[SOLVED] Swap memory used before Ram depleted

Michael Piziak · 06-12-2018, 06:33 PM

Using "System Monitor" in Ubuntu, I see where I have 4 gigs of ram but when about 85% of it is used, the computer starts using Swap ram (the hard drive I suppose).

I just wonder why it doesn't wait until it has used 100% of the 4 gigs before it starts swapping ram and making my hard drive work harder.

I ordered another 4 gigs ram from "Crucial.com." Will more ram keep it from using the swap ram?

Michael

jefro · 06-12-2018, 06:53 PM

Not usually.
Just not the way swap and kernel and some programs work exactly.
One might set some settings to adjust that value or remove swap. See swappiness maybe for adjust.

Using some swap isn't a real bad thing in many cases. Filling it could be an issue. Not even a rule of thumb anymore for amount. Generally distro's install some default amount.

syg00 · 06-12-2018, 07:08 PM

It rarely (never) pays to completely fill anything up. Making room when all the queues are 100% is expensive - better to keep some leeway. Heuristics track allocation to try to keep some semblance of balance. swappiness is about all you can control unless you want to get into the memory management knobs. Not recommended as the knock-on effects can be disastrous.

Michael Piziak · 06-12-2018, 08:16 PM

Thank everyone for your prompt replies.

Last question here: Will the extra 4 gigs of memory I ordered cut down on the % of swappiness?

Michael

Shadow_7 · 06-12-2018, 11:54 PM

$ cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

This is a preference (default is 60 for most distros), where 0 is to NOT use swap (even if it exists). I tend to adjust that to 20-ish when swap / disk I/O gets in the way. Otherwise it's mostly moot if I'm not doing intensive things.

# echo 20 > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

pan64 · 06-13-2018, 07:21 AM

probably www.linuxatemyram.com will help you to understand it.

jefro · 06-13-2018, 03:54 PM

Someone here may know if installing ram after install affects any metric used in swap.

Verify the value set before and after ram install to test your distro.

Ram is never bad and 4G isn't much to add in the real world but it doubles what you have.

Michael Piziak · 06-18-2018, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro

Someone here may know if installing ram after install affects any metric used in swap.

Verify the value set before and after ram install to test your distro.

Ram is never bad and 4G isn't much to add in the real world but it doubles what you have.

I installed the extra 4 gigs of ram and now it doesn't swap any.

My hard drive doesn't run nearly as much now.

I dunno why, but my computer has a "loud" hard drive.

jefro · 06-18-2018, 01:44 PM

Did the swappiness value change?

Michael Piziak · 06-18-2018, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro

Did the swappiness value change?

Only thing I use is "System Monitor" (in Ubuntu) and the Swappiness is graphically 0 now that I have 8 gigs ram.

jefro · 06-18-2018, 03:31 PM

We might have a definition issue. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1039...wappiness?rq=1

Michael Piziak · 06-18-2018, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro

We might have a definition issue. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1039...wappiness?rq=1

How so?

I'm talking about the swap to HD virtual memory when most of the ram is used.

jefro · 06-18-2018, 06:51 PM

Swappiness is a way to set/adjust the way swap might be used rather than a function of swap amount.

Michael Piziak · 06-18-2018, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro

Swappiness is a way to set/adjust the way swap might be used rather than a function of swap amount.

I suppose I was talking about swap amount.

Regardless, adding RAM caused swap to go to 0.

jefro · 06-18-2018, 08:02 PM

Thanks for the update and solution.

There is really no substitute for ram and the more the better.....