reiser4 how?

lord_zlayer · 2008-07-11 10:11:41

hi everyone!
Sorry if this has been posted.

Im gonna install arch on my comp again cuz i miss it so much so i thought i would try reiser4 but i dont know how to make my new partitions with it. cuz i cant choose it in the setup when managing the disks.
so i hoped someone could share some light to me :-)

And btw i reiser4 a bad idea? or should i use the older one?

Greatly thanks in advance!

Ps. im writing with my mobile so i hope it doesnt look too bad.

Back2Cali · 2008-07-11 10:53:36

I don't think that the arch install cd supports reiser4. It definitely does not support it as a filesystem in the installer. Let's assume you can't even access reiser4 with the install cd. In this case you would need to do a base install and after that you would have to install all reiser4 tools into the system. Your /boot folder needs to be on a seperate partition since grub doesn't support reiser4 afaik. After that you have to boot into a live cd supporting reiser4 and start creating a partition with reiser4. You need to manually copy all your files from the regular arch partitions to the new reiser4 partitions (or use one partition as temporary, copying everything to it, formating the former partition with reiser4 and copying everything back) and later on adjust your /etc/fstab.
There are quiet some things that might could go wrong and than your system won't boot. Besides that I would also not recommend reiser4 because of the recent developments in Hans Reisers trial for murder. He finally comminted the murder after a deal was offered to him to be only convicted as second degree murder. I personally don't know if that was the last deathblow for reiser4 but I know that also ext4 is on its way and you should rather consider using ext3 since it can late be upgraded to ext4 without the need to format your partitions. Or maybe you want to take a look at other filesystems, depending on your needs.

But again, I personally would not use reiser4. I switched to it 2 years ago and went back after half a year when the tendency lommed ahead that reiser4 will not be supported a lot. I had to copy everything back on ext3 (which I chose over the other filesystems) and tuned it a little bit to increase speed. I'm looking forward to ext4 because it seems that by using extends the speed (which was obviously always a major reason for a lot people to consider reiserfs or others) will increase a lot! So maybe you want to check on ext3/4?

I hope that helped!

lucke · 2008-07-11 11:03:45

You'd also need to build a kernel with reiser4 support.

Last edited by lucke (2008-07-11 11:03:56)

Inxsible · 2008-07-11 14:03:36

I would also advise on holding off on using reiser4, what with the company going through a hell lot and nobody being very sure about the future of it.

Not to mention the additional headaches you need to go thru like building your own kernel for supporting it etc. What you need to ask yourself is, "Is it worth it?"

Is there any specific reason you were going for reiser4 ?

EXT3 and xfs are good options to consider as well.

I use a mix of filesystems depending on the usage of that particular partition: EXT2 for /boot, reiserfs (not reiser4) for /var, and ext3 for the rest of the partitions.

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-07-11 14:04:55)

dhave · 2008-07-11 15:20:31

Inxsible wrote:

I use a mix of filesystems depending on the usage of that particular partition: EXT2 for /boot, reiserfs (not reiser4) for /var, and ext3 for the rest of the partitions.

I guess this is hijacking the thread, but I'm interested in the rationale for using these specific file systems in each case. I might like to do likewise.

Inxsible · 2008-07-11 15:44:18

dhave wrote:

Inxsible wrote:
I use a mix of filesystems depending on the usage of that particular partition: EXT2 for /boot, reiserfs (not reiser4) for /var, and ext3 for the rest of the partitions.
I guess this is hijacking the thread, but I'm interested in the rationale for using these specific file systems in each case. I might like to do likewise.

1) /boot - this partition is changed only if there are kernel updates and you need to change the menu.lst file. Since writes to this are relatively less, the fragmentation is also minimal - if any, so you don't really need the journalling capabilities of EXT3. Ext2, unlike EXT3, does not give automatic fscking...but considering that this partition is always small (mine is 128MB - with only 11 MB used) the fscking is always fast too..in case there is some problem.
The beginners guide suggests a boot partition of 32 MB - but I keep it at 128 in case I install multiple kernels etc. - i guess 64MB would do too

2) /var - this partition usually contains a large number of files which are very small in size. This is true for all distros but more so for Arch. reiserfs is known to have better performance in such a scenario as opposed to ext3 or others. There are many threads on this forum as well as others which confirm that after the op changed it to reiserfs - their installing has become faster.

3) other partitions - Here you have a choice - I use EXT3 because I have been using EXT2 since I first installed linux and most ppl at that time used ext2 - which graduated to ext3. Lot of people also use XFS which is known to have better performance with huge files. I think EXT3 offers a good balance...because I am never sure whether my home partition will have all huge files or not..same with my external drive...so i just use EXT3

If you have a specific partition for movies or some video/audio editing that you do..you may wanna consider XFS too. I don't do all that...so I have never used XFS. I wouldn't know the exact performance difference between ext3 and XFS.

One thing that makes me wanna keep EXT3 is that EXT4 is coming out (soon?) and you can upgrade from 3 to 4 without having to reformat and having to make backups of your current data.

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-07-11 15:51:27)

dhave · 2008-07-11 15:48:48

Inxsible wrote:

1) /boot - this partition is changed only [...]
2) /var - this partition usually contains [...]
3) other partitions - Here you have a choice [...]

Thanks for the info, Inxible. It looks like you thought this through pretty carefully.

Inxsible · 2008-07-11 15:53:31

I just thought of another reason to have EXT3

You can use the ext2ifs driver and have windows access EXT3 partitions. Maybe there is something similar for XFS as well...I am not sure.

dhave wrote:

Thanks for the info, Inxible. It looks like you thought this through pretty carefully.

and you are welcome

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-07-11 15:54:01)

lord_zlayer · 2008-07-11 17:41:05

Thx for your great replies!

I just wanted to try out reiser4 just for curiosity but after i read your replies i think i will go reiserfs for /var and ext3 for the rest, maybe xfs for a disk with movies, but not sure.

buttons · 2008-07-11 19:42:22

The reality of the situation is that reiser4 isn't usable right now, and probably never will be. The kernel developers have never been particularly keen on reiser4, and development has stagnated in light of recent events.

If you want to live on the bleeding edge, ext4 is right around the corner...

moljac024 · 2008-07-11 20:23:02

I've also heard that reiser has a tendency of losing data. Never wanted to try it out anyway. I don't want to experiment with my file systems so I choose the safe and stable and proven ext3. Also looking forward to ext4

carlocci · 2008-07-11 21:01:13

well the reiserfs both have an amazing feature compared to other FS
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit … 6#Features

buttons · 2008-07-11 21:05:59

carlocci wrote:

well the reiserfs both have an amazing feature compared to other FS
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit … 6#Features

Dammit! We ALMOST got through an entire thread about reiser4 without a wife-icidal joke.

Inxsible · 2008-07-11 21:20:14

That's highly inappropriate on a wiki page, IMO. I am glad its an old revision and the newer version doesn't have all that bullshit.

Its hardly the developers' fault that their boss is/may be a criminal and I am sure Reiser was not the "sole" developer on it.
And in any case technology has nothing to do witha person's morality. I am sure people are probably buying books written by other criminals like Martha Stewart and O.J.Simpson.

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-07-11 21:23:28)

z0phi3l · 2008-07-11 21:33:58

Inxsible wrote:

I just thought of another reason to have EXT3
You can use the ext2ifs driver and have windows access EXT3 partitions. Maybe there is something similar for XFS as well...I am not sure.
dhave wrote:
Thanks for the info, Inxible. It looks like you thought this through pretty carefully.
and you are welcome

ext2fs doesn't work well at all from my experience

I ended up copying the files and having to reformat the drive in question.

Inxsible · 2008-07-11 22:16:12

z0phi3l wrote:

ext2fs doesn't work well at all from my experience
I ended up copying the files and having to reformat the drive in question.

That's strange !!

I have never had any problems. IT even worked on one of my Vista partitions.

moljac024 · 2008-07-11 22:52:48

Inxsible wrote:

I have never had any problems. IT even worked on one of my Vista partitions.

I use ext2fs with windows but I mount my ext3 partition as read-only because windows screwed it up once.

Inxsible wrote:

That's highly inappropriate on a wiki page, IMO. I am glad its an old revision and the newer version doesn't have all that bullshit.
Its hardly the developers' fault that their boss is/may be a criminal and I am sure Reiser was not the "sole" developer on it.
And in any case technology has nothing to do witha person's morality. I am sure people are probably buying books written by other criminals like Martha Stewart and O.J.Simpson.

I agree, totally distasteful. I was surprised to see that on Wikipedia.

Last edited by moljac024 (2008-07-11 22:53:40)

Arch Linux

#1 2008-07-11 10:11:41

reiser4 how?

#2 2008-07-11 10:53:36

Re: reiser4 how?

#3 2008-07-11 11:03:45

Re: reiser4 how?

#4 2008-07-11 14:03:36

Re: reiser4 how?

#5 2008-07-11 15:20:31

Re: reiser4 how?

#6 2008-07-11 15:44:18

Re: reiser4 how?

#7 2008-07-11 15:48:48

Re: reiser4 how?

#8 2008-07-11 15:53:31

Re: reiser4 how?

#9 2008-07-11 17:41:05

Re: reiser4 how?

#10 2008-07-11 19:42:22

Re: reiser4 how?

#11 2008-07-11 20:23:02

Re: reiser4 how?

#12 2008-07-11 21:01:13

Re: reiser4 how?

#13 2008-07-11 21:05:59

Re: reiser4 how?

#14 2008-07-11 21:20:14

Re: reiser4 how?

#15 2008-07-11 21:33:58

Re: reiser4 how?

#16 2008-07-11 22:16:12

Re: reiser4 how?

#17 2008-07-11 22:52:48

Re: reiser4 how?

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