making Linux use a swap partition

Nooooobie · 10-07-2001, 05:47 PM

I just installed Peanut-Linux 8.4 on my other computer, and I need to make it start using the swap partition. I already created the swap partition with mkswap, but the system doesn't use it yet. What files do I edit, and what commands do I use?

DMR · 10-07-2001, 06:40 PM

Make sure your fstab file has a line which indicates where swap should be mounted at boot. I'm not familiar with Peanut Linux, but in most distros the fstab file lives in /etc. There should be a line similar to:

Code:

/dev/hdx swap swap defaults 0 0

where the "x" is the number of the partition you designated as swap.

Nooooobie · 10-07-2001, 07:57 PM

Ok, I did that, and rebooted, but 'df' is still only showing one partition. Should 'df' show the swap if it's mounted? What else should I try?

trickykid · 10-07-2001, 07:58 PM

after you create the swap partition... you can use the swapon to start using it...
check out this site for more details http://linux.com/develop/man/8/mkswap or type man mkswap

Nooooobie · 10-07-2001, 08:43 PM

If I type 'swapon' it just shows usage. If I type 'swapon -a', I get:

swapon: /dev/hda2: Device or resource busy

...but 'df' still doesn't show my swap. In '/etc/fstab' I tried each of these lines:

/dev/hda2 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/hda2 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hda2 swap swap sw 0 0

...the swapon man page says 'swapon -a' makes all devices labeled 'sw' in '/etc/fstab' available.

DMR · 10-08-2001, 01:06 AM

Swap usage isn't reported by df. To identify which partition is allocated as swap (and what % of that partition is actually being utilized), use "swapon -s".

Regarding "swapon -a", note that the man page states that "devices that are already running as swap are silently skipped", meaning that they shouldn't be displayed in the output. I'm not sure why you got the "device or resource busy message" when you did "swapon -a" though.

Nooooobie · 10-08-2001, 11:53 AM

Sorry, I was confused. 'swapon -s' shows my swap partition, but it also shows a swap file (/mnt/swap/swap.img). I saw the file in /etc/fstab, but it's commented out. It's wasting 32MB of disk space, and I want to get rid of it. How is it still activated at bootup? How can I disable it?

Nooooobie · 10-08-2001, 12:23 PM

Nevermind... I found it in '/etc/rc.d/rc.local'. Thanks for the help. You guys are awesome!