Question about Alt-f partioning Hdd's and Usb stick's

[Tiny]

Hi,
I've just installed 2*2tb hdd's and 1*2gb Usb Stick into my Alt-f
flashed Nas.

I let the wizard partition and format the drives.
(One big standard partition per disk, for easy management (standard)).
Each drive partitions with a 0.537gb swap partition, including the Usb
stick.
Why are there 3 swaps created?, and do I need them?, (especially on
the Usb stick).

Thanks

[Joao Cardoso]

Linux needs swap to simulate memory; it is particularly important when physical memory is scarce, as in the dns.

All disks should have a swap partition, so that a swap exists in the event that you need to remove one of the disks.

However, swap in the usb pen in not really needed, and is even counter-productive(*), you can delete it (after logically ejecting the usb (Disk->Utilities->Eject.); then, using Disk-Partitioner, you can  remove the swap partition, or, better, repartitioning the usb pen.

(*) Alt-F uses all available swaps at equal priorities, meaning that it access them in parallel; this makes swapping faster, but the slower link (usb pen writing is slow) limits the speed.

BTW, did the Wizard create bigger the 1TB partitions? You can see it in the status page, mounted filesystems capacity, or in the Disk->Filesystems capacity, or in Disk->Partitioner

A report says that the disk Partitioner can't create greater than 1TB partitions. I don't have 2TB disks.

 

Thanks

[Tiny]

Hi Joao,

Thank you for your reply, and explanation.

I figured that the USB pen did not need a swap, although if I put a single partition on the USB pen, Alt-f does not recognise it.
So I created a tiny swap of 0.00001 which registered as 0.000, then the main partition was seen correctly.

I was'nt too sure about the HDD's - so I left the swaps alone - which from your reply, appears to be the correct thing.

The partioner did not create a partition bigger than 1tb, However the wizard did create a large partition without problems.

From the Alt-f Status page;

Dev.	Label	Capacity	Available	FS	Mode	Dirty	Automatic FSCK in
sda2		1.8TB	1.7TB	ext4	RW RW		25 mounts or 83 days
sdb2		1.8TB	1.7TB	ext4	RW RW		25 mounts or 83 days
sdc2		1.4GB	935.9MB	ext4	RW RW		15 mounts or 79 days

I then went to fill about 1.5tb of movies to one of the partitions via smb, without any problems.
I randomly tested about a dozen of the movies and they all seemed fine, I have'nt done a full compare yet.

One last question, :)...

Even though I have a small swap partition on the USB pen, Will Alt-f, still try to use it as swap,
and if so, how can I stop this from happening...

Thanks

Tiny

[Joao Cardoso]

On Apr 25, 8:03 pm, Tiny <trickymick...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Joao,
>
> Thank you for your reply, and explanation.
>
> I figured that the USB pen did not need a swap, although if I put a single
> partition on the USB pen,

How did you that? Using Alt-F? MS-windows?

> Alt-f does not recognise it.

It doesn't appear in no web page?

> So I created a tiny swap of 0.00001 which registered as 0.000, then the main
> partition was seen correctly.

I wan't able to reproduce that. I have even formated a pen under MS-W
with NTFS and VFAT.

To answer you last question:

-select the usb pen in the web page upper section, then also in the
upper section under "Partition Table", "Operations" select "Erase"
-After erasing the partition table finish, select again the usb pen,
and in the lower section fill-in the size (watch the Free space) and
select the right partition "Type" for the first partition, leaving the
others as they are (size 0 and type none), and hit the "Partition"
button.
-Then, go to Disk->Filesystems and under "New FS Operations", "New
FS", select the filesystem you which and under "Operation" select
"Format".

Still problems?

> I was'nt too sure about the HDD's - so I left the swaps alone - which from
> your reply, appears to be the correct thing.
>

> The partioner did *not* create a partition bigger than 1tb,

You actually tried it?

> However the
> wizard *did* create a large partition without problems.

Thanks.
...

> One last question, :)...
>
> Even though I have a small swap partition on the USB pen, Will Alt-f, still
> try to use it as swap,
> and if so, how can I stop this from happening...

You have to destroy the swap "filesystem". The above procedure should
do it.
If you still have problems you have to resort to the command line,
executing the following command:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/xxx

where xxx is the usb pen swap partition, **usually** sdc1 for a two
disk system

>
> Thanks
>
> Tiny

[Tinybilbo]

Hi Joao,

> I figured that the USB pen did not need a swap, although if I put a single

> partition on the USB pen...

Q) How did you that? Using Alt-F? MS-windows?

A) Using the Alt-f partitioner.

> Alt-f does not recognise it.

Q) It doesn't appear in no web page?

A) It appears under the Alt-f disk partioner,
but when I create a single partition and then format,
it doesnt appear in Alt-f, Disk-Filesystems (but it can still be seen in the partitioner)

> So I created a tiny swap of 0.00001 which registered as 0.000, then the main
> partition was seen correctly.

Q) I wan't able to reproduce that. I have even formated a pen under MS-W
with NTFS and VFAT.

A) Again I used the Alt-f partitioner.

> The partioner did *not* create a partition bigger than 1tb,

Q) You actually tried it?

A) Yes.

> Even though I have a small swap partition on the USB pen, Will Alt-f, still
> try to use it as swap,
> and if so, how can I stop this from happening...

You have to destroy the swap "filesystem". The above procedure should
do it.
If you still have problems you have to resort to the command line,
executing the following command:

   dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/xxx

where xxx is the usb pen swap partition, **usually** sdc1 for a two
disk system

I will try the procedure you gave for reformatting with a different USB pen tomorrow,
when I get home.

Thanks

Tiny,