Running from USB drive, do I need a swap file?

[jctots]

hello.... just want to ask if it is better to have a linux swap file when im running puppy on a usb drive.... whats the difference of having one? thanks...

[Flash]

Depends on how much RAM you have, and on what you use the computer for. I built a computer with 1GB of RAM, now I run Puppy in it from a multisession DVD without a hard drive at all. You don't need anything like that much RAM to run Puppy without a swap file if you're not doing anything out of the ordinary with the computer.

[Sit Heel Speak]

I too am running Puppy 2.01 on a USB flash key (thumb drive), and am not using a swap file. However, all I've done so far with Puppy 2.01 is run SeaMonkey, and do light word processing in Leafpad, and do some massive archival data transfers via "sneakernet," using the USB stick as temporary storage to transfer datafiles from CD's read by this computer onto another computer which has no CD reader but can take a USB stick.

Last April, when I was running Puppy 1.08, I added full Open Office, Java, the KDE environment, the Enlightenment window manager, and the development environment. I found that I did need to enlarge the save file and I did need to create and use a swap file. The 256MB of RAM I have, and the 256MB of savefile which 1.08 created by default, was just not enough.

About 6 hours from now I plan to try adding Open Office, Java, KDE, and Enlightenment to Puppy 2.01. And then I will be able to tell you whether 256MB of RAM is enough or whether I need a swap file.

[jctots]

my problem is i only have 55MB of free memory everytime puppy starts... ive installed puppy on fat16, does it affect how large my free memory was? because some people dont have a swap file and yet they have larger free memory than 55MB.

i also want to have open office and java on my puppy. i want puppy to be my primary OS, and i am planning to install more programs to make puppy powerful... what do you suggest? and if you suggest to have a linux swap partition... how big it is? i have a 2GB flash drive which i want to partition between linux swap and fat16... thanks

[Sit Heel Speak]

my problem is i only have 55MB of free memory everytime puppy starts... ive installed puppy on fat16, does it affect how large my free memory was?

No (at least, not on a modern computer with a 100GB+ hard disk).

i also want to have open office and java on my puppy. i want puppy to be my primary OS, and i am planning to install more programs to make puppy powerful... what do you suggest?

How much physical RAM does the computer have, and how big is the hard disk?

On Puppy 1.08, running on a 2GB USB stick when the computer has 256MB of physical RAM, I found a save file of 768MB and a swap file of 1GB to be, in effect, infinite room.

[jctots]

i have a 256mb of ram and 40gb of hard disk

but i want my puppy on my flash drive to be self-supporting. it doesnt need the computers harddisk or only need minimal ram. so i can run my puppy on any computer but still i have a large free memory on startup. i will install other applications on the usb drive only. and can i know how a swap file works? am i saving & retrieving files from it everytime i start my puppy? thanks

[Sit Heel Speak]

i have a 256mb of ram and 40gb of hard disk

No (at least, not on a modern computer with a 100GB+ hard disk).

Actually my "100GB+" number was overkill. My computer has just a 20GB hard disk and Puppy 1.08 worked fine if I used a 1GB swap file on it.

but i want my puppy on my flash drive to be self-supporting. it doesnt need the computers harddisk or only need minimal ram. so i can run my puppy on any computer but still i have a large free memory on startup. i will install other applications on the usb drive only. and can i know how a swap file works? am i saving & retrieving files from it everytime i start my puppy? thanks

I'm not sure whether Puppy saves and retrieves from the swapfile every time it starts. I don't think it does, but I could be wrong. I believe Puppy writes to the swapfile only when it is needed. The disadvantage to using a swapfile or swap partition on your USB stick rather than your hard disk is that you will be writing to the stick oftener. USB sticks have a limited life span, said to be about 50,000 writes on average. Putting your swapfile onto your USB stick is possible, but shortens its life.

I have noticed a utility somewhere which monitors Puppy swapfile usage in real time, but don't remember where it is. Use the search engine. Eventually you'll find it. In the rxvt console, issuing the command

free

will tell you whether the swap space is turned on or not.

[jctots]

ok... so i will not use a linux swap file on my usb... because you said it will shorten its life... but how can i increase my free memory on puppy everytime i start it on my usb without using a swap file? i dont want to install a swap file on my harddrive because still i want usb puppy to portable and self-supporting... even if i use it on another computer with no swap file on their hard drive, i still have a large free memory...

[Sit Heel Speak]

... but how can i increase my free memory on puppy everytime i start it on my usb without using a swap file?

Good question. I will have to re-read the How Puppy Works page and get back to you tomorrow if I find the answer.

[jctots]

wow thanks for your user support ... much appreciated... thanks