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Swap space issues.

post #1 of 10
6/16/07 at 3:57am
Thread Starter 
Very simple problem, not sure how it got there: I've been using ubuntu for aprox.2 months now, and from yesterday, it wouldn't use the swapspace (resulting in heating up my ram chips sufficiently to fry some eggs and crashing the system once at that temperature). After letting it cool down, i rebooted and found (using gnome partition editor) that the swap was turned off. Problem solved as soon as i turned it back on.
Today, Same deal, but when going to switch it on, it said it didn't the partition was "unspecified". Using Windows Partition magic*, I reformatted it and then activated the swap again when in linux.

Why does it do this and how do i stop it?
thanks guys
Grey.

PS// The hibernate won't work either, it doesn't restore what I was doing when I wake the pc up either.

*Good thing I didn't get rid of windows yet. Funny, I've used Linux to fix bugs in windows before, never the other way round.
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post #2 of 10
6/16/07 at 11:52am
Hmm Hibernate can be picky about the systems it works on sometimes is my understanding.

However your swap space is a bit more troublesome(By the way if memory serves me, doesn't hibernate save TO the swap space before shutting down?)

Your Swap space is still listed in /etc/fstab correct?

Seablade
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post #3 of 10
6/16/07 at 12:14pm
Thread Starter 
Interesting, there is no /etc/fstab
If Hibernate uses swap space, then not activating the swap on boot up will therefore not restore the session. that's one out of the way.
Now what?
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post #4 of 10
6/16/07 at 2:02pm
How the heck did you delete your /etc/fstab?

And how is your system even booting without one, the /etc/fstab is what tells linux what paritions to map to where in your filesystem.

Post up how your HD is partitioned? Sounds like we will need to make you a new one.

Seablade
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post #5 of 10
6/16/07 at 6:28pm
Thread Starter 

My HD

Wait, hold it!!! (hold the phone as Shrek would say) Found it. Here it is:
Code:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
# /dev/sda6
UUID=60145589-850b-429e-a2cf-3f0f0d35e2f8 /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /dev/sda1
UUID=07D3-0A17  /media/sda1     vfat    defaults,utf8,umask=007,gid=46 0       1
# /dev/sda2
UUID=8424BF8724BF7B2E /media/sda2     ntfs    defaults,nls=utf8,umask=007,gid=46 0       1
# /dev/sda4
UUID=4659-71FD  /media/sda4     vfat    defaults,utf8,umask=007,gid=46 0       1
# /dev/sda5
UUID=1551d5d5-a62e-4a88-a685-35ac9a243f76 none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/scd0       /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto     0       0
As for the drive it's a 30gb hitachi drive (27.95gb formatted) > 54.88mb fat16 "dell utillity" > 7.36gb extended >> 972.65mb linux swap >> 6.41gb ext3 > 20.2gb ntfs "Windows C:" > 337.3mb fat32 "Lin-Win file exchange" I have been downloading a fair bit of stuff on my linux side, something mighta triggered it. [I edited the main post: it used to say linux didn't register the swap, but in fact it registers the partition as "unspecified". This has also been edited to make the code clearer.] Thanks Seablade
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post #6 of 10
6/16/07 at 9:15pm
Hmm next time use the CODE tags to keep the formatting, it is a bit difficult to read like that.

Hmm does Ubuntu REALLY use UUID for this stuff these days?

Ok myself, I would be looking at changing this line...

UUID=1551d5d5-a62e-4a88-a685-35ac9a243f76 none swap sw 0 0

to read....

/dev/sda5 none swap sw 0 0

Just because I can't understand the UUIDs and I know the /dev/sda5 is correct

Out of curiosity are all your other File Systems mounting correctly? For example I would be seeing this and thinking your sda1 sda3 and sda4 file systems are what you want mount at the various /media mount points. Mounting /dev/sda2 SHOULD be your extended partition, and thus should not be mounted if memory serves, yet according to their labeling at least it looks like they are trying to mount it...

But again keep in mind I don't deal in UUIDs myself, wouldn't have that in my fstab, I like to be able to glance at it and know EXACTLY what is supposed to happen

Seablade
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post #7 of 10
6/17/07 at 12:03pm
Thread Starter 
Other drives are mounting properly, I'm currently playing music from my C: drive.
Haven't encountered the "unspecified" in 24hrs now, I'm trying to edit it, but I don't know how to do stuff as root. I cannot login as root from the login screen, and I know very little about command line (just a few minor experiments of my own). I'm eager to learn though. So much for linux not crashing,

I'll see if I can edit the upper post with the code tag. What Linux distro do you use (if any? lol)
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post #8 of 10
6/17/07 at 3:11pm
I have used all sorts, though I have come to rest on Gentoo as I tend to like things my own way

to edit as the root user, just prefix your editing command with 'sudo'

So for instance if you use emacs to edit...

sudo emacs /etc/fstab

or with gedit...

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

or nano...

sudo nano /etc/fstab

I tend to use emacs, but many other people use nano, gedit, or whatever else they can as they are a bit easier.

When you activate swap by hand, do you have any problems doing so? Also does dmesg show any problems when doing so, or do any of your logs (/var/logs/...) show any problems during boot up that might help find the cause? You can also watch the boot process by pressing a key during the bootsplash, I believe it is still ESC on Ubuntu.

I would bet that your fstab is right, just a pain to read IMO If there are any error messages that could help us find the cause it might be good.

Seablade
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post #9 of 10
6/18/07 at 3:09pm
Thread Starter 
That's a bet you lost my friend. I changed the fstab as you said, (downloaded latest ubuntu updates), and had no problems since. Swap is activating itself on its own, leaving my ram alone. Thanks buddy, you've been a great help!

PS// hasn't fixed the hibernate problem. I had hibernation issues with version 6.10 as well.
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post #10 of 10
6/18/07 at 4:33pm
As I mentioned, hibernate can be picky depending on the ACPI implementation in your machine. Most cases ACPI RARELY gets implemented correctly.

Ah well I lost a bet, all the more reason NOT to use UUIDs for that IMO

On the flip side of this, I wonder if using the UUID means that installing new drives affects it less. I just deid a LOT of repair/upgrade work on my laptop and workstation, and had to jump through a hoop or two as I had to move around my boot drive so it was now sdb instead of sda, and had to change my fstab as a result. I wonder if the UUID would help in that situation?

Either way I prefer to be able to tell exactly what I am dealing with by looking at it. If I didn't I would use windows

Seablade
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