Re: Location of /home, /tmp and /var folder kills tablet device in a couple of months
Jason Edgecombe wrote: I think you're much better off by leaving the internal flash alone and just booting straight from SD card. Yes. You also won't save much space, 'df' and 'du -sk /usr' tells that most of the meat is in /usr anyway so full clone is not that much bigger. And it really simplifies things a lot to keep system on card and internal flash separated. Frantisek ___ maemo-developers mailing list maemo-developers@maemo.org https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-developers
Location of /home, /tmp and /var folder kills tablet device in a couple of months
Hello, The /home, /tmp and /var folders are stored on the small internal 256 MB flash device. This is a problem, because writing to a flash device very often kills the device. The main problem here are for example the Browser Cache and E-mail directory in /home and other data that is stored in /tmp or /var. This data all result in many write accesses to the internal flash device and in the long term this will have the result that the Tablet can't store new data on the internal flash device which makes the tablet useless. The bad thing about this is, that you can't replace this internal 268 MB flash device by a new one. So, i suggest to move the /var, /tmp and /home folders (and any other folder with very variable data) to the flash SD memorycards because they can be replaced anytime by new ones when they get unfunctional someday. (for the N810 only the flash card in the external slot can be replaced) So the /etc/fstab needs to be changed and filesystem on the external SD card needs also to be changed from vfat to something more suitable for a linux os. So something like JFFS2 or ext2/3. An experienced user might be able to do these changes on its own but unskilled tablet users won't be able to do this. So this change should be made primarly by the maemo project itself. That's why i suggest this change here on the mailinglist. What's your opionion about this topic, changing the /home /tmp and /var folder location to a location on a SD flash memorycard that can be replaced? Some people, especially N810 user might want to use their only external SD slot for exchanging data between a camera instead of using it for the system /home and /var folders. So this might be a small price loosing this feature but you win by a tablet device with a lot longer lifetime. Hint: Here does also a small solution exist for those people. It should be possible to put the USB port of the N810 device in host mode, so that those people can connect a SD flash memory reader USB stick to the N810 device. Regards, Oliver -- GMX Kostenlose Spiele: Einfach online spielen und Spaß haben mit Pastry Passion! http://games.entertainment.gmx.net/de/entertainment/games/free/puzzle/6169196 ___ maemo-developers mailing list maemo-developers@maemo.org https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-developers
Re: Location of /home, /tmp and /var folder kills tablet device in a couple of months
Oliver wrote: The main problem here are for example the Browser Cache and E-mail directory in /home and other data that is stored in /tmp or /var. This data all result in many write accesses to the internal flash device and in the long term this will have the result that the Tablet can't store new data on the internal flash device which makes the tablet useless. See some explanation in http://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=598#c9 If you are concerned about this you can also boot whole system from SD/MMC card - http://wiki.maemo.org/Booting_from_a_flash_card Frantisek ___ maemo-developers mailing list maemo-developers@maemo.org https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-developers
Re: Location of /home, /tmp and /var folder kills tablet device in a couple of months
Hi, ext Oliver wrote: The /home, /tmp and /var folders are stored on the small internal 256 MB flash device. This is a problem, because writing to a flash device very often kills the device. If you run the mount command, you'll notice that frequently used /tmp and /var/run directories are actually in tmpfs i.e. in RAM (which size is limited to 1/2MB, anything needing more space should use $TMPDIR i.e. /var/tmp). So, i suggest to move the /var, /tmp and /home folders (and any other folder with very variable data) to the flash SD memorycards because they can be replaced anytime by new ones when they get unfunctional someday. Having directories required in device bootup on a media that user can remove (and which isn't inserted in the device when user gets it out of the package) is not really a good idea for a consumer device. So the /etc/fstab needs to be changed and filesystem on the external SD card needs also to be changed from vfat to something more suitable for a linux os. So something like JFFS2 or ext2/3. JFFS2 is for raw flash, not memory cards. Ext2/3 aren't recognized by Windows or Mac so most(?) users wouldn't be able to copy their media files on them. The cards are formatted as FAT when people buy them. An experienced user might be able to do these changes on its own but unskilled tablet users won't be able to do this. - Eero ___ maemo-developers mailing list maemo-developers@maemo.org https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-developers
Re: Location of /home, /tmp and /var folder kills tablet device in a couple of months
Frantisek wrote See some explanation in http://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=598#c9 If you are concerned about this you can also boot whole system from SD/MMC card - http://wiki.maemo.org/Booting_from_a_flash_card Thank's for your answer. This clarifies a lot. Being able to use the device for about over 30 years is sufficient for me. But still i would like to know if it is save to move those directories to my external SD flash drive. I won't remove the SD drive on a daily basis, but i want to know when the system is mounting the SD flash drive because want be sure, that the device mounts the SD flash drive before accessing the files on these directories. So when does the system mount the device or when does it have access to it? This interests me also, because i want to move the /usr directory to the 2 GB internal flash drive because i need more space than 256 MB for user space programms. For example i want install a compiler + dev and documentation files on the device, that's why i will need the 2 GB for the software. So it is save to move those directories and changing the /etc/fstab entry or could this result in a problem booting the device? If the latter is the case, is there a way to rescue the system? Regards, Oliver -- GMX Kostenlose Spiele: Einfach online spielen und Spaß haben mit Pastry Passion! http://games.entertainment.gmx.net/de/entertainment/games/free/puzzle/6169196 ___ maemo-developers mailing list maemo-developers@maemo.org https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-developers
Re: Location of /home, /tmp and /var folder kills tablet device in a couple of months
Oliver wrote: Frantisek wrote See some explanation in http://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=598#c9 If you are concerned about this you can also boot whole system from SD/MMC card - http://wiki.maemo.org/Booting_from_a_flash_card Thank's for your answer. This clarifies a lot. Being able to use the device for about over 30 years is sufficient for me. But still i would like to know if it is save to move those directories to my external SD flash drive. I won't remove the SD drive on a daily basis, but i want to know when the system is mounting the SD flash drive because want be sure, that the device mounts the SD flash drive before accessing the files on these directories. So when does the system mount the device or when does it have access to it? This interests me also, because i want to move the /usr directory to the 2 GB internal flash drive because i need more space than 256 MB for user space programms. For example i want install a compiler + dev and documentation files on the device, that's why i will need the 2 GB for the software. So it is save to move those directories and changing the /etc/fstab entry or could this result in a problem booting the device? If the latter is the case, is there a way to rescue the system? I think you're much better off by leaving the internal flash alone and just booting straight from SD card. That would give you the space that you need while allowing the device to boot without the card if needed. This also simplfies upgrading or reflashing. Reflash the root, install the SD boot option and mirror the internal flash to the SD card as needed. I have chinook and diablo on my SD card, so I have three boot options for testing and development. Booting straight from SD card is less complex and gives you a better rescue-style option. Jason ___ maemo-developers mailing list maemo-developers@maemo.org https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-developers
