swim upstream."

Thanks for the info on the newer SD! (ANd, is 100,000 cycles a lot for a hard drive?)
Not really, but it's apparently too much for no-name bargain basement flash-based SD-cards and thumb drives.

Cheers!
Krishna :mrgreen:
p.s. You can use the flash-install utility to make a "hd-installed" bootable system - see the treatises by Capricorny on the several ways to use hd/sd storage here (http://www.knoppix.net/forum/threads/28466-Unmodified-Knoppix-6.2.1-on-GRUB-booted-external-Unix-USB-device-from-scratch?p=120509&highlight=) and here (http://www.knoppix.net/forum/threads/28462-Fool-proof-multi-boot-PC-with-Knoppix-6.2.1-run-from-HD-as-deault-boot-option.?p=120491&highlight=#post120491) for more details.

[PattiMichell]

OK, I reinstalled to my SD drive using the flash install utility - I'll test to see if it seems any faster than when I used the HD install to install to the SD drive. I think SD drives should be faster than HD's, no? One other question - should I mount other partitions, such as swap, in knoppix? I guess with the flash-style install, it's entirely self-contained, unlike the HD-style install.

The main reason I'm concerned with speed is because I'm looking for a Linux distro that I can use as a host for VirtualBox to virtualize the various OS's I use, rather than multi-booting them. I still use Linux mainly, so it needs to be a well-rounded distro. I've heard that Debian has a lot to offer, and Knoppix=Debian - but Debian itself it difficult on a laptop whereas Knoppix loves my laptop.

Patti

[krishna.murphy]

OK, I reinstalled to my SD drive using the flash install utility - I'll test to see if it seems any faster than when I used the HD install to install to the SD drive. I think SD drives should be faster than HD's, no?
No, not generally, but YMMV.
One other question - should I mount other partitions, such as swap, in knoppix? I guess with the flash-style install, it's entirely self-contained, unlike the HD-style install.
Knoppix usually mounts swap if it is present. You can prevent that default action at boot with:
knoppix noswapMounting of other partitions is optional, but not necessary if you don't want to use them. It's also easy to mount them as needed from the file-manager.

The main reason I'm concerned with speed is because I'm looking for a Linux distro that I can use as a host for VirtualBox to virtualize the various OS's I use, rather than multi-booting them. I still use Linux mainly, so it needs to be a well-rounded distro. I've heard that Debian has a lot to offer, and Knoppix=Debian - but Debian itself it difficult on a laptop whereas Knoppix loves my laptop.

Patti
Knoppix is really quite good at hardware recognition, and will usually guess it pretty well if it can't figure out what driver is exactly right. Thus, you can use the dmesg (console log) and hwinfo commands in Knoppix to see what driver it's using for which hardware and then use that information to make Debian happier with your lappy. I recommend you try using the
knoppix tohd=/dev/whatever
and then fromhd with one of your HD partitions (ext2-3-4 if available) if you want to compare "apples to apples" speed-wise. Be sure to back up first, and if you use the flash-install to do it instead, especially your boot-management stuff!

I'm kind of unusual in using Knoppix as one of my primary OS's, and (not to discourage you) it's pretty thoroughly specialized for "take-with-you" operation on multiple sets of hardware. Relative to Debian, you'd be adding a decompression and filesystem-merge overhead/burden that might not be negligible when using the VirtualBox-ized alternate systems. I'd like to say that Knoppix is perfect for all situations, but really, nothing is.

Cheers!
Krishna :mrgreen:
p.s. SD memory might not be the best choice; it seems like flash has become much more differentiated these days. I have a "Verbatim 8GB Tuff-'N'-Tiny USB Drive" (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=active&q=Verbatim+TUFF-'N'-TINY+%2B8GB+Flash+Drive&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=) that is VERY speedy; biggest problem is not losing the teeny-weeny thing.
p.p.s. Have you considered Xen? It's supposed to do exactly what I think you want.

[PattiMichell]

OK, I reinstalled to my SD drive using the flash install utility - I'll test to see if it seems any faster than when I used the HD install to install to the SD drive. I think SD drives should be faster than HD's, no? One other question - should I mount other partitions, such as swap, in knoppix? I guess with the flash-style install, it's entirely self-contained, unlike the HD-style install.

Patti
OK, I tried the Flash install and did not notice the weird latency that shows up with LXDE or KDE when I do an "HD install" option - sometimes 10s of seconds elapse when the system is completely unresponsive to mouseclicks. Is this a known issue with HD install? Has anyone figured a workaround. I really prefer a non-Flash type install, but I guess it's not workable in Knoppix. I tried Kubuntu since it's also Debian, but it doesn't do anywhere near the hardware detection that Knoppix does. Is there another thread on this forum that discusses this (I can't seem to find it)?

[krishna.murphy]

OK, I tried the Flash install and did not notice the weird latency that shows up with LXDE or KDE when I do an "HD install" option - sometimes 10s of seconds elapse when the system is completely unresponsive to mouseclicks. Is this a known issue with HD install? Has anyone figured a workaround. I really prefer a non-Flash type install, but I guess it's not workable in Knoppix. I tried Kubuntu since it's also Debian, but it doesn't do anywhere near the hardware detection that Knoppix does. Is there another thread on this forum that discusses this (I can't seem to find it)?

So, it sounds like you "flash-installed" to the hard drive and the problem went away. Presumably, this is the widely-reported "Knoppix is not regular Linux, don't install it" syndrome. If you want to fully install a 'regular' Linux, I recommend Debian. If there are hardware-detection issues that must be resolved, use the Knoppix-setup versions of the relevant driver or settings, e.g. /etc/X11/xorg.conf or whatever sound setup, etc. you need.

Cheers!
Krishna :mrgreen: