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SSD and linux

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voodoo do-er

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SSD and linux Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:37 PM (permalink)

ok so I go a 32gb SSD for my thinkpad x41 and plan to dual boot winxp and Linux on it

I'll most likely use RHEL 6 or my own custom spin of Ubuntu
I was wondering what all I can do to optimize linux for a ssd as I never had a ssd in linux before

this is what I have
http://www.newegg.com/Pro...x?Item=N82E16820313230
it's not a true ssd, but more or less is a ssd

thanks

wdflyer

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Re:SSD and linux Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:40 PM (permalink)

Will 32GB be big enough to dual boot those two?

Are you using that thing with an HDD, or in place of one?

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zoltanthegypsy

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Re:SSD and linux Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:46 PM (permalink)

Hmm, I haven't looked into that. A couple of thoughts pulled out of my ... head.

Those things aren't like an SSD in that ~~they don't have wear-leveling~~ (AFAIK) and will fail when the write access count gets high. How high, I don't know.

I'd be inclined to install the Ubuntu netbook remix, or something like it. It should be optimized (or can be) for running on a read-mostly memory like that. And have a relatively small image size. I run the Ubuntu netbook remix on my flash-based Acer Aspire One. I only have 8G of flash.

Another option would be to install a live CD image. (not an install from live CD, but the actual compressed read-only image itself, as is done on a pen drive) That doesn't write to the CF card at all when running. You can enable persistence so things like added packages and other changes made while running will actually get written.

A swap file is a no-no. So is XP, for that matter

[edit] I can show you what the grub-legacy entry looks like to boot Casper from a copied live-CD image if you get to that point. Should be plenty of info on the Ubuntu forums though.

Z.

voodoo do-er Total Posts : 4752 Joined: 9/2/2011 Location: 1934~2012 Eduard Khil Status: offline Ribbons: 9	Re:SSD and linux Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:50 PM (permalink) wdflyer Will 32GB be big enough to dual boot those two? Are you using that thing with an HDD, or in place of one? it's more then enough I have xp and my custom spin of Ubuntu on a 8gb mini pci-e flash drive on my eeepc and it's in place of a hdd, hdds for this old thinkpad are junk and pricey
	#4

zoltanthegypsy Total Posts : 794 Joined: 5/22/2009 Location: Bainbrige Island, WA, USA Status: offline Ribbons: 3	Re:SSD and linux Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:52 PM (permalink) Ahem, I see by your 2nd post that you already know how to do this stuff. Pardon my noise. Z.
	#5

voodoo do-er

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Re:SSD and linux Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:55 PM (permalink)

zoltanthegypsy

Those things aren't like an SSD in that they don't have wear-leveling (AFAIK) and will fail when the write access count gets high. How high, I don't know.

yes it does
not all CF card have it, but the better ones do, and this one does

zoltanthegypsy

I'd be inclined to install the Ubuntu netbook remix, or something like it. It should be optimized (or can be) for running on a read-mostly memory like that. And have a relatively small image size. I run the Ubuntu netbook remix on my flash-based Acer Aspire One. I only have 8G of flash.

Another option would be to install a live CD image. (not an install from live CD, but the actual compressed read-only image itself, as is done on a pen drive) That doesn't write to the CF card at all when running. You can enable persistence so things like added packages and other changes made while running will actually get written.

on way I'm using a read only live cd image
or netbook remix, I tryd that on my eeepc and hatted it

zoltanthegypsy

A swap file is a no-no. So is XP, for that matter

yes I know a swap if a big no-no on a ssd/ flash drive
but TBH I don't use/need one

TBH people used to use these for a cheap ssd with a CF to PATA/sata adapter
they work fine for it, there are a lot of vids on youtube of it
you just want to buy a nice one and not a cheapo
I just want to know if there is any thing I can do to make it better then just a out of the box setup

zoltanthegypsy

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Re:SSD and linux Tuesday, February 07, 2012 6:05 PM (permalink)

voodoo do-er

zoltanthegypsy

Those things aren't like an SSD in that they don't have wear-leveling (AFAIK) and will fail when the write access count gets high. How high, I don't know.

yes it does
not all CF card have it, but the better ones do
...

Thanks for the education! I had no idea that CFs included wear leveling these days. Living in the past...

Z.

voodoo do-er Total Posts : 4752 Joined: 9/2/2011 Location: 1934~2012 Eduard Khil Status: offline Ribbons: 9	Re:SSD and linux Tuesday, February 07, 2012 10:45 PM (permalink) I think I'll try a Linux forum it's not that I don't know about Linux, it's ssd I'm clue less about as this will be the fist thing that comes close too ssd I'll be using
	#8

zoltanthegypsy Total Posts : 794 Joined: 5/22/2009 Location: Bainbrige Island, WA, USA Status: offline Ribbons: 3	Re:SSD and linux Wednesday, February 08, 2012 7:58 AM (permalink) Yep, a Linux forum might make sense. It's pretty quiet around here. Ubuntu forum, or since you have an x41 maybe the Lenovo Linux forum. Z.
	#9

James_L

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Re:SSD and linux Wednesday, February 08, 2012 9:51 AM (permalink)

voodoo do-er

I just want to know if there is any thing I can do to make it better then just a out of the box setup

Personally with the spins that I use (CentOS, Fedora, Ubuntu and SuSE) there really isn't much you need to do with CF to make it perform any better. If you are already using a small footprint spin then you have done most of what is necessary for it to perform properly. You might be able to tweak the PATA controllers and the CF controller a bit but not enough to matter in any way to gain speed from the limits of the thinkpad. Disabling the swapfile will help a bit but you'll lose performance when/if you decide to utilize more daemons or items in your desktop.

Even on the old laptop that I use to evaluate new spins I don't generally need to tweak the underlying kernel to have it perform better. Usually I just go in for some network changes (considering I have an Atheros wireless chipset) and a few other tweaks for the video. Other than that the smaller footprint will give you enough operating room to accommodate both without too much trouble. I'll figure you already have your XP tweaks in order.