March 2013 - openSUSE Users - openSUSE Mailing Lists

[opensuse] Revisit old topic: Re: Question re filesystem reserved block percent
by Linda Walsh 11 Mar '13

11 Mar '13

Lew Wolfgang wrote: > On 02/10/2013 12:43 PM, Dennis Gallien wrote: >> Advice, please . . . >> >> The default filesystem reserved blocks is 5%. IIRC that goes back a >> long time >> to when much smaller drives were in use. Is there a formula or >> rule-of-thumb >> now for today's large drives/partitions? I have quite a few 100-300GB >> partitions which I have tuned down to 3%, but it still seems I'm >> wasting a lot >> of space. Suggestions? ----------------------- > Hi Dennis, > > As I recall, the reserved blocks were used to improve read/write > performance because it makes it easier to find contiguous > blocks. Anton Aylward wrote: > Certainly not ones that use B-Tree algorithms! ----- Sorry to bring this up so long after the fact, but I wanted to add some *counter* information to the idea of *decreasing* a reserve factor. Instead of decreasing it, there are times when you might want to increase it -- it depends on *your priorities*. If you need space and don't care so much about speed, shrinking is likely the best way to go, but if you want to keep your disks running in their maximum speed range, I've noticed with 1-1.5TB partitions on a 24gB (12x2tB) RAID that free space should be kept around 20-25% and that's on a B-Tree based file system (XFS). That's because my max rate in read/write is 1TB/s, so even the smallest delays will create a much more noticeable hit in performance than they would out of 1 disk -- i.e. the computer can do many computations while the I/O controller is doing a 64K read/write on 1 disk, but the time it has to do calculations on a 12 spindle raid is a decimal order of magnitude less. So the cpu needs to search through 12X the data in 1/10th the time to maintain max I/O rates. The block allocator starts having problems finding large contiguous free spaces on file systems over 75% full, if (like me) you've gone up into the low 90's% usage, and back down. Once you've done that, you've got files spread throughout the free area. (I could rebuild the fs from scratch and that would give some more speed, until I let it get too full again). If your HD was the speed of a floppy, using it up 99%, you wouldn't notice a speed hit because the I/O was so slow, but the faster your HD subsystem, the more you'll notice the lag time caused by the block allocator and the buffering system. Many people with RAIDs have noticed a 30% or greater speed boost by avoiding the buffer cache. As long as CPU and memory speeds were staying 100-1000 times faster than disk, alot can be done to optimize I/O in memory, but with cpu speeds going down (to conserve power) and disk speeds going up with moves to SSD's and RAID's, those same algorithms won't work as well at the limits... -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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[opensuse] replacement for mgdiff in 12.2 & 12.3?
by Linda Walsh 11 Mar '13

11 Mar '13

I noticed that mgdiff was dropped out of 12.2 and 12.3... What was the intended replacement? Thanks... -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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[opensuse] ext4 errors
by Per Jessen 11 Mar '13

11 Mar '13

I was looking at some dmesg output when I spotted the following: # dmesg | egrep 'EXT4|JBD' [ 14.262151] EXT4-fs (sda1): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null) [ 14.516952] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: acl,user_xattr [ 15.911215] EXT4-fs (sda1): warning: mounting fs with errors, running e2fsck is recommended [ 15.917483] EXT4-fs (sda1): re-mounted. Opts: acl,user_xattr [ 23.292887] EXT4-fs error (device sda1): ext4_mb_generate_buddy:741: group 0, 22398 clusters in bitmap, 22417 in gd [ 23.516248] JBD2: Spotted dirty metadata buffer (dev = sda1, blocknr = 0). There's a risk of filesystem corruption in case of system crash. [ 23.517465] EXT4-fs error (device sda1): ext4_mb_generate_buddy:741: group 2, 9625 clusters in bitmap, 9629 in gd [ 23.517822] JBD2: Spotted dirty metadata buffer (dev = sda1, blocknr = 0). There's a risk of filesystem corruption in case of system crash. [ 314.336017] EXT4-fs (sda1): error count: 9 [ 314.343951] EXT4-fs (sda1): initial error at 1362140595: ext4_lookup:1051: inode 2 [ 314.352004] EXT4-fs (sda1): last error at 1362688890: ext4_mb_generate_buddy:741 The disk is an LVM volume attached over iSCSI - any reason to think ext4 should be having a problem with that? -- Per Jessen, Zürich (5.1°C) http://www.dns24.ch/ - free DNS hosting, made in Switzerland. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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[opensuse] 10 days out - 12.3 recommendations
by John Andersen 10 Mar '13

10 Mar '13

I'm running 12.3rc2 is a virtual machine, but am planning to redo my main laptop in 12.3 when its final. (Its currently hanging back at 11.4 waiting for 12.3). So the same question that comes up every time I look at re-basing my machine: Nuke and fresh install or Upgrade in place? With that many releases between refreshes my gut reaction is to nuke it and start over, but I just wanted to bounce it off you guys in case the in-place upgrade process has improved over time. The machine is my primary traveler and absolute must host VmWare. Nothing spectacular about this Dell 9400 laptop, it has an aging Radeon and a big enough disk. Its been spectacularly reliable over the years. -- _____________________________________ ---This space for rent--- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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[opensuse] Flash Cache
by Koenraad Lelong 10 Mar '13

10 Mar '13

Hi, I just got a new laptop. It seems to contain a "flash cache" device. That is a SSD drive to cache disk-IO, so my googling tells me. I didn't find if linux really supports this, although I saw something about servers. Anyone has more information ? Will OS12.2/12.3 support this out of the box, or do I need to tweek ? Regards, Koenraad Lelong. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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[opensuse] nvidia repo for 12.3 - error
by Carl Fletcher 09 Mar '13

09 Mar '13

Trying to install the nvidia driver in 12.3GM Results in this error #### YaST2 conflicts list - generated 2013-03-09 05:06:59 #### nothing provides ksym(default:init_timer_key) = fb0e29f needed by nvidia-gfxG03-kmp-default-310.32_k3.4.6_2.10-15.1.x86_64 [ ] do not install nvidia-computeG03-310.32-15.1.x86_64 [ ] break nvidia-gfxG03-kmp-default-310.32_k3.4.6_2.10-15.1.x86_64 by ignoring some of its dependencies -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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[opensuse] Latest nvidia driver 310.40....
by Basil Chupin 09 Mar '13

09 Mar '13

....is now available. And it doesn't require the creation of the symlink before it will install. (One other thing I noticed: as root in a terminal one can now type "init 3" to get to level 3 to be able to install the driver; then "init 5" to get back to graphics mode. Just like the old times :-) .) BC -- Using openSUSE 12.2 x86_64 KDE 4.10.1 & kernel 3.8.2-1 on a system with- AMD FX 8-core 3.6/4.2GHz processor 16GB PC14900/1866MHz Quad Channel Corsair "Vengeance" RAM Gigabyte AMD3+ m/board; Gigabyte nVidia GTX550Ti 1GB DDR5 GPU -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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[opensuse] Grub vs LILO
by ellanios82 08 Mar '13

08 Mar '13

Hello List - see from http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/software-technology/difference-… 1.GRUB is a boot loader which can be used for Linux, vSTA, DOS, and other operating systems while LILO is a generic boot loader for Linux. 2.Both GRUB and LILO can boot operating systems from external devices such as floppy disks and hard drives, but 3.GRUB allows booting from a network while LILO does not. 4.When the configuration file is altered, LILO needs to be reinstalled to the MBR while GRUB defaults to its command line interface. 5.GRUB is more complicated to use while LILO is simpler and easier to use. 6.LILO is the old default boot loader for Linux while GRUB is the new default boot loader. 7.GRUB can be used for various other operating systems unlike LILO which is used only for Linux operating systems. ............................. best regards -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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Re: [opensuse] RPM building guide
by Greg Freemyer 08 Mar '13

08 Mar '13

> On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 8:16 PM, Ananda Samaddar <asamaddar(a)myopera.com> > wrote: >> >> Hello all, >> >> Can anyone send me a link to a guide to creating and building RPMs? I >> can't seem to find anything via internet searches. >> >> thanks, >> >> Ananda There are a bunch of ways to create a rpm. A decade plus of tool development has gone into automating the process so there are lots of solutions. One consistent truth is that the process is driven by a specfile that controls the compiling of the code and the ultimate creation of the rpm. That process is called packaging and there is an dedicated opensuse-packaging mailing list dedicated to it. Regardless, assuming you want to leverage opensuse only tools, let's start with the WebUI way. login to http://build.opensuse.org (you may need to create an account) Then click "Create Project" Click on "Repositories" Click on "Add Repositories" check "Opensuse 12.2" as an example, then scroll to the bottom and click "Add Selected Repositories" Then click on "Overview", then "Branch an existing package" For name of existing project put in: "home:gregfreemyer:branches:Base:System" For name of existing package put in: "tutorial" Click "create branch" Sit back and watch it happen. (wait 10+ minutes for build results to show succeeded, note the refresh icon inside the "build results" button) Click on "opensuse 12.2" to see what you built. Click on rpm of your choice and download it. fyi: That is a "tutorial" package I created, but never really did much with. The nice thing is the specfile that controls how the rpm is built is really simple. okay, now that you've built your first rpm via the WebUI, try to branch a real package and patch it from the command-line. (Note this assumes you have an account on build.opensuse.org, so don't skip down here until you've done at least that much of the above). http://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Build_Service_Tutorial#A_start_to_end_examp… Greg > > -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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[opensuse] howto use an OLD pentium 3 with 192MB RAM as webradio receiver?
by Andreas 08 Mar '13

08 Mar '13

Hi, I've got an old notebook from about 2002 that has only a pentium 3 600mhz with 192mb RAM and a 20 gb hdd. Now I'm wondering if I could use it as a web-radio receiver or throw it out. OpenSUSE won't even run the installer with 192mb RAM. :( Basically I'd like to connect it to my stereo and have it playing some streams via WLAN. If got an PCMCIA WLAN-card (atheros) as it hasn't got either LAN nor WLAN built in. Some console app that plays streams managed via ssh would be OK. Any GUI connected by VNC would even be better. Any suggestions, please? -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe(a)opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner(a)opensuse.org

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