EXT4 with Arch?

jimmyjazz · 2009-01-31 21:53:20

anyone tried out EXT4 with Arch yet? If so any speed improvments? Is it worth the reinstall?

ahcaliskan · 2009-01-31 22:05:16

Here is all you need in this thread:
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=61602

Raccoon1400 · 2009-01-31 22:27:49

I just switched to ext4. It took about 3 sec off my boot.
Here's how I familiarized myself with the procedure:
-converted my vbox arch install
-converted a partition I was trying to install lfs on, on my real hard drive, to make sure arch could still read it
-the real thing

The vbox test told me exactly what to expect. I have everything on one partition, no seperate /var, or /home, so it was all or none.

These instructions:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Cre … t3_to_ext4

Last edited by Raccoon1400 (2009-01-31 22:28:35)

Bestiapeluda · 2009-02-03 14:54:50

you dont need to reinstall.
You can convert your existing root partition.
Just folow instructions in http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ext4

zyghom · 2009-02-03 15:43:51

I don't see any difference
I even reverted back to ext3

Ranguvar · 2009-02-03 15:56:34

zyghom wrote:

I don't see any difference
I even reverted back to ext3

If you don't want/notice what ext4 offers, then using a (possibly) more stable FS is the right choice.

iBertus · 2009-02-03 20:35:56

You can't revert back, once you've converted to extents then the ext3 driver will not mount the filesystem. Unlike previous iterations of ext, ext4 is not backward compatable in it's full form.

Raccoon1400 · 2009-02-03 21:27:17

zyghom wrote:

I don't see any difference
I even reverted back to ext3

if you didn't see any difference, why would it be worth a reinstall to switch back?
and, it fscks faster.

eerok · 2009-02-05 16:45:46

I just built a fresh new Arch install with ext4 to try it out. Not sure that I needed to, but I used a separate ext2 /boot partition to avoid problems with Grub. Everything seems good---my goal was to have a redundant install that was leaner and meaner than my old one, which has been running for a couple years and has accumulated lots of half-remembered packages and configs. (My complete new install---everything I use, really---is 4.2 GB and the old one is almost 12 GB.)

Anyway, ext4 seems okay. I wouldn't expect to see much difference in day to day use. What I do expect is good performance and lower fragmentation over time. I think it's also the future, so I might as well get in on it.

Up until now I've mostly been using jfs and ext3, but I'm prepared to migrate entirely to ext4 in the fullness of time.

EDIT: Some things do seem dramatically faster, but it is a leaner install, so it's hard to say very confidently why they're faster.

Last edited by eerok (2009-02-05 16:54:33)

robmaloy · 2009-02-06 08:18:05

zyghom wrote:

I don't see any difference
I even reverted back to ext3

ext4 keeps files in "ext3-mode" until you change them.

maybe a fresh install on a different partition is the best way to notice the differences

(i'll be getting a new laptop for work 2day and i'm gonna install arch with ext4)

btw: does grub support booting from ext4 already? google says there are some patches out there

edit: i think i'm gonna 'convert' to grub2 anyways...

Last edited by robmaloy (2009-02-06 08:32:22)

lucke · 2009-02-06 08:51:52

Arch's grub is patched to support ext4.

zyghom · 2009-02-06 09:36:35

finally I found a place for backup of my /home (160 GB) and I formated /home to be ext4
lets see how it will work on ext4 now for big partition (my previous post was about additional 5GB partition so maybe I did not see any difference - with 120 GB data it might be more obvious)

Ranguvar · 2009-02-06 12:17:42

lucke wrote:

Arch's grub is patched to support ext4.

And GRUB 2 SVN supports ext4 as well (with extents, etc.).

Last edited by Ranguvar (2009-02-06 12:17:56)

Raccoon1400 · 2009-02-07 03:45:13

gparted now supports ext4

eerok · 2009-02-09 19:59:42

Meh, even Sidux supports ext4 with no extra fussing now, so this whole subject is officially stale

Last edited by eerok (2009-02-09 20:00:06)

sargate · 2009-02-10 18:29:27

Maybe is a silly question, but in my /boot, it will be faster ext2 or ext4?

zyghom · 2009-02-10 18:37:43

sargate wrote:

Maybe is a silly question, but in my /boot, it will be faster ext2 or ext4?

do you really think loading 2MB matters ?

Bogart · 2009-02-11 10:58:45

I got a new computer so I decided to install on Ext4 directly. So far so good, except for a small detail. I mount the filesystem using the options noatime,barrier=0 (in /etc/fstab), but my dmesg says "EXT4-fs: barriers enabled". Anyone has any clue of why it doesn't disable barriers as I tell it to do?

#EDIT#
In fact, barriers are disabled regardles of what dmesg says.

Last edited by Bogart (2009-02-14 15:52:27)

scottuss · 2009-02-21 16:45:24

Running on ext4 here, seems good so far

1LordAnubis · 2009-02-21 17:43:40

Same, I've noticed that it boots faster, and I can do several things faster, but it also seems like it takes a little longer to check dependencies before updating my system (or maybe its just me)
I reformatted my thinkpad to ext4 with barriers off, great performance. But I think I'll wait until 2.6.29 before I upgrade my main computer to ext4 if nothing happens with my thinkpad

tkdfighter · 2009-02-22 01:38:06

lucke wrote:

Arch's grub is patched to support ext4.

Grub is also patched to support ZFS
Now if only BTRFS were to be stable enough to use ... (I know, 2.6.29, but it will still take lots of time to be _really_ stable)

tjtag · 2009-02-22 05:03:38

I wonder if we see this effect because intially the partition is mounted ro, barrier=1 until sysint remounts it rw, etc ?

once the boot is complete and fstab has been read, cat /proc/mounts shows

tornado_x64 ~
> cat /proc/mounts
rootfs / rootfs rw 0 0
/dev/root / ext4 rw,barrier=0,data=ordered 0 0
none /dev ramfs rw 0 0
none /proc proc rw 0 0
none /sys sysfs rw 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts rw,mode=600 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs rw 0 0
/dev/sda10 /data ext4 rw,barrier=0,data=ordered,inode_readahead_blks=64 0 0

on my system, appropriately

with this fstab:
#
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
#
# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0

#/dev/cdrom /media/cd auto ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0
#/dev/dvd /media/dvd auto ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0
#/dev/fd0 /media/fl auto user,noauto 0 0

/dev/sda5 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/sda6 / ext4 rw,barrier=0 0 1
/dev/sda10 /data ext4 barrier=0,inode_readahead_blks=64 0 2

Last edited by tjtag (2009-02-22 05:09:20)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-01-31 21:53:20

EXT4 with Arch?

#2 2009-01-31 22:05:16

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#3 2009-01-31 22:27:49

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#4 2009-02-03 14:54:50

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#5 2009-02-03 15:43:51

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#6 2009-02-03 15:56:34

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#7 2009-02-03 20:35:56

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#8 2009-02-03 21:27:17

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#9 2009-02-05 16:45:46

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#10 2009-02-06 08:18:05

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#11 2009-02-06 08:51:52

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#12 2009-02-06 09:36:35

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#13 2009-02-06 12:17:42

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#14 2009-02-07 03:45:13

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#15 2009-02-09 19:59:42

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#16 2009-02-10 18:29:27

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#17 2009-02-10 18:37:43

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#18 2009-02-11 10:58:45

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#19 2009-02-21 16:45:24

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#20 2009-02-21 17:43:40

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#21 2009-02-22 01:38:06

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

#22 2009-02-22 05:03:38

Re: EXT4 with Arch?

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