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ST swap file

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 2:09 am
by Rowland
Hi Ivo. Once again, loving ST.

Not sure if ST uses a swap file. I'm getting crashes on all but the smallest file in ST. If ST uses swap memory, can I relocate it? I notice files in /tmp which is located on the / partition.

My Linux box has 3 partitions, including Swap, '/' and '/home'. The / partition is getting pretty full and I have relocated the swap memory to /home for another program, to solve out of memory problems.

Where should I look?

Regards,

Rowland.

Re: ST swap file

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:21 am
by admin
Hi Rowland,

StarTools indeed uses a number of 'swap' files (.trk files), which, on Linux and MacOSX are located in the /tmp folder.
Using the tmp folder on these systems is best practice as they guarantee clean up on reboot, and in some systems (including mine) the tmp/ folder is mapped to fast-access media such as SSD or RAM disk.
On my 16Gb system, for example, the /tmp folder is mapped to a RAM disk, which allows StarTools to make the most of my RAM. Linux allows you to do all this cool stuff :)
The files in question are only needed in specific situations and specific times during processing (mostly when finishing a module), hence the decision to not leave it to the OS, but to take care of it myself - it's a vast improvement in speed and also allows 32-bit systems to allocate more than the theoretical 3.2Gb (often just 2Gb) in these specific cases.

SSD drives have become really cheap and (if you can afford it), are a fantastic way of enhancing system performance. I got a second 128Gb drive the other day for 90 AUD, but already have a 64Gb drive in use that comfortably fits the OS.

Cheers,

Re: ST swap file

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:17 am
by Rowland
Thanks Ivo. I noticed an immediate improvement in ST performance after moving the other program swap file to my home directory.

Mapping /tmp to RAM is an excellent idea. Not sure how, but there will be a tutorial somewhere on-line. I have 8GB. Not sure of expansion slots in my machine - will have to look.

Rowland.

Re: ST swap file

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:31 pm
by Rowland
OK. I have edited /etc/fstab

none /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0

Files loading at lightning speed. But the very large .fit files are crashing occassionally. Reduced size to 71% and working like a dream. Of course I could convert to 16bit which would be fine.

Thanks Ivo.

Re: ST swap file

Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:27 pm
by admin
Good to hear things are working better!

I just happened upon this (for us Aussies);
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/106436

Some very good prices for an SSD upgrade! (obligatory disclaimer that I'm not affiliated with any of these companies obviously)

Re: ST swap file

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 8:11 pm
by david81
Is it on the roadmap to add the ability to designate where the trk files are stored? Being a Windows user, I'd love to setup a RAM disk and just point StarTools to that for the swap...

Re: ST swap file

Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 11:10 pm
by admin
david81 wrote:Is it on the roadmap to add the ability to designate where the trk files are stored? Being a Windows user, I'd love to setup a RAM disk and just point StarTools to that for the swap...
Hi,

Yep - a lot of folks seem to have the same request, so I'll be adding this for the final 1.3.5 release. Stay tuned! :thumbsup: