Linux Mint 13 Cinnamin 32 bit swap/root partition size?

[ptolemy9200]

What should one set the / & the boot and swap partition to for mint 13 using a pc with a 80gb hdd, and 732 meg for memory? I have had issue setting the right size for the root and swap and boot size parition. Was wondering what others suggest? Also when installing mint 13, at the gpart screen, do I select the root partition to isntall to from the dvd or the default drive showing the full 80g? Also I tried to install several times and the pc hangs at the screen not booting to linux, or after install of mate, cinn, kde, version of 13 after installing it hangs at the live dvd session and the mouse cursor sits spinning as if its doing more but i left the pc on for 2 days and it just sits. whats the issue? would it prob be better to isntall 12 cinn then do a upgrade to 13 cinn?

Thanks
Bill

[nomko]

[quote]732 meg for memory?
That's not much memory nowaday's... So you need a lot of swap size.

Here's a good article to read about swap: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SwapFaq. And yes, i know it's for Ubuntu, but since Mint is based on Ubuntu this FAQ is 100% applicable.

There are some tables to be found on the internet clarifying how to set the swap size. The table below is an example:
- Systems with 4GB of ram or less require a minimum of 2GB of swap space
- Systems with 4GB to 16GB of ram require a minimum of 4GB of swap space
- Systems with 16GB to 64GB of ram require a minimum of 8GB of swap space
- Systems with 64GB to 256GB of ram require a minimum of 16GB of swap space

According to the above table, you need a minimum of 2 GB of swap space.

It is also a good thing to set your swappiness. When the swappiness is set too high, it will slow down your system a bit. This is how to set your swappiness:
- open a terminal
- type (or copy/paste) the following command:

Code: Select all

cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

The result might be that your swappiness is set to 60. This is too much for a average day used desktop. To correct this type the following command:

Code: Select all

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

At the bottom of the file add the following lines (copy/paste):
#
# Reduce the swappiness
vm.swappiness=10

Set the swappiness according this thumb rule:
1 GB or more RAM-memory: 10
Less than 1 GB RAM-memory: 5

Save the file and reboot.


When installing Mint, the best to do is let the installation procedure decide how to partition your disc when you dan't have enough experience/knowledge about this. That's the best advice i can give you to avoid any problems with partition your disc.

[ptolemy9200]

Thanks, I will follow the info tomorrow and attempt to install. the 732 is what showed up in the system info in the live dvd of mint 13. I am not sure if it is correct. I believe the pc may be 1gb but its been sitting in the closet. Trying to revive a old machine. around 2005 era. Im thinking ill have o go with a lite linux mint. Was thinking its possible cinnamin or mate is too much for the pc.

[nomko]

Probably you have 1 GB of memory if you have a 2005 system. And it's normal that Mint shows lesser memory. Best is to check what the BIOS says about your memory.

[ptolemy9200]

This is the mother board I have. I know I have total 1GB in memory. The video and audio is onboard. I noticed any version of Mint 13/14 I attempt to install it will hang after the install on the live cd and not boot up to the hdd. The files are there but nothing. I put fedora to see if the pc had issues. it took xfce but wouldnt take cinnamon. What version of linux will run good on it and not give me video issues as others such as knoppix, fedora 17, have given me. Seems this machine is old by modern standards. Need a verison of mint or any ideas what to use thats modern and has updates for? does linux 9 have updates still?

[741cc]

Are you sure the machine doesn't have hardware problems, hence being dumped in the closet for two years?
Gnome and KDE are the heavyweight desktops and require more resources than either XFCE or LXDE, so the latter two would be more suited to your system. Mint 13 has an XFCE version:- http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2088

If you have the whole drive to use, why not use the first option on the installer and let it choose the partitions for you? Doing otherwise is making things complicated.

I do admire your patience in waiting two days for the installer to finish, so well done on that account . I would abort an install after two hours max even on very old hardware. Hope it works out.

[ptolemy9200]

I have tried the default install for partitioning. My problem with mint is after installing it hangs on the live user interface, mouse just spinning as if its doing something but sits. When I reboot nothing happens. Only system so far I been able to get to install and work is fedora 16 xfce. I prefer mint.

[741cc]

Sounds like grub not being installed.
Did you verify the md5sum of the Mint .iso download? Maybe try a fresh dvd burn or usb install?