On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 9:19 PM ValdikSS <iam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > On 13.12.2021 11:38, Barry Song wrote: > > On Tue, Dec 7, 2021 at 5:47 AM ValdikSS <iam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> > >> This patchset is surprisingly effective and very useful for low-end PC > >> with slow HDD, single-board ARM boards with slow storage, cheap Android > >> smartphones with limited amount of memory. It almost completely prevents > >> thrashing condition and aids in fast OOM killer invocation. > >> > > > > Can you please post your hardware information like what is the cpu, how much > > memory you have and also post your sysctl knobs, like how do you set > > vm.anon_min_kbytes, vm.clean_low_kbytes and vm.clean_min_kbytes? > > I have a typical office computer of year 2007: > > * Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2L (early LGA775 socket, GMA950 > integrated graphics, September 2007) > * 2 core 64 bit CPU: Intel® Core™2 Duo E4600 (2 cores, 2.4 GHz, late 2007) > * 2 GB of RAM (DDR2 667 MHz, single module) > * Very old and slow 160 GB Hard Disk: Samsung HD161HJ (SATA II, June 2007): > * No discrete graphics card > > I used vm.clean_low_kbytes=384000 (384 MB) to keep most of file cache in > memory, because the HDD is slow and every data re-read leads to > uncomfortable freezes and slow work. > > More information, including the video, is here: > https://notes.valdikss.org.ru/linux-for-old-pc-from-2007/en/ thanks! > > > > >> The similar file-locking patch is used in ChromeOS for nearly 10 years > >> but not on stock Linux or Android. It would be very beneficial for > >> lower-performance Android phones, SBCs, old PCs and other devices. > >> > > > > Can you post the link of the similar file-locking patch? > > Here's a patch: https://lkml.org/lkml/2010/10/28/289 > Here's more in-depth description: https://lkml.org/lkml/2010/11/1/20 thanks, seems to be quite similar with this patch. > > Please also note that another Google developer, Yu Zhao, has also made a > modern version of this (ChromiumOS) patch called MGLRU, the goal of > which is quite similar to le9 (the patch we're discussing here), but > with "more brains": > https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20220104202247.2903702-1-yuzhao@xxxxxxxxxx/T/#m8fd2a29bc557d27d1000f837f65b6c930eef9dff > > Please take a moment and read the information in the link above. Yu Zhao > develops this patch for almost two years and knows the issue better than > me, a casual user. > Thanks for all the information you provided. I think I have noticed MGLRU for a while. Curiously, does MGLRU also resolve your problem of using "a typical office computer of year 2007" ? > > > > >> With this patch, combined with zram, I'm able to run the following > >> software on an old office PC from 2007 with __only 2GB of RAM__ > >> simultaneously: > >> > >> * Firefox with 37 active tabs (all data in RAM, no tab unloading) > >> * Discord > >> * Skype > >> * LibreOffice with the document opened > >> * Two PDF files (14 and 47 megabytes in size) > >> > >> And the PC doesn't crawl like a snail, even with 2+ GB in zram! > >> Without the patch, this PC is barely usable. > >> Please watch the video: > >> https://notes.valdikss.org.ru/linux-for-old-pc-from-2007/en/ > >> > > > > The video was captured before using this patch? what video says > > "the result of the test computer after the configuration", what does > > "the configuration" mean? > > The video was captured after the patch. Before the patch, it's basically > not possible to use Firefox only with 20+ tabs because the PC enters > thrashing condition and reacts so slow that even mouse cursor freezes > frequently. The PC is absolutely unusable for any decent work without > the patch, regardless of swappiness, vm.min_free_kbytes or any other > tunables. > > The configuration is this patch with vm.clean_low_kbytes=384000 and 150% > zram. More information is provided on the website. thanks! > > > > > Thanks > > Barry Thanks Barry