Running from CD changing swap file

[kck]

I"m still running off the cd until I can work out a few small issues but until then I had a little question regarding the swap file.

While in XP I created a linux swap partition on a spare drive hdb3 however it doesn't seem to be being used when I boot into the cd. It's 1.2G created with Acronis.

The questions are I guess:

Can I use it? and if so, how to set it up
and can I do it from the boot screen?

In case it wasn't totally obvious, I'm still very new at this but am dying to learn. I've tried searching for swap files, etc but most seem to deal with a hd install. Thanks for any input.

KCK

[Cuddles]

Kck,

From what I know...

The swap file, using the CD, is just that, a file. It is created while you are booted to the CD, and can be created on a DOS, or FAT, partition.

Once Knoppix is booted, goto KMenu -=> Knoppix -=> Configure ( I think ), and look for Create Swap File, or Configure Swap File...

Running this, if I remember right, it will ask you which device you want to create the swap file on, this device should be the FAT, or DOS, partition, once selecting your device, it should tell you how much space it has available [?], and how large a swap file you want to create on that device.

Knoppix should create a "file" on that device, just off the root of the drive, and name it something that has "knoppix" in the name, not sure, but I think the file name is "knoppix.swp" [?]

To activate, and use, the swap file from within Knoppix, you will want to add the following to your boot: prompt:

boot: knoppix swap=[device]
or
boot: knoppix swap=scan

You should see it activate the swap file while Knoppix is boot, it will say something like: found swap on [...] activating, or found swap ... using (something like this)

When you are in XP, you should be able to "see" the file that Knoppix created, and even be able to delete it. If you use a defrag program where the file is created, I have had problems with the swap after that point, usually requiring me to "re-create" the swap file again. If you delete the file, you will want to "re-create" the swap, in the above examples, again, as well.

A "physical" swap partition is used when you install Knoppix to the hard drive, and will want you to use cfdisk to create the "Linux Swap" partition. When you are using the CD to boot, the "Linux Swap" partition is not used, but rather, a file is used for the swap.

Hope this helps,
Ms. Cuddles

[mzilikazi]

Well I have no ideza what acronis is but it's a good idea to make linux partitions w/ linux utilities and M$ partitions w/ M$ utilities. That said....to activate a swap file simply do:

mkswap /dev/hdb3
swapon /dev/hdb3

voila!

Is it being used?

free

[kck]

Thanks for the replies. Actually I feel quite, QUITE embarrassed by my previous question. I asked it about three minutes too early. I did figure it out.

One last question though while I'm on a roll. It does detect the linux swap on it's own while booting (the one I created on hdb3) and says it's using it. ?? Is that possible? It was mentioned above that this would only be the case if I installed to hd.

I did create a file on hdb2 while in knoppix and it was there back in XP so how would I know which one it is using?

I checked /proc/swaps and an entry was there but...

[mzilikazi]

Thanks for the replies. Actually I feel quite, QUITE embarrassed by my previous question. I asked it about three minutes too early. I did figure it out.

One last question though while I'm on a roll. It does detect the linux swap on it's own while booting (the one I created on hdb3) and says it's using it. ?? Is that possible? It was mentioned above that this would only be the case if I installed to hd.

Knoppix will use a swap partition if it finds one be it from cd or hdd. To see if it's in use use the free command like so:

free
 total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:        127164     122368       4796          0       6332      48508
-/+ buffers/cache:      67528      59636
Swap:       249944     103796     146148

I did create a file on hdb2 while in knoppix and it was there back in XP so how would I know which one it is using?

cat /proc/swaps