Mint 13 SSD Support? Mate xfce make a difference?

[HilltopsGM]

I am trying to set up a computer with a new SSD (Samsung 840 EVO Series Solid State Drive, SATA III, 2.5in, 120GB).
It has TRIM support.

I am following this thread:
MINT15 SSD TRIM support ===> http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=140635

Does Mint 13 LTS have the same capability?

. . . and, Should we be setting up a SWAP partition on this drive?

I was looking as Mate, or xfce.
The system has 8GB of RAM

Comments, Suggestions?

Thanks

[passerby]

I am following this thread:
MINT15 SSD TRIM support ===> http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=140635

Does Mint 13 LTS have the same capability?

Yes.

Should we be setting up a SWAP partition on this drive?

Given that you have 8GB of RAM, I'd only say yes if you often use close to all of that RAM, or you want to be able to hibernate.
If you're using the SSD alongside a conventional HDD, then SWAP should ideally go on the HDD to reduce writes to the SSD.

I was looking as Mate, or xfce.
The system has 8GB of RAM

Comments, Suggestions?

Thanks

MATE vs XFCE makes no difference in regards to SSD/SWAP stuff, and they both have low resource usage.
Following that thread, it only makes a difference in regards to the default text editor available.
Use whichever you prefer.

If your OS is being installed on the SSD, I'd recommend moving /tmp to RAM.
Given the amount of RAM you have, you might also consider lowering your system's swappiness (lower swappiness = less likely to write RAM to swap space), or even remove it altogether if you don't need to hibernate.
As for the method of TRIM (since there are three in that thread/article), IMO it's best to go with the daily cron task. The fstab discard method isn't recommended, though I don't remember why.

[Don_Pedro]

hello.

Even if new SSD are robust now you should avoid " Hibenate" . This process write a lot on your disk/
I was thinking than hibernate process should be not available when SSD is mounted.

Well I understand Passerby who doesnot clearly tell you to avoid this partition but with 8 meg of ram your are safe.
Of course if you are an average user.

As concerning me I sat my swappiness to 0
if you do not know what swappiness is here details : http://ubuntuguide.net/optimize-the-usa ... for-ubuntu

Also There is a feature to shrink , to zip your ram instead of physically swapping.
Right now I do no remember the exact name , someone will tell us...

As concerning me I would size this partition near 0

[passerby]

Also There is a feature to shrink , to zip your ram instead of physically swapping.
Right now I do no remember the exact name , someone will tell us...

zRam. It should be available in the repos nowadays via the zram-config package.

[HilltopsGM]

passerby & Don_Pedro - Thanks for the info.

I am NOT going to be using Hibernation at all.
Is there a way to "Disable" it on the system so it can't be used?

8GB or RAM should be plenty. So I am going to Set Swappiness to '0' as per:

As concerning me I sat my swappiness to 0
if you do not know what swappiness is here details : http://ubuntuguide.net/optimize-the-usa ... for-ubuntu
....

With 8GB of RAM, would zRam really even be necessary? How much would it save and how much of a performance hit are we looking at?

I am tempted to use a "Swap File" instead of an actual "Swap Partition" as a "Just in case". If swappiness is set to '0' then it should never be needed and the machine will be shut down Daily. SSD's boot so fast, why would I want to Hibernate anyway.

I REALLY think that this is a brilliant idea :

If your OS is being installed on the SSD, I'd recommend moving /tmp to RAM.
Given the amount of RAM you have, you might also consider lowering your system's swappiness (lower swappiness = less likely to write RAM to swap space), or even remove it altogether if you don't need to hibernate.
....

I found this link on how to do that: http://forum.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=135875

Just to recap it:
Clear out the current /tmp directory:

Code: Select all

sudo umount /tmp
sudo rm -rf /tmp/*
sudo mount -a

Edit /etc/fstab like so:

Code: Select all

none /tmp tmpfs nodev,nosuid,mode=1777 0 0

for simplicity I was going to avoid the use of "noexec"

Does this sound reasonable?

Thanks again for the assistance.

[HilltopsGM]

Also There is a feature to shrink , to zip your ram instead of physically swapping.
Right now I do no remember the exact name , someone will tell us...

zRam. It should be available in the repos nowadays via the zram-config package.

Has zRam matured?

I was reading this article https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ma ... Swappiness and it suggested that maybe it wasn't quite stable yet.

Comments?

Thanks

[Don_Pedro]

Look why don't you go step by step ?
Keep the swap partition = half your memory. 8/2=4.

First set your swappiness to 0.

and use your system normally, if stable after a week.
Don't move.
Anyway mid May Linuxmint 17 will be relased. It will manage directly your SSD. No need to install yourself the TRIM process.

At this time , making a fresh install , set your swap to 0.
If not stable you know why, yu can correctly yourself.

Early May , before installing LM17 run for 2 weeks ZRAM.

That way you will know exactly which is the most convenient for you

Cordially

[HilltopsGM]

Hi Don_Pedro,

Thanks for that.
I'd like to set up the LTS version if at all possible (not sure when the next one is due out, or even if IT will Manage the TRIM process directly).

I am trying to set it up for some folks that don't know much about Linux (read = nothing).

They check email, browse a little, and use Google Drives Spreadsheets.

That's pretty much it.

I'd like to drop the machine off in about a week for them to use so I am hoping to get it all figured out before then - hence the multiple questions.

You help is very much appreciated. Thanks.
I'll probably set it up with the swap . . . if the RAM never fills up, then it should never be accessed and save wearing that area of the drive (swap partition) unnecessarily.

I have been running the system all day and It has not broken 1GB yet, so I am fairly confident that 8GB should be safe (even if I didn't use a Swap Partition) - but I'll keep playing.

Again thanks for the help.

[Don_Pedro]

Hello again,

I did not know , of course play it safe if for someone else and if you have no control on the hardware.

Just 2 things :
1)For your information the coming LinuxMint 17 will be a LTS (released the 2 last week of May). For sure Trim will be manage automatically.
2)As the hardware will be in novice hand I would suggest to avoid the classic update manager and install Cron-APT in order to update silently in the background.

Cordially

[HilltopsGM]

Hello again,
Just 2 things :
1)For your information the coming LinuxMint 17 will be a LTS (released the 2 last week of May). For sure Trim will be manage automatically.
2)As the hardware will be in novice hand I would suggest to avoid the classic update manager and install Cron-APT in order to update silently in the background.

Cordially

Thanks again for that Don_Pedro.

I was looking for where it said that 17 would have automatic trim management, but couldn't find it.
Is there a place where they say what each new release is going to have in it?

Cheers.

[Don_Pedro]

where it said that 17 would have automatic trim management, but couldn't find it.

Very easy, look at the post right above your last post I wrote in part 1) :

1)For your information the coming LinuxMint 17 will be a LTS (released the 2 last week of May). For sure Trim will be manage automatically.


I hope this will help. Have a good day.

[HilltopsGM]

@Don_Pedro

I did see your post that mentioned TRIM . . . I was just wondering if there was an official thread by the community that stated that TRIM would be managed automatically.

Basically, I was wondering how/where you found out about it.

Thanks

[Don_Pedro]

all details here :

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[HilltopsGM]

all details here :

Ubuntu 14.04 默认支持 SSD TRIM 功能
Ubuntu 14.04 默认支持 SSD TRIM 功能 Ubuntu 用户对明年四月的要发布的 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 有一些额外的期待,就 是希望默认支持 SSD TRIM 功能。现在终于得...
Ubuntu 14.04 默认支持 SSD TRIM 功能
现在终于得偿所愿, Ubuntu 14.04 现已支持 SSD TRIM 功能。 Ubuntu 开发者还想在 Ubuntu Touch images 也添加这么一个功能, 那么 SSDs 就 可以了解哪些数据块...

whoa . . . sorry I asked!