I've got a couple of questions regarding hd partitions and swap space.
My first, immediate problem is that I've just upgraded my RAM from 1.5GB
to 3GB. I'm running some numerical simulations and analysis that require
that much space or more. My swap partition is 1.95GB, and I've
discovered that when I've got lots of simulation data in memory I don't
have enough space to hibernate.
Reading the Debian Reference, I see the advice to keep to 2GB or less
for each swap partition, but to have at least 1x RAM. In my case, where
I'm using a lot of RAM and I want to be able to hibernate, can I just
set up a second 2GB swap partition, or should I make a single large swap
partition of 3-4GB? I'm not sure how hibernate and swapping work with
multiple swap partitions.
The other, slightly less pressing question, is that I've been dual
booting up to now, and so have quite a fragmented harddrive. In order to
make enough space for the extra swap I'm going to have to further cut
into my windows partition, to the point that I might as well just blow
it away (haven't booted into it in months). Is there a way to reorganize
my file system more elegant than simply backing everything up and
reinstalling the OS? The current layout, as reported by gparted:
I'm not sure why the partitions are out of order, but the last
alteration I did, increasing the extended and a few contained partitions
at the expense of windows and the pre-installed recovery partition,
managed to re-order all the partitions, such that fstab and menu.lst
couldn't find anything until I reinstalled grub from a live cd.
My current fstab and menu.lst are pasted below, just for completeness.
Thanks for any suggestions!
title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.22-3-686 (single-user mode)
root (hd0,6)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-3-686 root=/dev/sda7 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-3-686
savedefault
title Microsoft Windows XP Professional at sda1
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
title MEMTEST
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below
## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs
## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=/dev/sda7 ro
## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,6)
## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true
## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false
## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=
## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false
## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=
## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0
## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(single-user) single
# altoptions=(single-user mode) single
## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all
## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true
## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false
## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false