[Solved] Help needed with system configuration

[2byte]

Ok, I have been studying TC for a few weeks now and I need some assistance, my old brain just isn’t what it used to be. I think TC is exactly what I have been looking for and I will be successful if I can just get the basics into my head. I have sifted through the wiki and this forum and have found a lot of info. I have a frugal install of TC 3.5 and have remastered MC to a CD. However, some simple things are eluding me.
For instance what exactly is PPI and PPR?

Now for my big question. I have a minor remaster of microcore that only has JWM, Libreoffice, and a few small utilities, booting from a CD with persistent storage on the HD. Where I am failing is with the handling of the extensions. I have a tce dir on the hard drive with /optional for the extensions. The extensions are loading on boot and working BUT they are consuming way too much ram, 400+ mb just starting Libreoffice. My onboot.lst contains Xlibs.tcz Xprogs.tcz Xvesa.tcz jwm.tcz and libreoffice.tcz. I only have 512mb of ram so I have created and use a tc.swp swap file but I really want to get the ram usage down as much as practical without killing performance. I figure the problem must be that the extensions are copying to ram instead of just running from /optional, but I do not see how to change this.

Will some kind soul please offer some guidance on how I can configure microcore to run Libreoffice from /optional without loading the entire extension to ram, or without using tce-load from the terminal?

TIA
2byte

[gerald_clark]

Use AppsAudit to remove the copy2fs.flg file, or manually delete it from the tce directory.
Also look for a copy2fs.lst file that may list those to copy to RAM.

[2byte]

Thanks for the suggestion.
I checked and copy2fs was not set. Just to make sure I toggled the flag in AppsAudit, saved and rebooted. No change. This is what I have, without even running Libreoffice.

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tc@box:/$ free
             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:        448700       419392        29308            0       106552
-/+ buffers:             312840       135860
Swap:      2208636          136      2208500

Afterwords I removed libreoffice.tcz from onboot.lst and this is what happened

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tc@box:~$ free
             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:        448700        62280       386420            0         6444
-/+ buffers:              55836       392864
Swap:      2208636            0      2208636

Rather amazing. Is this normal when loading libreoffice, and is there a way to lower the mem required?

[tinypoodle]

You can

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sudo cache-clearto drop caches
and then use 'free' immediately after that 

[Guy]

For instance what exactly is PPI and PPR?

They now use different words to describe these.


PPR - The Mount Mode of Operation: TCE/Install

This is the ideal method to use for most people. With this method, applications are installed to the /tce/optional directory. They are read only, and not modified. This prevents filesystem corruption. If it works the first time, it will work every time.

When apps are used, they are mounted to /tmp/tcloop.

Personal settings can be saved with persistent /home and /opt, using backup, or by making new extensions with personal settings.


PPI - The Hybrid Mode of Operation: Local/Install

This is not recommended for most people. Some apps may not work (most should). With this method, apps are installed as they are in most other operating systems. This makes it possible for the filesystem to become corrupted, as as files are changed each time Tiny Core is used.

[Guy]

OnBoot and OnDemand

When using OnBoot, extensions are mounted every time you start the computer.

When using OnDemand, extensions are not mounted until you start them. So less ram is used.

Apps which you always want mounted when you start the computer, should be in OnBoot.

Apps which you don't always use, should be in OnDemand, so less ram is used. This is particularly beneficial for people with smaller ram.

[2byte]

tinypoodle and Guy, thanks for the education.

@tinypoodle: cahe-clear led to some interesting observations. It knocked the buffers down to 44 with a corresponding increase in free memory, however as soon as libreoffice was used they quickly climbed to near previous levels. This leads me to conclude that libreoffice is a memory hog (if you have it, it will use it), and my perceived problem is moot as long as a decent swap is used. i.e. don’t worry about it and let the system handle it!

@Guy: everything is clear as mud now.. just kidding. Thanks for explaining things. I see now that I chose the best configuration for myself, even if it was by accident.

Best regards
2byte