How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

After fiddling around for a while and removing almost everything unnecessary I managed to get a upto 104.1 MB free.

Just wondering, is it possible to go even further?

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

please do you remember or could you tell us what files you removed ?
and does anything goes wrong after removing them ?
just want to free some more :D
and about your question as you said you can only remove what is not needed and the rest is a files for the system . i think

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

@gearspec,

There's no answer to your question. Anything above zero is OK. Your root file system is on a chip that is way faster than the embedded MMC, so moving system files away from / serves no purpose, unless you really need the space for something else.

It's the same as with RAM. The more free RAM, the more you're wasting resources for no particular reason.

Would you buy a car with 300HP only to drive at 80km/h on a German Autobahn? I wouldn't either.

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

Initially it was 113 MB free. As I installed couple of libraries it was down to 104.4 MB

The device has no issues. Mostly because, nothing related to system functionality was removed.

Performed tasks:
A) Used Tanner's moveroot script.( http://wiki.maemo.org/User:Tanner )
B) Removed these via:
------------------------------------------
1. Amazon Installer
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove amazon-installer

2. AP News Installer
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove ap-installer

3. Document To Go Installer
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove dtg-installer

4. Foreca Installer
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove foreca-installer

5. tutorial-home-applet
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove tutorial-home-applet osso-tutorial*
rm -rf /usr/share/tutorial-applet

6. RSS
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove osso-rss-feed-reader*

7. Blocks
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove maemoblocks

8. Chess
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove gnuchess osso-graphics-game-chess osso-sounds-game-chess

9. Mahjong
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove osso-mahjong osso-graphics-game-mahjong osso-sounds-game-mahjong

10. Marbles
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove osso-lmarbles osso-graphics-game-lmarbles

11. games
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove osso-games* hildon-games-wrapper0

12. Backup
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove osso-backup*

13. User Guide
rm /usr/share/applications/hildon/user-guide.desktop

14. OVI Promotion Widget
apt-get --purge --auto-remove remove ovi-promotion-widget
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also removed Nokia Maps since I live in Bangladesh, and ovi maps isn't as updated as Google maps. microB and google maps works fine.

apt-get remove nokia-maps-core
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pretty much followed everything in http://wiki.maemo.org/Free_up_rootfs_space
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Extras Devel and Extras Testing is only added when something is required. Removed and cleaned once the needed apps are installed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removed all language except English.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have the following installed on the n900:

Dr.NokSnes
nGEO gui
nGEO (metal slug series rocks)
Easy Debian
--g++
--gcc
--Wings3D
--Apache
--MySQL
--BlueFish
Mypaint
LeafPad
FCamera
Mobile Hotspot
Midnight Commander
USB Host Mode
Power Kernel
Clean n900
--------------------
System never crashed or had any trouble. MicroB and everything else works fine.

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

Dear Friend I have also same problem rootfs space problem nothing install i want to install Android in Nokia N900 I have restore my nokia and clean from setting but its' problem plz some body help to :confused:

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

I seem to remember having heard or read somewhere that you start hitting lockup issues when a system is used to >75% of its capacity. That applies to any system, be it a production line, motorway, network bandwidth or rootfs space.

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

What issues do you mean? I think I have already used more than 75% of rootfs memory.

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

I'd say it's more the opposite. In general (and specially in a production line), you want to maximize utilisation. Same for bandwidth.

With disk/memory space the issue is a bit more tricky. If you use up all RAM and suddenly more RAM is needed, the allocation will either fail (e.g. if no swap) or take much longer (swapping).

With disk space there is no "swap" concept, so writing will fail. Most programs don't handle errors correctly (if at all, unfortunately), so random programs may randomly crash.

In the particular case of flash memory (rootfs, mmc, emmc), due to the wear levelling, you always need some extra free space so that writing will work.

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

You're going to have to explain your problem in more detail. Preferably in another thread, as this thread is related to a *question* not a *problem*. Opening a new thread doesn't cost you anything, and makes everything cleaner.

But before you do that, I'd suggest you use the search function on this forum (once you've identified which problem you have, if any).

Re: How much space should be free in rootFS?
 

Sorry in advance about the verbosity. I am typing this in a hurry. It might have found a more concise way of expressing myself if I had more time.

Yes, that is the most common assumption. The whole American (and, since we monkey everything after the Americans, European too) production system is based on that. However, there was once a company that stopped assuming and started measuring. They found that, perhaps counter-intuitively, utilizing your production line close to full capacity is detrimental to its throughput. Any small variation at any link in the chain causes huge dropouts in productivity. Their findings were one of the bases for the Toyota Production System, or TPS as it has become commonly known.

Have you ever wondered why, driving along the motorway, minding your own business, the traffic suddenly slows down and stops? There must be some kind of obstacle ahead, you might think. An accident, perhaps? Then the traffic starts moving again, you drive on, and - no accident, no obstacles. What has caused the holdup? The answer is, the motorway was utilized close to its full capacity. A minor fluctuation - someone trying to change lanes, for example - has triggered a wave that propagated backwards, up to the point when the whole traffic stopped.

Now substitute the word motorway with production line, network or disk and traffic with production, bandwidth or availability. Any fluid system needs some slack to work, well, fluidly. Experiments put the slack at about 20-25%.

If you look in the nature, no living system operates with such a small slack. Your lungs only absorb about 10% of the oxygen you breathe in (which is how it is possible that "kiss of life" works in the first place). I have heard various estimates of how much we use our brains, but the estimates are never higher than about 10%. Only one sperm out of many thousands fertilizes the egg. Why do we need the others? The answer is again, mother nature has discovered, through the process of natural selection, that the more slack the better chances of success.

Bringing it back to the topic, I try to keep the free space on any storage (including rootfs in my N900) above 25% of its full capacity. And I know from experience that whenever I neglected that, through laziness or lack of resources, I inevitably hit some problems later.