How to optimize 10.04 Lucid Lynx for SSD

[systemarpi]

Hello, I would like to know if somebody know for a official tweaks needed for ubuntu to take the most possible advantage of SSD and take care of write/erase cicles.

I have search the web and found some interesting links I share here:

http://itezer.com/blog/ubuntu-linux/...-with-SSD.html

http://blog.loxal.net/2009/04/tuning...ance-with.html

http://bryan.larsen.st/2009/3/23/usi...-ubuntu-jaunty

http://samiux.wordpress.com/2009/06/...tate-disk-ssd/

http://megabytemorsels.blogspot.com/...in-ubuntu.html

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=215109

It will be nice if we can start talking about what should work and what is just useless.

[robbel]

There's TRIM support missing in 10.04... follow https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/571476 for a report...

[nhasian]

i'm not worried about TRIM. just upgrading the kernel to 2.6.33 or newer will enable trim. what's MORE important is to properly align the SSD drive. I just installed ubuntu 10.04 on my corsair P128 today and I dont think its properly aligned.

sudo fdisk -l

gives the output:

Disk /dev/sda: 128.0 GB, 128035676160 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 15566 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000cb7c8

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 1567 12586896 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 1568 15566 112446967+ 83 Linux

shouldn't the start be something like 1024 or 2048 instead of 1? its definitely not divisible by 512.

I noticed gparted had the option NOT to round to cylinders when creating the EXT4 partition, but it gave me some kind of error when i tried to create the first partition like that.

[systemarpi]

Just a fact I have checked with some test.

First, to newcomers, make sure you have 2.6.33.x Kernel, otherwise forget about TRIM.

Now, when you upgrade to 2.6.33 and run your tests, notice that if you modify your fstab file with the commit=x option, you will have to wait that x seconds before the SSD auto-trim the sector, at least thats what is happening with my ST Ultra Drive, if you test too early you could think that Trim is not working.

[dcstar]

And how does this thread comply with:

All your general support questions for Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu.?

Do not post things like this in the General Support forum, find a more appropriate place.

[systemarpi]

And how does this thread comply with:

All your general support questions for Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu.?

Do not post things like this in the General Support forum, find a more appropriate place.

I think because it stars with this:
"I would like to know if somebody know for a official tweaks needed for ubuntu to take the most possible advantage of SSD"

But nobody reply to my question, so people started to look for answers themselves, if you dont like the post, you can simply report it, so it can be deleted ASAP, I just dont care

[mattlach]

I don't see how alignment would help an SSD, because the partition space is virtual. The drive itself decides where to place the data across the drive (in the name of load leveling)

I could be wrong though.

If you want to try it, it would seem you could just use gparted to move/resize your partitions to align them to 4k block sizes (with a a few blocks gap in between them) but I'm willing to wager the difference will be marginal at best.

I've been wrong before though, so I am open to being surprised if anyone gives it a try

[systemarpi]

I don't see how alignment would help an SSD, because the partition space is virtual.

I agree with this one, partition is just a reserved amount of space, thats why partitions can be resized, aligning partitions to a exact size given a determined block size, could improve performance but in my opinion that improvement would be in the 0.X% factor, so, its a bit useless

[solitaire]

I don't see how alignment would help an SSD, because the partition space is virtual. The drive itself decides where to place the data across the drive (in the name of load leveling)

Unfortunately SSD's have a interface on the device which converts the flash chips in to Cylinder / Sector that any BIOS and OS can understand. So all file systems are still limited to sector alignment issues.

It's only the VERY expensive SSD's (talking $10,k drives here!) that don't have that interface and can use alternate filesystems that don't rely on cylinder/sector limits...

[dcstar]

I think because it stars with this:
"I would like to know if somebody know for a official tweaks needed for ubuntu to take the most possible advantage of SSD"

But nobody reply to my question, so people started to look for answers themselves, if you dont like the post, you can simply report it, so it can be deleted ASAP, I just dont care

The Ubuntu forums has a specific place for HOWTOs (it's called Tutorials and Tips), if people are too lazy to post things where they are supposed to go then I guess we just end up with the forum for General Support questions being filled with things that aren't supposed to be there, and those with genuine questions have to compete for attention.