Subject: usb flash drive as swap in linux

[Matthew Martin]

> ok,
> I have made the required changes to fstab in order to use a 128 meg USB 
> device.
> 
> only problem I seem to have is that even though the modules are loaded, it 
> will not initialize as swap space unless I issue a swapon -a from root after 
> startup.
> 
> some help would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> system is debian kernel 2.6.8-2-386 running on a compaq presario laptop.
> 
> HELP!!!
> 
> TMH
> 
Ok, going to reiterate other posts claiming that this is not a good idea.

As a reliability engr in memories, I can tell you that flash is generally good for 100k writes, a little more if they play some tricks with rotating addresses around behind the scenes.
You will toast your flash stick rather quickly if you actually run in swap.

It might be a fun experiment (which brand lasts longer?), but not a recommended solution.