Hey andy5995!

I unintentionally gave you incorrect info. zram not zram fs.

Happens all the time. I am meaning to research it but have been a tad distracted with the latest build. I'll try and catch up soon.

Life is good,
Maurice

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Every man will have to relinquish the days loaned to him.
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Hej andy5995!

# modinfo zram
filename: /lib/modules/7.2.3/kernel/drivers/block/zram/zram.ko.gz description: Compressed RAM Block Device
author: Nitin Gupta <ngupta@vflare.org>
license: Dual BSD/GPL
depends:
intree: Y
name: zram
retpoline: Y
vermagic: 7.2.3 SMP preempt mod_unload
parm: num_devices:Number of pre-created zram devices (uint)

Offhand it looks to me like compressed tmpfs, which sounds like a really good idea for systems with limited physical ram. You have my interest piqued and I am formulating a plan to test it soon. Normally I avoid compression but in this case it looks to be a desirable alternative to tmpfs. We'll see. Thanks for the heads up.

Het leven is goed,
Maurice

-o -o o- o- -o -o o- o- -o o- -o -o -o o- -o o-
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Wherever you can use the wisdom God gave you, use it.
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Hey andy5995!

<Esc>:read !/usr/sbin/zramctl --version
zramctl from util-linux 2.42.2

<Esc>:read !/usr/sbin/zramctl --help

Usage:
zramctl [options] <device>
zramctl -r <device> [...]
zramctl [options] -f | <device> -s <size>

Set up and control zram devices.

Options:
-a, --algorithm <alg> compression algorithm to use
-b, --bytes print sizes in bytes, not in human-readable form
-f, --find find a free device
-n, --noheadings don't print headings
-o, --output <list> columns to use for status output
--output-all output all columns
-p, --algorithm-params <parameter>...
parameters for the compression algorithm
-r, --reset <device>... reset the specified zram devices
--raw use raw status output format
-s, --size <size> device size
-t, --streams <number> number of compression streams

-h, --help display this help
-V, --version display version

Arguments:
Values for <size> may be followed by a suffix: KiB, MiB,
GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB, or YiB (where the "iB" is optional).
<alg> is the name of an algorithm; supported are:
lzo, lz4, lz4hc, deflate, 842, zstd
(List may be inaccurate, consult man page.)

Available output columns:
NAME zram device name
DISKSIZE limit on the uncompressed amount of data
DATA uncompressed size of stored data
COMPR compressed size of stored data
ALGORITHM the selected compression algorithm
STREAMS number of concurrent compress operations
ZERO-PAGES empty pages with no allocated memory
TOTAL all memory including allocator fragmentation and metadata overhead
MEM-LIMIT memory limit used to store compressed data
MEM-USED peak memory usage to store compressed data
MIGRATED number of objects migrated by compaction
COMP-RATIO compression ratio: DATA/TOTAL
MOUNTPOINT where the device is mounted

For more details see zramctl(8).

Life is good,
Maurice

o- -o -o o- o- o- o- o- o- -o o- -o -o o- o- -o
/) (\ (\ /) /) /) /) /) /) (\ /) (\ (\ /) /) (\
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... Ða ne sacað þe ætsamne ne beoð.
They do not quarrel who are not together.
--- GNU bash, version 5.3.15(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
* Origin: One of us @ (1:153/7001.53423)

Subject: Re: zram not zramfs for swap

Maurice Kinal wrote to andy5995 on 09/04/2026 13:49 <=-

Hej andy5995!

Offhand it looks to me like compressed tmpfs, which sounds like a
really good idea for systems with limited physical ram. You have my interest piqued and I am formulating a plan to test it soon. Normally
I avoid compression but in this case it looks to be a desirable alternative to tmpfs. We'll see. Thanks for the heads up.

Thumbs up!


--
-Andy Alt

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