swap_pager indefinite wait buffer - question - SOLVED

[PeerCorps Trust Fund]

It certainly is, although the machines are actually running stock FreeBSD 10.1. 

PC-BSD was an option in the beginning, but because these were older computers it was easier to build a low-resource install enabling only basic services such as NFS rather than trying to pare down a PC-BSD install to suit the needs of the project (which is a basic KDE-based workstation). 

Most of those desktops had only one gigabyte of RAM ad PC-BSD uses a lot of resources. We learned a lot in the process and will be implementing modified libraries in the coming year using donated computer equipment. 

I think many underestimate the enormous value that such projects have in these communities. Just having access to books and educational material is tremendously beneficial from a development perspective.

On 12/26/2014 01:12 PM, Carsten Mattner wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 26, 2014 at 12:43 AM, PeerCorps Trust Fund
> <ipc at peercorpstrust.org> wrote:
>> Indeed in Tanzania :) we have a couple of technology initiatives taking place at the
>> moment and *BSD is at the center in many ways. The delivery of educational
>> materials and books to resource-limited communities is an important aim of
>> these initiatives.
>>
>> We actually used FreeBSD in our first effort, but want to experiment with some
>> of the capabilities of DragonflyBSD and HAMMER in the next one. In our
>> estimation we can possibly stretch our hardware and funds a bit further with
>> DragonflyBSD/HAMMER owing to its low resource requirements.
> 
> Ah nice. Is it the same project we heard recently of with photos of a library
> room running PCBSD machines with a video and document library?
> 
> 
>> On 12/25/2014 11:20 PM, Carsten Mattner wrote:
>>> On Thu, Dec 25, 2014 at 7:08 PM, PeerCorps Trust Fund
>>> <ipc at peercorpstrust.org> wrote:
>>>> I just wanted to take the opportunity update a previous post that I made to the
>>>> list concerning a swap_pager concern. It isn't an issue at all but the fault of my
>>>> own ignorance and hardware limits.
>>>>
>>>> The external drive in question was simply not pulling enough power from the
>>>> USB port of the laptop. This was likely resulting in a stalled drive when anything
>>>> substantial was being copied to it.
>>>>
>>>> This has since been solved by connecting the drive first to an externally powered
>>>> USB hub. So, if there is anyone else out there having a similar issue, trying this
>>>> seems to do the trick. Alternatively, just use a drive that is powered externally.
>>>>
>>>> Everything works beautifully now and this low cost experiment for a simple file
>>>> server will find a home in a school classroom next year.
>>>
>>> In Tanzania?
>>>
>>> FreeBSD had a writeup about a set of PCBSD machines installed in Nigeria IIRC.
>>>
>>> A blog post or other writeup to link on dragonflybsd.org would surely be nice.
>>>
>>

-- 
Michael L. Wilson
International Project Coordinator
PeerCorps Trust Fund - Tanzania