Re: [newbie] memory buffering and disk defragmenter
> packages except games at the package selection prompt. At the video > settings I choose the normal 16 color with 600 * 800 without 3D > acceleration. If you have the resources (i.e., a modern video card with sufficient (>2 meg) video memory, you really should pick a higher resolution. X (and therefore kde) doesn't run well and looks particularly ugly with only 16 colors to choose from. KDE is fairly color-intense, which means that there simply won't be enough colors for all the stuff. (X allocates colors differently than what you might be used to - if say one app takes a particular shade of blue, that color is no longer available to any other app that you may want to run at the same time. > tell how much memory I have. It usually takes about 30mb for buffer and > leaves about 2 ~ 3 mb free. Free memory is wasted memory, and you'll find that if you open other apps, then some of the free memory (and some buffers) will be taken over by the other app. That there is ca. 30 megs in buffers when you boot into KDE is likely because the kernel's noticed all the disk activity inherent in loading up KDE up to the point where you can go to a konsole and type 'free'. > Would it take less memory if I try to disable some of the startup > services? Yes. KDE does take a lot of memory resources. You need at least 64megs to run it well, and 128 megs is desireable. > Eric David E. Fox Thanks for letting me [EMAIL PROTECTED]change magnetic patterns [EMAIL PROTECTED] on your hard disk. --- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] memory buffering and disk defragmenter
I am not sure where I did wrong... I usually use customized install option choosing developement settings. I let it install with most of the packages except games at the package selection prompt. At the video settings I choose the normal 16 color with 600 * 800 without 3D acceleration. I changed the file system and operating system option in the bios from windows 2000/Me to Others. And I have windowsMe on the first partition and ext on the second. I didn't put /boot so installed bootloader in MBR. I have two IDE one for CDROM and one for my Hardisk, and 128 - 2 mb ram (2 usually for the video card). I use the KDE -> Information -> Memory to tell how much memory I have. It usually takes about 30mb for buffer and leaves about 2 ~ 3 mb free. Would it take less memory if I try to disable some of the startup services? Thanks Eric On Sun, 16 Sep 2001, civileme wrote: > On Sunday 16 September 2001 04:59, Dave Sherman wrote: > > On Sat, 2001-09-15 at 21:41, Lin wrote: > > > hi, ever since I upgraded to Mandrake 7.2 I noticed the increase use of > > > buffering under KDE, but when I do open a new program such as netscape I > > > eventually ran out of memory and need to use disk swap - which the buffer > > > really doesn't help... could anyone help me on how to disable the memory > > > buffering under KDE? > > > > > How do you believe this is happening? Thiis seems more an interpretation of > data than the data itself. What steps did you take to notice this? If it is > a memory leak as you tend to describe here, it would be either a bad bug or s > seriously corrupted install. > > But linux uses memory and disk differently, so it may be only an > interpretation. Still, I did notice what appeared to be a memory leak which > was really a bad install not long ago. The computer involved had a WD and a > Maxtor on the same chanel and they were killing each other's data with timing > chatter. Separating the disks to different channels and reinstalling cured > the problem which had heretofore persisted through two reinstalls. > > Civileme > > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
RE: [newbie] memory buffering and disk defragmenter
You don't want to switch buffering off - the kernel will release the buffers as programs request memory. Linux also doesn't really need to use a defragmentation program either. If you do inisist on running it, read the man page VERY carefully and make sure the drive you are defragging is not mounted anywhere. Steve Flynn NOP Data Migration Ops Analyst * 01603 687386 -Original Message- From: Lin [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2001 2:42 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject:[newbie] memory buffering and disk defragmenter hi, ever since I upgraded to Mandrake 7.2 I noticed the increase use of buffering under KDE, but when I do open a new program such as netscape I eventually ran out of memory and need to use disk swap - which the buffer really doesn't help... could anyone help me on how to disable the memory buffering under KDE? My other question is that I tend to use disk defragmenter under windows, but after I switch over I realize I couldn't find anything like it under KDE... could anyone also help me how to run defragmenter with Mandrake? Thanks Eric << File: message.footer >> ** This email and any files sent with it are intended only for the named recipient. If you are not the named recipient please telephone/email the sender immediately. You should not disclose the content or take/retain/distribute any copies. ** Norwich Union Life & Pensions Limited Registered Office 2 Rougier Street York YO90 1UU Registered in England Number 3253947 A member of the Norwich Union Marketing Group which is regulated by the Personal Investment Authority. Member of the Association of British Insurers. For further Enquires 01603 622200 Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] memory buffering and disk defragmenter
On Sunday 16 September 2001 04:59, Dave Sherman wrote: > On Sat, 2001-09-15 at 21:41, Lin wrote: > > hi, ever since I upgraded to Mandrake 7.2 I noticed the increase use of > > buffering under KDE, but when I do open a new program such as netscape I > > eventually ran out of memory and need to use disk swap - which the buffer > > really doesn't help... could anyone help me on how to disable the memory > > buffering under KDE? > How do you believe this is happening? Thiis seems more an interpretation of data than the data itself. What steps did you take to notice this? If it is a memory leak as you tend to describe here, it would be either a bad bug or s seriously corrupted install. But linux uses memory and disk differently, so it may be only an interpretation. Still, I did notice what appeared to be a memory leak which was really a bad install not long ago. The computer involved had a WD and a Maxtor on the same chanel and they were killing each other's data with timing chatter. Separating the disks to different channels and reinstalling cured the problem which had heretofore persisted through two reinstalls. Civileme Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] memory buffering and disk defragmenter
> buffering under KDE, but when I do open a new program such as netscape I > eventually ran out of memory and need to use disk swap - which the buffer > really doesn't help... could anyone help me on how to disable the memory > buffering under KDE? There's no way to disable the buffering without rewriting the kernel, as it is a Linux function and has little to do with KDE. And I don't think you'd really want to. The buffers are just another memory resource, and linux will decrease the size of those buffers, turning the memory over to other processes as memory is requested -- as long as those applications aren't using the disk a lot for file reads/writes. Linux will try to balance the need for the buffers as disk usage (but non-swap disk usage) goes up and down. For instance, do a 'free' early in the morning after the nightly 'locate' jub runs, and you will likely see that your buffer usage according to 'free' is greater than 'normal'. And that's because the locate process does hit the disks pretty hard. But wait a while, or launch Netscape, and you will probably se that value go down. > > My other question is that I tend to use disk defragmenter under windows, > but after I switch over I realize I couldn't find anything like it under > KDE... could anyone also help me how to run defragmenter with Mandrake? Disk defragmentation is just not needed in Linux. > Eric David E. Fox Thanks for letting me [EMAIL PROTECTED]change magnetic patterns [EMAIL PROTECTED] on your hard disk. --- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] memory buffering and disk defragmenter
On Sat, 2001-09-15 at 21:41, Lin wrote: > > hi, ever since I upgraded to Mandrake 7.2 I noticed the increase use of > buffering under KDE, but when I do open a new program such as netscape I > eventually ran out of memory and need to use disk swap - which the buffer > really doesn't help... could anyone help me on how to disable the memory > buffering under KDE? Hmm... Don't know much about this. > My other question is that I tend to use disk defragmenter under windows, > but after I switch over I realize I couldn't find anything like it under > KDE... could anyone also help me how to run defragmenter with Mandrake? Linux uses a different filesystem than DOS/Win, called Ext2. This filesystem does not require "defragmenting", because Linux maintains it real-time. You may occasionally need to run the filesystem checker (fsck), but you will be prompted to do so -- don't worry about running manually. Fsck is something like scandisk. Dave PGP signature
