Very Computer

I believe the swap file grows in some set increment that's greater than
one byte (I think it's 1MB), so what you're seeing is probably measurement
slop -- you set it to 14,000, but that's not a legal value, so OS/2
created the next largest legal size of swap file.  Also, the size you set
in CONFIG.SYS is in KILOBYTES, but the size shown by DIR is in BYTES.  
Don't make the mistake of lopping off the last three digits to get the
size in K; you need to divide by 1024.

: Is IBM suggestion of a starting size of 2048 not realistic?

No, it's not.  I've got 16MB RAM and have my swap file set to 10MB
(10240).  That's the precise size that my swap file is right now.

: I dont do anything unusual with os/2.  Is a swapper of 13,000 + normal?

Depends on what you're doing.  Immediately after starting OS/2 with a
16MB system, no, it's not, unless you're loading up applications
automatically (and the Windows "fast start" feature DOES count as an
application -- you're loading Windows into memory immediately in this
case).  Once you're running two or three modest-to-major applications, a
13MB swap file on a 16MB system isn't at all unusual.  I reset mine to
10MB from 8MB when I realized that starting both DeScribe and ZOC would
bring the swap file to 10MB on my system.

: How do i stop this thing from growing?

You don't; you stop worrying about it.  Unless you're short on disk space,
in which case you clear off unnecessary files or buy a larger disk.  Don't
judge OS/2 by the size of the swap file; it grows to preposterous sizes BY
DESIGN.  Judge OS/2 by the speed and stability of its performance.  A
large swap file may or may not impact these things.

--
                                        --Rod Smith

j> I picked up Rick Meigs excellent cnfginfo.exe from the os2
j> shareware BBS.  713-385-4325.  This program is priceless for tuning
j> your config.sys file.  A problem with mine though.  I have a 486/66
j> 16 mg ram.  

j> In the config.sys I had the swapper.dat file set to 2048 2048 as
j> per IBM's suggestion Cnfginfo said my swapper.dat was 13,000 + so i
j> reset the initial size of swapper to 14,000.  I reboted and now
j> swapper was 14,680.  

You did right.  The swapper always grows or shrinks by a whole number
of megabytes.  14,000 isn't a legal size, so it jumped to the next
larger legal one.  

j> I reset the initial size to 15,000 and rebotted. Cnfginfo said that
j> my swapper was now 15728.  and so on and so on ....  What is going
j> on here?  

Exactly the same thing.  The swap file is not growing because you need
more swap space, it's just trying to be a legal size.  Set the initial
size of your swapper to at least 13312 if you don't want to see the
swapfile grow and shrink.  14336 would be fine, too.  You can get away
with less, but it might grow sometimes.

j> Is IBM suggestion of a starting size of 2048 not
j> realistic?  I dont do anything unusual with os/2.  Is a swapper of
j> 13,000 + normal?  How do i stop this thing from growing?  Help!!

The starting size of 2048 is silly.  I don't know why IBM does it.  A
swapper.dat of greater than 13MB is totally normal, at least on my 9MB
system.  It's not because you need more memory, either.  It's mostly
that Warp plays tricks with the swapfile to increase overall performance.

Jason F. McBrayer

Specifying any size for swapper.dat is just an *initial* (minimum) size.  This size is
rounded to the next multiple of 1024.  This is the size to which it us initialized upon
system startup.  As your memory requirements exceed your physical memory,
swapper.dat will be used & re-used as required to accomodate this.  If the
initial/minimum size is insufficient, more will be allocated (if available on the
partition), and as the need  for such additional memory abates, the file will
eventually shrink accordingly towards the given minimum size.

Specifying a larger-than-default size is not strictly necessary, but since it reduces
the need to expand and/or shrink the file it can improve performance.  

Quote:>Help!!

If you *don't* have enough space, however, you can:

1) Move the swap file to another partition where you do have space.
    (change SWAPPATH in config.sys and reboot), and/or
2) Become more frugal with memory usage, i.e. close windows/applications
    you're not using (don't just minimize them) and/or reduce the numbers
    of programs you try to use at one time and/or avoid Windows apps, etc.
    You might also take a look at the "Filebar" shareware program as an
    alternative to the workplace shell.
3) Increase your physical memory.

Regards

--

Set your swapper based on how much ram you have, and the average number of
programs you have loaded into memory.. not ibm's defaults... good luck..

                       *----------------------------------*
                       |       Matthew O. Pinkham         |

                       | Worcester Polytechnic Institute  |
                       |     Computer Science Major       |
                       | Proud to be a part of TEAM OS/2! |
                       | #include <standard_disclaimer.h> |
                       *----------------------------------*

if, if you have the spare drive space set your swapper as large as is applicable
per the above +4 meg.  mileage may vary, but it works for me.

: j> Is IBM suggestion of a starting size of 2048 not
: j> realistic?  I dont do anything unusual with os/2.  Is a swapper of
: j> 13,000 + normal?  How do i stop this thing from growing?  Help!!

: The starting size of 2048 is silly.  I don't know why IBM does it.  A
: swapper.dat of greater than 13MB is totally normal, at least on my 9MB
: system.  It's not because you need more memory, either.  It's mostly
: that Warp plays tricks with the swapfile to increase overall performance.

My theory:

1) I think that Warp actually allocates a vaguely sensible size for a 4Mb
configuration - i.e. big enough for all the initial code to load into.

2) New swap behaviour in warp swaps out the same code after boot on all
memory sizes so all need the same initial swap as 4Mb

3) People writing installer got (1) right but someone forgot to tell them
about (2) and assumed that for (4+x)MB system you need the 4MB swap size
- xMB.

--
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                               david shepherd
 SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics Ltd, 1000 aztec west, bristol bs12 4sq, u.k.

               www: http://www.inmos.co.uk/~des/welcome.html
       "whatever you don't want, you don't want negative advertising"

Quote:>A problem with mine though.  I have a 486/66 16 mg ram.
>In the config.sys I had the swapper.dat file set to 2048 2048 as per IBM's
>suggestion
>Cnfginfo said my swapper.dat was 13,000 + so i reset the initial size of swapper
>to 14,000.
>I reboted and now swapper was 14,680.  I reset the initial size to 15,000 and
>rebotted. Cnfginfo said that my swapper was now 15728.  and so on and so on ....
>What is going on here?  Is IBM suggestion of a starting size of 2048 not
>realistic?
>I dont do anything unusual with os/2.  Is a swapper of 13,000 + normal?
>How do i stop this thing from growing?
>Help!!