P <xflys@carolina.net> writes:
> On Friday 30 August 2002 07:42 pm, Timothy Writer wrote:
> > Matt Fahrner <Matt.Fahrner@coat.com> writes:
> > > Does anyone know why a Linux box that is low on memory would choose to
> > > not use swap? We have a couple of RedHat linux boxes that seem to choose
> > > to run out of memory before they'll use swap. They aren't even using the
> > > same kernel.
> > >
> > >
> > > As an example, one of the boxes is RedHat 7.1 running a stock
> > > "2.4.9-21smp" kernel. It's swap partition is:
> > >
> > >
> > > Filename Type Size Used Priority
> > > /dev/sda10 partition 1036152 4 -1
> >
> > According to "man swapon", priority is a value between 0 and 32767. I
> > suspect -1 means the swap area isn't being used. Did you mkswap(8) on it?
>
> It's interesting that I have the same observation on rh 7.3 ... whenever I've
> observed my swap activity, it's always zero.
Here's a RH 7.3 system with three swap areas:
Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/hda2 partition 1048816 0 10
/dev/hdc2 partition 1048816 0 10
/dev/sda2 partition 1052216 65036 20
And in /etc/fstab, I have:
/dev/hda2 swap swap pri=10 0 0
/dev/hdc2 swap swap pri=10 0 0
/dev/sda2 swap swap pri=20 0 0
> But, your question about executing "mkswap" implies that the user is
> supposed to do this ... I don't understand that, since the swap is set up
> during installation, and supposedly the boot script enables it every time
> you start.
Right. The installation _should_ run mkswap on any partitions you configured
as swap and add them to /etc/fstab with entries similar to those above. The
boot scripts run "swapon -a" which enables every swap partition listed in
/etc/fstab.
> Why is it necessary for a user to do "mkswap" and or "swapon" if the
> installation went ok?
Normally, it's not. But it's possible something went wrong during the
installation. There's no harm in doing it yourself. Try the following
(as root):
# swapoff -a
# mkswap /dev/sda10
Now edit /etc/fstab to check and correct the swap entry
for /dev/sda10
# swapon -a
Hopefully, this will solve your problem.
--
tim writer <tim@starnix.com> starnix inc.
tollfree: 1-87-pro-linux thornhill, ontario, canada
http://www.starnix.com professional linux services & products
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