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From: mwm@eris.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Facc mini-review
Message-ID: <3846@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Wed, 3-Jun-87 06:01:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: jade.3846
Posted: Wed Jun  3 06:01:39 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 6-Jun-87 07:06:11 EDT
References: <326@esunix.UUCP> <338@rocky.STANFORD.EDU> <3204@well.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@jade.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer)
Organization: Missionaria Phonibalonica
Lines: 50
Keywords: facc cache disk accelerator nice program

In article <3204@well.UUCP> perry@well.UUCP (Perry S. Kivolowitz) writes:
<In article <338@rocky.STANFORD.EDU>, rokicki@rocky.STANFORD.EDU (Tomas Rokicki) writes:
<> Perry!
<> 
<> 	Why couldn't you have used the AvailMem lists and used *all*
<> *free* *memory*?  This is what I was afraid of . . . I don't want to
<> set another buffer size which I shouldn't need to set!
<
<Are we reading each other? Facc allows buffers to be added or taken away
<at will (at any time). Why  would you want to take up ALL of memory with
<disk buffers automatically? What's the beef here?
<
<Pooh.
<	Perry


No, you're not reading each other. What Tom wants is for the buffer
cache to automatically use memory as it's freed, and automatically
give up buffers when memory gets tight, preferably by replacing the
memory management routines with your own. In other words, to always be
using all of free memory.

While I'm here (really, the justification for posting), I'd like to
ask some questions about FACC:

1) Is there any way to make the window attached to it go away? Or at
least make it small enough to hide under a menu-bar clock? Unless I'm
tuning the thing, I don't want some extraneous window cluttering up my
display.

2) What happens if I tell it to use lots of buffers, then need the
memory back? For example, I've got a full C development system loaded
and running (even as I type; a multi-tasking terminal is a thing of
joy), and have 2493K of free FAST memory - I'd like to give the buffer
cache 1760K of that. Later, I want to load something else, and forget
that I've got FACC running with lotsa-buffers. Will I just run out of
memory, or will FACC be intelligent and size itself downward?

Basically, the second question reiterates what Tom was asking: does
FACC pay any attention to how much free memory is left? If not, then
ASDG has managed to produce another really spiffy piece of software
with just enough design misfeatures (in this case, one) to be
unusable in a fair number of environments.

	<mike
--
How many times do you have to fall			Mike Meyer
While people stand there gawking?			mwm@berkeley.edu
How many times do you have to fall			ucbvax!mwm
Before you end up walking?				mwm@ucbjade.BITNET