I have a windows 7 system and am using an 8 GB SD card as L2 cache. I am not using any PrimoCache L1 caching features. Boot time and application startups were very fast. All was amazing until the SD card got full.
I am now getting periodic system freezes several seconds long. My guess is that freezes are caused by erase and write amplification associated with replacing cache data on the SD card. My cache got big from normal use but probably mainly due to weekly backups.
I can fix this for a few weeks by deleting the cache and creating a new one. I see that others here are pausing the cache before doing a backup. My backups are automated so that's not a great solution. Maybe Romex or someone else has a better suggestion.
System freezing
Re: System freezing
The purpose is to decrease as much as possible the useless L2Storage Write value.
Each day my PrimoCache is paused from 00:55 PM to 05:00 PM.
From 01:00 to 02:00 - Diskeeper can defrag the targeted disk (System & Applications) and read a lot of never used blocks.
At 02:00 - A Windows update can happend and Malicious Software Removal Tool run, reading a lot of never used blocks.
From 02:30 to 04:00 - Norton Ghost backups the targeted disk and read a lot of never used blocks (incremential or complete backup).
So, my L2Storage Write is about 500 MB/day.
What's about your L2Storage Write value?
Each day my PrimoCache is paused from 00:55 PM to 05:00 PM.
From 01:00 to 02:00 - Diskeeper can defrag the targeted disk (System & Applications) and read a lot of never used blocks.
At 02:00 - A Windows update can happend and Malicious Software Removal Tool run, reading a lot of never used blocks.
From 02:30 to 04:00 - Norton Ghost backups the targeted disk and read a lot of never used blocks (incremential or complete backup).
So, my L2Storage Write is about 500 MB/day.
What's about your L2Storage Write value?
Re: System freezing
I agree with idefix44. Running a backup, updates, virus scanners will quickly fill up your SD card. If you cannot prevent that, so be it.
- Call up the properties/policies of the SD disk drive via Device Manager. Make sure "Enable write caching on the device" is checked. If the SD card is firmly fixed in a bay (or something) so that it cannot be accidentally removed, also check "Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing of the device". This might help to speed up data movement on the card.
- Disable L2 and format the SD card as a normal NTFS or FAT32 drive. Copy files until the card is almost full. Copy the same files again and choose "overwrite". Do you see the same freezes? If so, the card itself may have trouble. Replacing it by a high-speed card might help.
- Of the 8 GB L2 volume, try setting Primo to use only 6 or 7 GB instead of 8. Possibly the SD might have more breathing space, preventing it from getting into trouble when full.
- Call up the properties/policies of the SD disk drive via Device Manager. Make sure "Enable write caching on the device" is checked. If the SD card is firmly fixed in a bay (or something) so that it cannot be accidentally removed, also check "Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing of the device". This might help to speed up data movement on the card.
- Disable L2 and format the SD card as a normal NTFS or FAT32 drive. Copy files until the card is almost full. Copy the same files again and choose "overwrite". Do you see the same freezes? If so, the card itself may have trouble. Replacing it by a high-speed card might help.
- Of the 8 GB L2 volume, try setting Primo to use only 6 or 7 GB instead of 8. Possibly the SD might have more breathing space, preventing it from getting into trouble when full.
Re: System freezing
Thanks for the suggestions.
Is there a way to schedule the cache pause or is that something you have to do manually?
I'm getting several GB of L2 cache writes per day.
I have now enabled Windows write caching on my SD card. I have also set it to use only 6 of the 8 GB card for cache. I'll see if this helps.
I'm also thinking it may be beneficial to reboot the computer more often to make sure system startup files are accessed often enough to stay in the cache.
Is there a way to schedule the cache pause or is that something you have to do manually?
I'm getting several GB of L2 cache writes per day.
I have now enabled Windows write caching on my SD card. I have also set it to use only 6 of the 8 GB card for cache. I'll see if this helps.
I'm also thinking it may be beneficial to reboot the computer more often to make sure system startup files are accessed often enough to stay in the cache.
Re: System freezing
I use the CLI to pause and resume PrimoCache.
http://www.romexsoftware.com/en-us/prim ... rface.html
http://www.romexsoftware.com/en-us/prim ... rface.html
Re: System freezing
If you were to use a 32 GB SD card, you will never have or rarely have this problem. I upgrade from a 16GB to a 32GB Sandisk Extreme Plus and the delay problem just ran away. My SD card never get fill up to 20GB.
Re: System freezing
Nice to see that I'm not the only one having this problem. Things are quite nice on freshly formatted storage until it gets near full. Fortunately that happens before the 90 day evaluation expires.
Larger devices and reduced L2 cache writes definitely improve things. I've seen it on SSDs and class 6 SD cards and crappy USB drives so I think I can happen no matter how fast your storage device is.
Is there any chance Romex is going to address this common and very annoying problem?
Larger devices and reduced L2 cache writes definitely improve things. I've seen it on SSDs and class 6 SD cards and crappy USB drives so I think I can happen no matter how fast your storage device is.
Is there any chance Romex is going to address this common and very annoying problem?
Re: System freezing
wish they can do a 10% cap of the max set l2cache.
Re: System freezing
I think you can do this with the FDISK utility. Leave some portion of the disk unallocated and then instruct PrimoCache to use all of the primary partition.