Two PS3 Linux Performance Tweaks

[H.axen]

WARNING: I have tried both of these commands in YDL. The first one (sysctl ...) works perfectly. However, I do not recommend it because it reduces the amount of hard disk swap usage. This is fine for Linux systems that have RAM of 512 megs or better, but the PS3 has only 256 megs RAM available to it in Linux, so it needs to rely heavily on the hard drive swap file.

The other command (hdparm ...) does not exist in YDL, it is meant for Ubuntu users.

1. In YDL or Ubuntu, login as root and you can then run the command in a terminal window:

sysctl -w vm.swappiness=10

To make the change permanent, do the following:

If using Ubuntu, in the terminal type

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

(if you don't have gedit, type sudo apt-get install gedit, then perform the above step)

If using YDL, use either vi or nano to edit the sysctl.conf file in a terminal window.

In the sysctl.conf file, add this line at the bottom of the page:

vm.swappiness=10

Save your edits and exit the editor and the terminal window.

Congratulations! You just forced Linux to use the PS3's RAM more often instead of virtual RAM on the Hard Drive (known as swap file...it's 100 times slower than RAM access). Well, that's fine if you are running a really light distro and desktop manager such as XCFE, this might be a good mod. If you are running a resource heavy desktop manager and run a lot of concurrent apps, do not make this permanent.

2. This next trick also involves the use of a terminal window and only works in Ubuntu.

At the prompt, type:

sudo hdparm -C3 -A1 -a256 /dev/ps3da1

This is a combination of a few things that makes Linux a little more snappy in general.

[gnosis]

I don't think the above commands are written for YDL users.

Any update on applying these performance improvements under YDL?

Thanks!

[H.axen]

you can use vi or nano as a text editor from within a terminal window, or edit the sysctl.conf file within your desktop manager, just make sure you login as root.

I will try this tonight.

[H.axen]

I tried both of these in YDL. See my WARNING edit to the first post.

[gnosis]

Thanks H.axen, I appreciate you looking into that

Oddly enough I didn't notice that sysctl worked in YDL. I did edit the sysctl.conf file while mucking around but glad to hear your views on the issue.