NVMe: was Building a Linux Computer?

Eric Oyen eric.oyen at icloud.com
Fri May 25 15:44:15 MST 2018


at that point, I would simply install a really small SSD (something under 100 GB), have that do the boot handling and then setup to hand off to the NVMP drive. It seems simple enough. Hell, the USB boot idea works equally as well. Basically, anything that can allow you to use this new technology in your old hardware should be considered.

I have a few ideas on some work arounds I would like to explore. Just no money to make them happen.

-eric

On May 25, 2018, at 12:17 PM, Steve Litt wrote:

> Maybe you can get a rip-roaring machine, but how so if that post 2005
> computer can't boot of NVMe? What do you do, take the UEFI info and
> the /boot off another drive, and use the NVMe for / ? Or do you boot
> off another drive, and then carve up the (assumedly small) NVMe
> into /usr, /lib, /run ? Life gets a lot more complicated if the machine
> can't boot the NVMe.
> 
> SteveT
> 
> On Wed, 23 May 2018 01:16:21 -0700
> Eric Oyen <eric.oyen at icloud.com> wrote:
> 
>> well, the beauty about the "add-in" cards is that you can use any
>> PCI-e slot on just about any desktop that is newer than vintage 2005.
>> YYou will end up with a rip-roaring fast machine. :)
>> 
>> -eric
>> 
>> On May 22, 2018, at 2:43 PM, Carruth, Rusty wrote:
>> 
>>> Oohh!  Oohh!! Something I can answer :-)
>>> 
>>> 1 - yes and no.  Yes, you can replace, but no, you (almost
>>> certainly) need to get a PCIe card which converts PCIe on the
>>> motherboard to NVMe on the ssd.  We have one of those at work, not
>>> too expensive as I recall.
>>> 
>>> 2 - You should be able to.  Don't know if that's implemented or not.
>>> 
>>> 3 - /dev/nvme0n1 as an example.  So, for SATA, its /dev/sd<x>  for
>>> nvme, you get a /dev/nvme0 and then you get /dev/nvme0n1 for the
>>> actual drive, as I remember.  I don't remember what the partitions
>>> turn up as, but I THINK they were /dev/nvme0n1p1 or something like
>>> that.  A second NVMe drive would be /dev/nvme0n2 I think.
>>> 
>>> 4 - it should.  Now, you MIGHT need some updated stuff, for example
>>> smartctl  may or may not work with NVMe on your distro.  And you'll
>>> probably need to download the nvme tool that gives you control sort
>>> of like hdparm.  Using an 'old' distribution might be a problem
>>> (for some value of 'old')
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: PLUG-discuss [mailto:plug-discuss-bounces at lists.phxlinux.org]
>>> On Behalf Of Steve Litt Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 2:30 PM
>>> To: plug-discuss at lists.phxlinux.org
>>> Subject: NVMe: was Building a Linux Computer?
>>> 
>>> On Tue, 22 May 2018 13:57:29 -0700
>>> Brian Cluff <brian at snaptek.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> For me, I would get a system that can use a NVMe.  They are about
>>>> the same price as an SSD, but make and SSD look extremely slow.  
>>> 
>>> This is the first I've heard of NVMe. I just read
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVM_Express , and now have some
>>> questions:
>>> 
>>> 1) Can I replace the spinning platter 2.5" hard disk in my 5 year
>>> old laptop with an NVMe device? My research tells me an NVMe must
>>> plug into a PCIe slot rather than a SATA slot.
>>> 
>>> 2) Do you fstrim NVMe-hosted partitions the same way you do for SSD?
>>> 
>>> 3) When you install an NVMe card in a PCIe slot, what device name
>>> shows up? Is it sd-whatever, or something else?
>>> 
>>> 4) If my desktop has a free PCIe slot, does that mean I can plug in
>>> an NVIe drive and use it?
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> 
>>> SteveT
>>> 
>>> Steve Litt 
>>> June 2018 featured book: Twenty Eight Tales of Troubleshooting
>>> http://www.troubleshooters.com/28
>>> 
>>> 
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