Old 08-16-2020, 03:56 PM   #1
Glennbo
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Default SSD option noatime

In troubleshooting an upgrade to Xubuntu 20.04 on my MythTV machine I became aware of the "noatime" mount option that eliminates the need by the system to make writes to the file system for files which are simply being read. I've read that it can significantly speed up SSDs that are being used for video, so I've added the option on my MythTV machine and on my DAW which uses two SSDs.

In fstab I've added the option like this for my boot drive,

UUID=123-456-789 / ext4 noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1

Modified time will still be recorded for files, but last access time will no longer be updated when using this option.
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Old 08-16-2020, 04:25 PM   #2
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This article describes the performance boost for SSDs running modern kernels as "tiny": https://opensource.com/article/20/6/linux-noatime

This one recommends it if you want to "eek out" a little more performance: https://www.techrepublic.com/article...-with-noatime/

I wish there were some benchmark numbers so we could know what kind of percentages we're talking about here. I couldn't google any up. Anyone have data/specifics?
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Old 08-16-2020, 04:28 PM   #3
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I can't remember where I read it, but that option may not be needed with more recent distros/kernels, and it may not be a good idea to do it. I'd investigate further but I'm currently in the hospital for what's most likely a kidney stone. I may be wrong but it's probably worth some searching especially in the context of 20.04 Ubuntu-based distros.
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Old 08-16-2020, 04:30 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by JamesPeters View Post
I can't remember where I read it, but that option may not be needed with more recent distros/kernels, and it may not be a good idea to do it. I'd investigate further but I'm currently in the hospital for what's most likely a kidney stone. I may be wrong but it's probably worth some searching especially in the context of 20.04 Ubuntu-based distros.
Yeah, see the links above -- the default is now "relatime", which is a compromise that speeds things up a lot.

Apparently the number of apps that might break because of "noatime" is extremely small (near or at zero on a normal install?) but apparently the gains of "noatime" are also really small on a modern kernel with an SSD, so it's kinda hard to decide if it's worth bothering with another custom config in your linux install... however, if it turned out that there was, say, a 5% boost in speed, I'm all over it.

Edit: P.S., good luck with the possible stone. :-)
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Old 08-16-2020, 04:51 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clepsydrae View Post
Yeah, see the links above -- the default is now "relatime", which is a compromise that speeds things up a lot.

Apparently the number of apps that might break because of "noatime" is extremely small (near or at zero on a normal install?) but apparently the gains of "noatime" are also really small on a modern kernel with an SSD, so it's kinda hard to decide if it's worth bothering with another custom config in your linux install... however, if it turned out that there was, say, a 5% boost in speed, I'm all over it.

Edit: P.S., good luck with the possible stone. :-)
I don't know that I'll notice anything with it on the DAW, but on the Myth server it made a noticeable difference when I saturated it with 7 simultaneous HDTV recordings. I was seeing a high degree of failures, and the noatime option there, reduced failures.

Later I found that some database elements had not upgraded properly going from Xubuntu 18.04 to 20.04, which was adding a constant time overhead, and once that was resolved it became 100% reliable, but while it was being hampered, I could see a difference with noatime.
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Old 08-16-2020, 05:03 PM   #6
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I don't know that I'll notice anything with it on the DAW, but on the Myth server it made a noticeable difference
Interesting. If I get some time maybe I'll switch my / and /home over and see if I can benchmark a difference... anything with lots of file access, right?
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Old 08-16-2020, 05:57 PM   #7
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Thanks. I thought it was appendicitis since it felt as though I'd been shot. Blood work didn't reveal signs of infection though. So now I wait until I can get scans.

Will be following this. It's good this particular forum exists so I can learn more about how Linux works for audio configs. Info elsewhere can be scattered and sometimes people don't report back with their findings.
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Old 08-16-2020, 06:14 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by clepsydrae View Post
Interesting. If I get some time maybe I'll switch my / and /home over and see if I can benchmark a difference... anything with lots of file access, right?
Yeah, the more file access, the more difference it should make. I'm guessing that each instance of a recording was probably stamping multiple files involved in making the recorder part function. Take that times 7 instances and it might have been stamping a lot of files at exactly the same time as it's trying to get 7 recordings all streaming to disk.

In my case it was a fraction of a second's difference between a recording kicking off okay or crossing a time threshold that stops it and flags it as failed, and noatime lowered the number of failures I was seeing.
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Old 08-16-2020, 06:16 PM   #9
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Thanks. I thought it was appendicitis since it felt as though I'd been shot. Blood work didn't reveal signs of infection though. So now I wait until I can get scans.

Will be following this. It's good this particular forum exists so I can learn more about how Linux works for audio configs. Info elsewhere can be scattered and sometimes people don't report back with their findings.
Holy crap man, I hope they get you fixed up quick.
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Old 08-16-2020, 06:46 PM   #10
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Thanks!

Well, kidney stones: confirmed. I just gave birth lol. It's probably not the only one but I'm glad it's out at least. I'll get a scan tomorrow, since no one was around to do it in the late Sunday afternoon.

Last time I had a kidney stone it was uncomfortable but nowhere near this painful. I'm really surprised. And now I can't help thinking that I can't imagine what childbirth must be like, especially without pain meds.
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Old 08-17-2020, 04:15 PM   #11
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The MD's might give you a diet list to consult. My son-in-law
is pretty strict about following his, rather than resorting to playing
thrash metal. He used to love coffee and berries.
I don't think getting your tubes tied would bring good luck.
But they have a sonic-blaster to break up the large stones,
don't let them pretend otherwise...
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Old 08-17-2020, 10:06 PM   #12
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Doctors didn't provide any recommendations for my diet but I know I'm doing some things wrong, when I read up on kidney stones. So I'll be more careful. Also I have hard water where I live, so I probably need to change my filters more frequently.

There was also no talk about thrash metal or "getting my tubes tied", to my surprise.

I feel much better now, and I'm out of the hospital. I'd been feeling "off" for weeks, wondering what was making me feel sick on non-specific level. Also I had "back pain" that came and went for no reason, although I've had a herniated disc in the past so I'm never quite sure if that's flaring up again or not (otherwise I'd have been more aware of what was really happening).
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