TC4.4 in low RAM Mode and hdparm DMA

[sam.vanratt]

Hello
I'm currently on my way to get TC4.4 running on my Libretto 100CT (8GB SSD, 64MB RAM, 1,5MB VGA RAM, P166MMX).
Two issues:
a) as OnBoot (as OnDemand works only partly via ssh or busybox) consumes a lot of ram just to be installed (after gcc, alsa, mplayer, my RAM is full) is the boot switch "local=sda2" my way into a traditional installation (meaning, files loaded from disk, no loopback, no reset, no backup)? And is it possible to say local=sda2/whatever ?
b) under NT4 I get the disk running in MWDMA2 mode (the max what the Libretto controller support), in FreeBSD the kernel choses PIO4 and only after atacontrol is initialized it choses MWDMA2, in TC (I guess Linux in generell) I get only PIO1 working which is a bit slow on a 95MB/s SSD; 16 would be nice... When using hdparm I get an error while applying -d=1 saying it's not supported by the device and -p=4 (afair) says the same to my /dev/sda. Any hints?
Cheers
Sam

[gerald_clark]

http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:backup_hd

Running root from hard drive is not supported.

[AbNoRMiS]

a) maybe better try oss instead alsa to reduce memory usage and move gcc to ondemand?
b) can try booting with libata.force=1.00:mwdma2 kernel parameter (see here and kernel params)

[V.Krishn]

Just wondering if having this feature http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,12856.msg70508.html could solve onboot issue?

[curaga]

Unionfs is not a magic bullet for ram use, IIRC it did not differ much from symlinks.
Even worse, when unionfs runs out of ram, you don't get an "out of ram" message, you get an oops...

[hiro]

Well, the symlinks don't take *that* much space anyway. Could it be the overhead of squashfs caches?

[AbNoRMiS]

i also think that need to allocate some ssd space for swap

[sam.vanratt]

Just wondering if having this feature http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,12856.msg70508.html could solve onboot issue?

Hi
maybe; I'm quite used (and forced) to a traditional /usr folder and unpacked drivers/bins/...
I'm not into onionFS, so I'd not been able to integrate it into my system.
Cheers
Sam

[sam.vanratt]

http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:backup_hd

Running root from hard drive is not supported.

Hi
I'm aware of it, but a /usr would suffice for most of my needs. I'm willing to install about 20-30 Apps, sizing from 1MB-50MB; loopbacks cost lots of my dear RAM...
Cheers
Sam

[sam.vanratt]

i also think that need to allocate some ssd space for swap

Hi
I already have 160MB on a special Swap Partion, just to be able to start; when ALSA is installed "onboot" I'm nearly out of memory (I'll going to OSS as I did in my FreeBSD Disk); X would take the rest. Even when I'm willing to sacrifice X or ALSA, or Browser: it would be fine to have a stationary folder for emacs, mplayer, mpg123, gcc, ddrescue, openssh, which do not need real performance (for MP3/OGG/FLAC decompression) but do not consume too much RAM.
Cheers
Sam

[gerald_clark]

Make sure you don't have the copy2fs.flg file in your tce directory.

[sam.vanratt]

http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:backup_hd

Running root from hard drive is not supported.

Hi Gerald
is it possible to inject files to the /usr/.... folders, including 'em into the filelist and then having user apps like mplayer, ... ready after a reboot? I'm not  so far into the mechanismn of TCL and it's filehandling (Ondemand); I want to get rid of alsa's (File=RAM) size (and others). What are the drawbacks of inflicting into the clear way of TCL's App Handling?
CHeers
Sam

[sam.vanratt]

a) maybe better try oss instead alsa to reduce memory usage and move gcc to ondemand?
b) can try booting with libata.force=1.00:mwdma2 kernel parameter (see here and kernel params)

That worked well; I was amiss with the exact syntax as the bootlist is quite generic.

[hiro]

He's not saying it's not possible, just that it is not supported. The same applies to your current question.

[AbNoRMiS]

i don't quite understand so libata.force kernel parameter is works or not?