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====Swap Files====
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==Automatic creation==
~See [[http://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=00863 Automatic creation of a swap file when R.A.M.≤256MB (blog post)]].

==How to manually create a swap file==

With Puppy 2.//x// and later when using a pup_save file, Puppy will use these files for swap on boot if in same directory as the pup_save file : WIN386.SWP, PAGEFILE.SYS, pup.swp and, with Puppy 2.01, pupswap.swp. Puppy 2.01 and later will create a swap file if needed in same dir as pup_save if needed, unless using 2.02 or later which won't create one if not one of the following file systems: msdos (FAT12/16), vfat (FAT32), ext2, ext3, reiserfs, minix

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This is a procedure for building a swap file, that is, simply a file rather than a partition.
Puts the swap file on the same partition that holds the personal data file (pup<i>xxx</i> or pup_save*.3fs).
This has been tested on Win98SE and a different procedure is needed for WinXP.
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Note: For WinXP which uses **NTFS**, replace the **dd** step with:
if /mnt/home is an NTFS drive, do not use dd (writing to your NTFS drive can corrupt the file system)
... boot to Windows and create the file by typing something like:
fsutil file createnew C:\pup.swp 512000000
then boot Puppy again
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Short on memory? Under 128MB is. Then build a swap file.
Go to Start > Run > Rxvt
Type, then press Enter:
**dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/home/puppy.swp bs=1024 count=800k **
Be patient. This will take several minutes.
That 800k translates to 800MB (819,200KB).
So decrease according to available disk space.

Type, then press Enter:
**mkswap /mnt/home/puppy.swp **
Type, then press Enter:
**swapon /mnt/home/puppy.swp**
Go to Start > File Managers > uXplor
Drill down to **/root/.etc/rc.d/rc.local** and right-click and select edit.
Add this line to the bottom:
**swapon /mnt/home/puppy.swp**
Save the file. This will turn on the swap file upon next boot.


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====Alternative description====

find somewhere to put the swap file ... type:
df -h
to see how much free space you have on each partition

create an empty swap file:
for example, to make a 512 meg swap file on /mnt/home called pup.swp, type:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/home/pup.swp bs=1M count=512

if /mnt/home is an NTFS drive, do not use dd (writing to your NTFS drive can corrupt the file system) ... boot to Windows and create the file by typing something like:
fsutil file createnew C:\pup.swp 512000000
then boot Puppy again

make the empty file a swap file:
mkswap /mnt/home/pup.swp

mount the swap file:
swapon /mnt/home/pup.swp

you can see if it's working by typing:
free

to automatically mount the swap file when Puppy boots, put a line like this in an init file, like /etc/rc.d/rc.local:
swapon /mnt/home/pup.swp

See also [[http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic.php?t=3046 this forum topic]] if having problems with NTFS.

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Got a swap partition? Use it instead of building a swap file.
This assumes you have a hard disk partition defined as a swap partition.
That won't be enough.
You need to use mkswap before Puppy Linux can automatically recognize it at boot time.
In this example, the swap partition is the 7th partition on the first hard disk drive.
Change appropriately for your system.
Go to Start > Run > Rxvt
Type, then press Enter:
**mkswap /dev/hda7 **
Type, then press Enter:
**swapon /dev/hda7**
Upon re-boot the swap partition will be recognized.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=556497#556497

==Also See==
~[[SwapFileManager Swap File Manager]]

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==Categories==
CategoryComponent
CategoryFileSystem