Configuring Swap

[CubeDweller]

Hello,

I am having difficulty getting Knoppix to use swap space.

I have two harddrives with one partition each, hda1 is ext3 and hdb1 is vfat. Each has 4GB of free space. Knoppix recognizes each and nicely creates icons for them on the desktop.

I want Knoppix to use hdb1 for swap space, but the included tool (Knoppix->Configure->Swap File Configuration) insists I have no DOS partitions available. I have tried running the tool with hdb1 mounted (and unmounted) and read-write (and read-only). No luck.

I wouldn't particularly care about the swap space, but I am trying to remaster Knoppix and the cloop compression requires more memory than I physically have.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
CubeDweller

[rickenbacherus]

I have never been able to get Knoppix to boot if it required DOS swap space. I did get it to work with a Linux swap file though. I prefer cfdisk for such tasks.

[CubeDweller]

Hello,

Well, cfdisk allowed me to create a partition, and mkfs.vfat allowed me to format. The Knoppix swap file configuration tool even recognized the partition and created a 'knoppix.swp' file. I have 256mb RAM and a 2GB swap file. (Note: I also tried making hdb1 an ext2 swap partition, but the Knoppix swap file configuration tool wouldn't recognize it.)

All seemed good until I tried to use the swap to cloop a modified Knoppix. (Note: The modifications are minor: removal of the KDevelop package and a change of the desktop wallpaper).

I am using the Knoppix.net Remastering Howto. As the cloop compression runs, Linux slowly closes applications, then eye-candy, then X, then shuts down completely. I theorize this is because I am running out of memory, and Linux is automatically killing things to open up more memory.

Strangely, the Knoppix swap file configuration tool refuses to see any DOS partitions again (even though hdb1 is still sitting there with it's 'knoppix.swp' file).

Any ideas?

Thanks,
CubeDweller

[rickenbacherus]

Since remastering Knoppix is something I've never done I don't even have a wild guess for you. Sorry.

[Dave_Bechtel]

--What is the result of ' swapon -s '?

Anyhow, here's what to do for swap; if partition, it should be type 82 (Linux Swap - not ext2) and at least 128MB in size.

Example:
' /sbin/fdisk -l '

Disk /dev/hdc: 128 heads, 63 sectors, 4849 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8064 * 512 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdc2 1 41 165280+ 82 Linux swap

--To format and activate the partition:
' mkswap -c /dev/hdc2 '
' swapon /dev/hdc2 '
' swapon -s '

--Now if you have to create a Knoppix swapfile by hand:
' df '
' mount /mnt/hda1 -oremount,rw ' == In your case, hdb1
' cd /mnt/hda1 '
' dd if=/dev/zero of=knoppix.swp bs=2M count=64 ' == Create 128M swapfile
' mkswap knoppix.swp '
' swapon knoppix.swp '
' swapon -s '

--The knoppix.swp file should be auto-recognized next time you reboot. Post results, and progress with your remastering project.

Hello,

Well, cfdisk allowed me to create a partition, and mkfs.vfat allowed me to format. The Knoppix swap file configuration tool even recognized the partition and created a 'knoppix.swp' file. I have 256mb RAM and a 2GB swap file. (Note: I also tried making hdb1 an ext2 swap partition, but the Knoppix swap file configuration tool wouldn't recognize it.)

All seemed good until I tried to use the swap to cloop a modified Knoppix. (Note: The modifications are minor: removal of the KDevelop package and a change of the desktop wallpaper).

I am using the Knoppix.net Remastering Howto. As the cloop compression runs, Linux slowly closes applications, then eye-candy, then X, then shuts down completely. I theorize this is because I am running out of memory, and Linux is automatically killing things to open up more memory.

Strangely, the Knoppix swap file configuration tool refuses to see any DOS partitions again (even though hdb1 is still sitting there with it's 'knoppix.swp' file).

Any ideas?

Thanks,
CubeDweller

[CubeDweller]

Thanks, Dave. That did the trick.

This remastering was merely a test to see if I could do it.
Strangely, every subdirectory in the /cdrom directory has disappeared and the mozilla icon changed, but everything else seems to work.

Thanks,
CubeDweller

[Dave_Bechtel]

--Also, I forgot to mention - if you're doing RAM/CPU intensive stuff, boot with ' knoppix 2 ' (without GUI) and you'll save a ton of RAM for the intensive process.

Thanks, Dave. That did the trick.

This remastering was merely a test to see if I could do it.
Strangely, every subdirectory in the /cdrom directory has disappeared and the mozilla icon changed, but everything else seems to work.

Thanks,
CubeDweller