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Old 04-25-2016, 01:31 PM   #1
Bob Fletcher
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Question on upgrade to SSD


A few years ago I purchased a OCZ Petrol SSD, after a short time two things happened. My drive failed and so did OCZ and that side of the business was taken over by Toshiba as a result no warranty of those early drives. I am therefore treading cautiously.
I am currently running Arch Linux on a Samsung HD103SJ SATA II 32MB cache 8.9 average seek. With this in mind I would like faster R/W performance. I was thinking of a hybrid but from what I have read they still do dot come close to a SSD but better than HDD. I don’t need a TB of space. Currently I am occuping 109.7 GB so if I get a 250 GB SSD that will leave me with 140.4GB less with formatting.
Primarily I want reliability and I realise things have somewhat improved. Then there are the brands; Intel, Crucial, Kingston etc.
I would welcome some discussion based on members experience.

Robert...
 
Old 04-25-2016, 01:47 PM   #2
beachboy2
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Bob,

I have done a short blog here:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d-drive-36892/

There are various links on there which may help you.

The Samsung HD103SJ is a fantastic hard drive. Most of my HDDs are HD103SJs.
 
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Old 04-25-2016, 01:50 PM   #3
business_kid
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Went to SSD on this and never looked back. First 50G, then 250G. No failures. I mount with 'noatime, diratime, discard' and did a few other things ( all online). Those options might have been improved upon.
 
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Old 04-25-2016, 02:18 PM   #4
jefro
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I'm a big fan of Intel products usually. You pay more for them too.

A cautious plan still may be to have boot drive ssd and data being mechanical.
 
Old 04-25-2016, 02:23 PM   #5
beachboy2
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Quote:
A cautious plan still may be to have boot drive ssd and data being mechanical.
Agreed.
 
Old 04-25-2016, 02:36 PM   #6
offgridguy
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+1 for SSD. The cost may be a bit more, but worth it, imo.
 
Old 04-25-2016, 04:26 PM   #7
Bob Fletcher
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beachboy2 View Post
Bob,

I have done a short blog here:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d-drive-36892/

There are various links on there which may help you.

The Samsung HD103SJ is a fantastic hard drive. Most of my HDDs are HD103SJs.
Thank you beachboy2 and every one who has responded to me. For reliability I can check that off.
In the back of my mind I was thinking about using the HDD as the /home directory. Slightly different to what you have done but basically the same.
The smallest branded drives I can find is a Samsung 850 EVO 120 GB, Ł54.87 the 250 GB version Ł70.99 which is just in my budget.
If I go down the one drive path cloning or reinstall? Is there indeed a Linux clone tool? I used Arch Anywhere to install and it is so simple reinstalling won’t be a problem
More ideas greatly appreciated.

Robert….
 
Old 04-25-2016, 05:04 PM   #8
Emerson
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For a desktop with plenty of space for hard drives a small SSD for OS is all you need, everything else can be on spinning rust. I have / on SSD, takes about 3-4 GiB, /home is on WD black. All apps load fast, they reside on SSD.
 
Old 04-26-2016, 04:34 AM   #9
beachboy2
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Robert,

I am just talking generally now, forgetting SSDs for the minute.

Whenever I change my Linux OS, say from Ubuntu 14.04 to 16.04, I NEVER do an in-situ upgrade, or use any automated system.
I always backup my data to an external drive and then do a fresh installation. (In any event my data is always backed up to a second internal HDD).
Some may consider this overkill, but it did save my bacon once when I accidentally selected the wrong drive using DBAN.

So basically, my advice is to backup your personal data the old-fashioned way. It may take a while longer, but it will work. Then do a fresh install of Arch or whatever on the SSD.

By the way, you will need one of these adapters. This one actually takes two SSDs, is well made, cheap and all the holes line up correctly:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As I mentioned in my blog, you only really need a relatively small SSD, 60GB to 120GB, so why pay more?

Now I have a confession to make. I am sure ardvark71 will offer me his forgiveness. If not, I guess I will be going to that place he keeps warning us all about!

Before purchasing my own Samsung 120GB 850 Pro, I installed a cheap OCZ 60GB SSD plus conventional HDD for a friend.

I was so impressed by the *improved speed of the SSD that I did loads of research before buying the above model.

*kilgoretrout did point out in post #8 precisely why this is so:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...sd-4175571647/

My friend's Linux Mint installation is running perfectly.

My Samsung 850 Pro (10 year warranty) lasted all of EIGHT days I am very sad to report! It just went “phutt” to use a technical term and the screen went black.

Obviously this can happen with any SSD, but, needless to say, I was considerably less than happy.
My money was promptly refunded by Amazon and in the meantime I am going to stick with my stock of Samsung HD103SJs.

Confession over!

Please don't let this put you off buying a SSD.
If you look at the approximate failure rates based on feedback to Amazon and Newegg, the better ones run at about 3%, rising to around 10%.

I have double-checked the correct quote from Dirty Harry, so you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?

(No offence intended).

Last edited by beachboy2; 04-26-2016 at 04:37 AM.
 
Old 04-26-2016, 08:23 AM   #10
onebuck
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Member response

Hi,

I have been running my main laptop with a 'SSD' for well over three and half years and no problems when configured properly. Stable, cooler and very quick. My Slackware boots in seconds vs minute with a rust hdd. Sure one needs to get the system configured with a little effort and maintain backups 'just in case'.

I do use a 'HDD' to store backups and related information.

My '/etc/fstab';
Code:
# cat /etc/fstab
/dev/sda2        swap             swap        defaults         0   0
/dev/sda5        /                ext4        defaults,noatime,discard         1   1
/dev/sda6        /home            ext4        defaults,noatime,discard         1   2
/dev/sda7        /usr             ext4        defaults,noatime,discard         1   2
/dev/sda8        /var             ext4        defaults,noatime,discard         1   2
/dev/sda9        /tmp             ext4        defaults,noatime,discard         1   2
#/dev/sdb2        /mnt/win7        ntfs-3g     fmask=111,dmask=000 1   0
/dev/sdb1        /mnt/win7        ntfs-3g     fmask=111,dmask=000 1   0

#/dev/cdrom      /mnt/cdrom       auto        noauto,owner,ro,comment=x-gvfs-show 0   0
/dev/fd0         /mnt/floppy      auto        noauto,owner     0   0
devpts           /dev/pts         devpts      gid=5,mode=620   0   0
proc             /proc            proc        defaults         0   0
tmpfs            /dev/shm         tmpfs       defaults         0   0
My /etc/rc.d/rc.local;
Code:
# cat /etc/rc.d/rc.local
#!/bin/sh
#
# /etc/rc.d/rc.local:  Local system initialization script.
#
# Put any local startup commands in here.  Also, if you have
# anything that needs to be run at shutdown time you can
# make an /etc/rc.d/rc.local_shutdown script and put those
# commands in there.
# anything that needs to be run at shutdown time you can
# make an /etc/rc.d/rc.local_shutdown script and put those
# commands in there.
#
#09-25-12 gws 20:07
#
#08-20-12 gws 14:38
#set minimum swappiness
#
echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

#08-20-12 gws
#sets scheduler for SSD to 'noop'
#SSD=(device ID's of all 'SSD': see note below)
#Note Information revised from ArchWiki;

#This provides the links listed with targets information to place in bash array
#'SSD= ( ) parentheses in below 'SSD= ( );

#ls -l /dev/disk/by-id
#lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Aug 19 11:27 ata-OCZ-AGILITY3_OCZ-C93VFN4X0532CVMP -> ../../sda

#SSD=(ata-Crucial_CT256MX100SSD1_14270C86314F)
# anything that needs to be run at shutdown time you can
# make an /etc/rc.d/rc.local_shutdown script and put those
# commands in there.
#
#09-25-12 gws 20:07
#
#08-20-12 gws 14:38
#set minimum swappiness
#
#echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

#08-20-12 gws
#sets scheduler for SSD to 'noop'
#SSD=(device ID's of all 'SSD': see note below)
#Note Information revised from ArchWiki;

#This provides the links listed with targets information to place in bash array
#'SSD= ( ) parentheses in below 'SSD= ( );

#ls -l /dev/disk/by-id
#lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Aug 19 11:27 ata-OCZ-AGILITY3_OCZ-C93VFN4X0532CVMP -> ../../sda

#Wed Nov 19 13:43:36 CST 2014 GWS change to new drive 
# ata-Crucial_CT256MX100SSD1_14270C86314F

SSD=(ata-Crucial_CT256MX100SSD1_14270C86314F)

declare -i i=0
while [ "${SSD[$i]}" != "" ]; do
  NODE=`ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/${SSD[$i]} | awk '{ print $NF }' | sed -e 's/[/\.]//g'`
  echo noop > /sys/block/$NODE/queue/scheduler
  i=i+1
done

#08-20-12 gws 14:45
#get some additional gain by setting up a write-back cache
hdparm -W1 /dev/sda   #where x= a,b,c,d...

#
#Need to do a bumblebeed install
#11-19-14 gws 14:03

#09-20-12:16:14 gws bumblebee
#if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.bumblebeed ]; then
#     /etc/rc.d/rc.bumblebeed start
#fi


declare -i i=0
while [ "${SSD[$i]}" != "" ]; do
  NODE=`ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/${SSD[$i]} | awk '{ print $NF }' | sed -e 's/[/\.]//g'`
  echo noop > /sys/block/$NODE/queue/scheduler
  i=i+1
done

#08-20-12 gws 14:45
#get some additional gain by setting up a write-back cache
hdparm -W1 /dev/sda   #where x= a,b,c,d...

#
#09-20-12:16:14 gws bumblebee
if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.bumblebeed ]; then
     /etc/rc.d/rc.bumblebeed start
fi
You can do a LQ Search to find additional 'SSD' setup information.

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

Last edited by onebuck; 04-27-2016 at 08:24 AM. Reason: typo
 
Old 04-26-2016, 08:32 AM   #11
Emerson
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Why not use sysctl.conf to set swappiness?
 
Old 04-26-2016, 10:59 AM   #12
keefaz
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@onebuck, surelly a copy and paste issue but there are duplicated commands on your posted rc.local
 
Old 04-27-2016, 08:23 AM   #13
onebuck
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Member response

Hi,
Quote:
Originally Posted by keefaz View Post
@onebuck, surelly a copy and paste issue but there are duplicated commands on your posted rc.local
Please notice that the # sign comments out some of the so called duplicates. Just a means to move commands within the '/etc/rc.d/rc.local' file. Sorry for any confusion. Duplicate swappiness setting so I commented that out.


EDIT: I forgot about going back and cleaning up the edits for comments. No harm since comments are ignored.

Last edited by onebuck; 04-27-2016 at 08:29 AM. Reason: comment edits
 
Old 04-27-2016, 09:02 AM   #14
onebuck
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Member response

Hi,
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emerson View Post
Why not use sysctl.conf to set swappiness?
Slackware does not have a '/etc/sysctl.conf' file by default but a commented content file with examples in '/etc/sysctl.conf'. If you create a '/etc/sysctl.conf' file with parameters then Slackware will automatically run '/sbin/sysctl -e -p /etc/sysctl.conf' at boot time.

If you want to use 'sysctl' then I refer you to the man pages and to look at the sample '/etc/sysctl.conf' file.

Quote:
From 'man sysctl.conf';
sysctl.conf - sysctl(8) preload/configuration file

DESCRIPTION
sysctl.conf is a simple file containing sysctl values to be read in and set by sysctl(8). The syntax is simply as follows:

# comment
; comment

token = value

Note that blank lines are ignored, and whitespace before and after a token or value is ignored, although a value can contain whitespace
within. Lines which begin with a # or ; are considered comments and ignored.

EXAMPLE
# sysctl.conf sample
#

kernel.domainname = example.com
; this one has a space which will be written to the sysctl!
kernel.modprobe = /sbin/mod probe

SEE ALSO
sysctl(8)
Quote:
From 'man sysctl';
sysctl - configure kernel parameters at runtime

SYNOPSIS
sysctl [-n] [-e] variable ...
sysctl [-n] [-e] [-q] -w variable=value ...
sysctl [-n] [-e] [-q] -p <filename>
sysctl [-n] [-e] -a
sysctl [-n] [-e] -A

DESCRIPTION
sysctl is used to modify kernel parameters at runtime. The parameters available are those listed under /proc/sys/. Procfs is required for
sysctl(8) support in Linux. You can use sysctl(8) to both read and write sysctl data.

PARAMETERS
variable
The name of a key to read from. An example is kernel.ostype. The '/' separator is also accepted in place of a '.'.

variable=value
To set a key, use the form variable=value, where variable is the key and value is the value to set it to. If the value contains
quotes or characters which are parsed by the shell, you may need to enclose the value in double quotes. This requires the -w param-
eter to use.

-n Use this option to disable printing of the key name when printing values.

-e Use this option to ignore errors about unknown keys.

-N Use this option to only print the names. It may be useful with shells that have programmable completion.

-q Use this option to not display the values set to stdout.

-w Use this option when you want to change a sysctl setting.

-p Load in sysctl settings from the file specified or /etc/sysctl.conf if none given. Specifying - as filename means reading data from
standard input.

-a Display all values currently available.

-A Display all values currently available in table form.

EXAMPLES
/sbin/sysctl -a

/sbin/sysctl -n kernel.hostname

/sbin/sysctl -w kernel.domainname="example.com"

/sbin/sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.conf

FILES
/proc/sys /etc/sysctl.conf

SEE ALSO
sysctl.conf(5)

BUGS
The -A parameter behaves just as -a does.

AUTHOR
George Staikos, <staikos@0wned.org>
Personally, I prefer direct control via the cli or '/etc/rc.d/rc.local' control on boot. Just my way of doing things.

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

Last edited by onebuck; 04-27-2016 at 09:07 AM. Reason: clarification for '/etc/sysctl.conf'
 
Old 04-29-2016, 02:54 AM   #15
beachboy2
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Following up on the account of my Samsung 850 Pro SSD (10 year warranty) which failed after EIGHT days, I have just received an email from Amazon offering me the earlier model, the Samsung 840 EVO Basic SSD:

Customers who have shown an interest in "Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5 inch..." might also like to know about these products.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/sim/B00E3W15P0/2/

I took the precaution of looking at the one star feedback and amongst many others discovered these two links:

http://yktoo.com/en/blog/post/255

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage...-Finally-Fixed
Quote:
Samsung revised the firmware algorithm to maintain consistency in performance for old data under exceptional circumstances. Therefore, read performance was restored without the need for Magician. This algorithm is based on a periodic refresh feature that can maintain the read performance of this older data." So this should work without the need of Window$, what do you think? Then you wouldn't need to use that program rewrite-inplace. Apparently the new firmware version breaks TRIM in Linux, but you said you are using Ubuntu 15.10, that ships kernel 4.20, where Samsung affected SSD models are blacklisted for TRIM, but I don't understand to what extent or what this means exactly.
Admittedly this refers to a firmware problem in the 840s which has apparently been fixed in the more recent 850s, but in any event I think I will decline Amazon's offer.

Why is this older 840 on the market anyway? Did Samsung have a stock of 840s left over and then relabel them as 840 EVO Basic? Puzzling.
 
  


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