OCZ Vertex 2 120 Gb installation - Suggestions and Recommendations [Resolved]

[howardb0235]

Good morning;

I am preparing to install my first SSD.

I wonder if their is anything in particular I should be on the look out for.

I am going to install PCLinuxOS 32 Bit
The motherboard is a Dell with 8 Gigs of Memory and 64 bit processor.
Nvidia video card

I am planning on using a second HD for my data storage.

This is going to be a windowless install

Suggestions, thoughts, idea's would be appreciated.


My game plan is to Install SSD Drive
install PClinux
copy old Home Directory over to the new drive
double check all installed software
Live happily ever after, I HOPE!


Thanks everyone.

HowardB0235

[MCP]

Howard,

I have only one suggestion.  When you go to install PCLOS use gparted instead of the builtin partition manager.  When I installed I used all the defaults and just let PCLOS install as I always have.  It installed just fine, but I found out later that the partitioning did not start at the right point (64 instead of 1024 I think).  So my install is faster but since the partitioning is off, spanning multiple clusters at a time, it might be faster if it was partitioned correctly.

Just my 2 cents,
MCP

[panex]

How much would something like that even matter? SSDs are so much faster than regular hard drives even if there was something like a 1% drop in speed I bet I wouldn't even notice.

[pags]

How much would something like that even matter? SSDs are so much faster than regular hard drives even if there was something like a 1% drop in speed I bet I wouldn't even notice.

For read-only, that is probably a fair assessment, but ince writing is factored in, them crossing cell boundaries will have a very large impact on performance...

[howardb0235]

Thank you one and  all.

I have been doing some reading on the OCZ site an have gotten some idea's their too.

I won't be installing until tomorrow as my son is coming by to lend a hand with the project.
He has to pick the computer case up off of the floor for me and put it up on the desk top so we can work on it.  ( I broke both of my shoulders and am not allowed to lift any thing heavier than 10  lbs and the Dr refuses  to let me ride my trail bike, afraid I will fall and mess up his handy work.)

So the game plan is:

Remove old HD from case
Install SSD
Check SSD for operation
Utilize Gparted to format and partition drive.
Install PCLinux


The email service that I use allows me to leave a copy on their server so when
things get settled down I'll just download the mail and keep on going.


Thanks everyone I appreciate your input.

I'll mark this [resolved] and I will post a follow up after the installation.

HowardB0235

[Just17]

Howard,

I have only one suggestion.  When you go to install PCLOS use gparted instead of the builtin partition manager.  When I installed I used all the defaults and just let PCLOS install as I always have.  It installed just fine, but I found out later that the partitioning did not start at the right point (64 instead of 1024 I think).  So my install is faster but since the partitioning is off, spanning multiple clusters at a time, it might be faster if it was partitioned correctly.

Just my 2 cents,
MCP

It is my understanding that package updates have 'fixed' that .... 

[MCP]

Howard,

I have only one suggestion.  When you go to install PCLOS use gparted instead of the builtin partition manager.  When I installed I used all the defaults and just let PCLOS install as I always have.  It installed just fine, but I found out later that the partitioning did not start at the right point (64 instead of 1024 I think).  So my install is faster but since the partitioning is off, spanning multiple clusters at a time, it might be faster if it was partitioned correctly.

Just my 2 cents,
MCP

It is my understanding that package updates have 'fixed' that .... 

That's great, how long ago was it fixed.  I installed my ssd about a month ago.  I guess it's too late for me unless I reformat and reinstall.  Do I need to worry about it?  Can I just leave it as is?  Will I gain anything by redoing everything?

All insights are welcome,
MCP

[AS]

Howard,

I have only one suggestion.  When you go to install PCLOS use gparted instead of the builtin partition manager.  When I installed I used all the defaults and just let PCLOS install as I always have.  It installed just fine, but I found out later that the partitioning did not start at the right point (64 instead of 1024 I think).  So my install is faster but since the partitioning is off, spanning multiple clusters at a time, it might be faster if it was partitioned correctly.

Just my 2 cents,
MCP

It is my understanding that package updates have 'fixed' that .... 

That's great, how long ago was it fixed.  I installed my ssd about a month ago.  I guess it's too late for me unless I reformat and reinstall.  Do I need to worry about it?  Can I just leave it as is?  Will I gain anything by redoing everything?

All insights are welcome,
MCP

Both gparted and drakdisk (Control Center) are using libgparted which is the lib that do the real work, so you have nothing to worry. Approx. it was updated one month ago, first in testing and later as stable, the update implied a change from libparted2.3 to 2.4 and was issued primarily to address a bug sometimes arising when using USB sticks.

About 4KB alignment, the previous version was already working properly. About partition alignment to 1 MB (block 2048) I'm unsure because it could be managed externally from libparted... and I didn't do specific tests.

AS

[loudog]

so i keep seeing that diskdrake does not partition the ssd in the proper sectors so i am wondering how my ssd is formatted as i went through a standard install kde 2012.2 with install wizard doing everything default. i have a 60 gb ocz vertex 2 on my aspire one. it did not appear much faster from boot to desktop so maybe somthing is not quite right. i will have to look into it. i actually bought the ssd for power saving more than speed but still the sectors and trim appear to be important. plus the web browser cache issue? whats that about. oh well i still have some work to do dont i. at least its in pclos and not that other os.

[howardb0235]

I installed the OCZ Vertex 2 - 120 yesterday:
I installed it as my SDA drive
I utilized Gparted 0.12.1 to write the partition table to disk
I then installed PClinuxOS 2012.2

I had no problems with the install.

Disk installed as follows:
107.13 GB
13985 Cylinders
224674128  Total Sectors
255 Heads
MS DOS Partition Table
63 Sectors / Track   
512 Sector Size

Model ATA OCZ Vertex 2    3.5  with Bios 1.35

Hope this helps


HowardB0235