Swap file not being used

[dave111 0]

Just new to Linux, loaded Mandrake 9.2 successfully, but system runs very slowly. The KDE monitor shows the swap usage as zero at all times, and shows RAM nearly full (256 MB). Yet on initialization and termination, Swap is listed as being started and stopped, and is present on the hard drive configuration. Is there a reason Swap would have been installed and then disabled? I reloaded the OS and still have the problem.

[Maillion 0]

The swap is used when there is not enough memory to do what needs to be done, AFAIK. If you have enough memory, you can get by without swap. How big is your swap partition? Generally, it should be at least twice as big as your RAM. (In other words, if you have 256 meg of RAM, your swap should be at least 512 megabytes.) How fast is your system? ;(

[dave111 0]

Swap file is 500 MB give or take a few MB.

 

Processor is Celeron 1.1 GHz. On the same system, Windows 98 runs like lightning.

 

But I can tell from the KDE utility that runs with this version that RAM is running at full capacity, the system is running very slowly, yet the swap use is zero. I can try to open more and more applications, but once RAM is full, nothing else will open, and swap is never used.

 

Linux is very slow to load as well.

[Maillion 0]

Quote:

Swap file is 500 MB give or take a few MB.

Processor is Celeron 1.1 GHz. On the same system, Windows 98 runs like lightning.

But I can tell from the KDE utility that runs with this version that RAM is running at full capacity, the system is running very slowly, yet the swap use is zero. I can try to open more and more applications, but once RAM is full, nothing else will open, and swap is never used.

Linux is very slow to load as well.

Well, I've never run into this problem, nor heard it answered, but just guessing, I'd say that the swap partition is not activated. I will do a little research, but in the meantime, I hope someone more knowledgeable stops by. 8)

[jjcohen 0]

I think it could be your hard drive performance. Look into hdparm. Make sure you have 32 bit and dma on.

Run: hdparm /dev/dvX -tT .

[Dapper Dan 0]

I installed Mdk 9.0 on a box once, and for some reason, the swap would not get activated at boot. Go into the Mdk Control Center and look in the section that shows your HD's partition setup. Click on your swap and see if it says it is activated or not. If it isn't click "activate" and see what happens.

[idud 0]

Quote:

Generally, it should be at least twice as big as your RAM. (In other words, if you have 256 meg of RAM, your swap should be at least 512 megabytes.) How fast is your system? ;(

At least, or at maximum? I use 128 MB DDR with Duron 1,1 GHz and swap partition about 100MB, running on Mdk 9.1 with apache, mysql, ssh, telnet, and KDE desktop. And it works fine, a little bit faster than my neighbour's P4 1,7 Ghz running WinXP.

[Maillion 0]

I got this info from the installs and install guides for several distros, but it always said "at least twice the system ram", or words to that effect. I have never seen (yet) a maximum... ;(

[idud 0]

Quoting from http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/archive/8/2003/08/3/82545:

Quote:

For SWAP, how much RAM do you have ?

If you have 1 GB of RAM, creating a 2 GB swap partition is a waste of space. I suggest 128MB to 512MB max. If your computer ends up using more than 256 MB of swap, then you need more RAM.

Quote:

Swap doesn't necessarily have to be double your ram, but you've got the room so I'll leave it at that...

 

I agree with that statement, since my experience shows me what happening to my swap partition during system running. So I think the "twice the system ram" should be for maximum.

[Dapper Dan 0]

If you have 1 gig of ram, I would think any swap partition would be a waste of space. I have 512 ram which runs noticably faster when my swap partition is disabled. Heck, I wouldn't even install a swap were it not for this one game I play that requires a swap, otherwise it won't install.

[Maillion 0]

Quote:

Quoting from http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/archive/8/2003/08/3/82545:

Quote:

For SWAP, how much RAM do you have ?
If you have 1 GB of RAM, creating a 2 GB swap partition is a waste of space. I suggest 128MB to 512MB max. If your computer ends up using more than 256 MB of swap, then you need more RAM.

Quote:

Swap doesn't necessarily have to be double your ram, but you've got the room so I'll leave it at that...

I agree with that statement, since my experience shows me what happening to my swap partition during system running. So I think the "twice the system ram" should be for maximum.

The thing is, if you are having problems, and you have that much RAM, then something is wrong. I was trying to answer your questions, and the posts you quoted were answering someone else's. 8)