Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!munnari.oz.au!metro!ipso!runxtsa!brucee
From: brucee@runxtsa.runx.oz.au (Bruce Evans)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Buffer cache thrashing: was (Re: p.c for Minix)
Message-ID: <2059@runxtsa.runx.oz.au>
Date: 27 Jul 90 21:00:58 GMT
References: <25595@nigel.udel.EDU>
Organization: RUNX Unix Timeshare.  Sydney, Australia.
Lines: 18

In article <25595@nigel.udel.EDU> eo@ansa.co.uk (Ed Oskiewicz) writes:
>thrashing in ST/1.5.10. I converted mg1b, a public domain gnu-emacs
>...
>chmem'd to 100K it has given me no problems.
>
>Recently when trying to write out a 43K file it took a very long
>time as there was only disc activity about every 30 seconds (like

Buffer thrashing would probably only occur while reading. Perhaps
the write is going through stdio unbuffered, due to malloc failing.
This can happen even with lots of memory if the application mallocs
everything before stdio has a chance. Success with another compiler
and stdio may be mainly luck.

The buffer thrashing in 1.5.2 was only alive for a couple of days.
-- 
Bruce Evans
Internet: brucee@runxtsa.runx.oz.au    UUCP: uunet!runxtsa.runx.oz.au!brucee