Arch Linux

lknows

Member

Registered: 2014-10-11

Posts: 9

how should a SSD cache be partitioned upon installation?

I know there are various wiki pages for creating a bcache, but none of them seem to go into detail about how they should initially be partitioned.
In my case, lsblk shows an sda partition (1 and 2) which is my live USB stick, a sdb partition which is my SSD cache, and a sdc (1 and 2) which is my machines main HD partition.
Do I need to clean my SSD partition or should I just leave it alone? The wikis don't seem to address the situation as if the user has yet to install arch yet.

vixsomnis

Member

Registered: 2014-09-28

Posts: 4

Re: how should a SSD cache be partitioned upon installation?

If you're still stuck on this, use $(wipefs -a /dev/sdbX) on the partition, then use $(make-bcache --wipe-bcache -C /dev/sdbX). There's nothing in the wiki about this, but the tool itself provides some help when it encounters an error.

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: how should a SSD cache be partitioned upon installation?

If you're still stuck on this, use $(wipefs -a /dev/sdbX) on the partition, then use $(make-bcache --wipe-bcache -C /dev/sdbX). There's nothing in the wiki about this, but the tool itself provides some help when it encounters an error.

Alternatively, you could try to use the Security Erase feature of the SSD if it supports it.  This will effectively zero out the entire drive.  Then you can go back and try getting bcache working again and not have to worry about lingering superblocks from old filesystems.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/SS … l_clearing

I like to use this when I need to clear out an SSD because it tends to be super fast.  It is also amazingly easy to use as well (you just need hdparm).