Technical > System

Swap Space

Swap space is memory used when the system runs out of RAM. Usually the Linux Swap Space is not used in RSS. Many programs requiring compiling (such as Fldigi) require at least a 512 MB swap space. Using swap space when not necessary can reduce the life of an SD card. See this link for further details on managing Swap Space:

Swap info

Backing up and Upgrading the RigPi Memory Card

The Micro SD memory card for the Raspberry Pi has a limited lifetime. Write cycles are usually more critical in determining the life of an memory card because the space to be taken by a write must be cleared first. 'Wear leveling' is used to distribute write cycles so one portion of the memory space is not used constantly. It is suggested that you use a memory card having at least two times the space needed to leave room for wear leveling.

To provide insurance against a corrupted memory card, it is wise to back it up to a second card, a USB memory stick, or as an image to a fixed drive. The simplest way to back up the SD Card is by using the SD Card Copier program available through the Accessories menu on the RSS Desktop.

The SD Card can be backed up to a USB memory stick or to another SD Card. The latter requires a spare card and SD Card USB adapter. Plug the USB stick or adapter into a spare USB connector on RSS.

Select the Raspberry icon to open the Applications Menu. Select Accessories, then SD Card Copier. Follow the instructions given in SD Card Copier Help.

Minimum microSD Card specifications:

Type: Micro SD

Size: 32GB (or larger)

Class: 10

Speed: 80MB/s or faster

RigPi makes intensive use of the memory card. Cards designed for video applications are able to handle large amount of data with continuous recording. Manufacturers claim up 43,800 hours (5 years) endurance. The Samsung PRO Endurance 32 GB card is one recommended upgrade for RigPi.

Optimal microSD Card specifications:

Type: microSDXC

Size: 32 GB (or larger)

Class: --

Speed: 100/30 MB/s

External SSD (Solid State Drive)

RigPi performance can be significantly improved by using an external SSD rather than a memory card. Users report up to 3-4 times improvement using this option. Here is an article on the QSO Shack web site that describes how to install and use an SSD with RigPi:

https://www.qsoshack.com/upgrade-the-mfj1234-rigpi-with-an-ssd-and-pi4/

Providing more space on the Memory Card

Here are some suggestions for increasing the free space on your memory card.

▪Make sure all of your memory card is being used. This is especially important if you are moving to a larger memory card.

1.Open Terminal from the Raspberry Pi desktop

2.sudo raspi-config

3.Select the Advanced option

4.Expand memory space

▪Transfer RigPi to a larger microSD card. See the previous section, Backing Up and Upgrading the RigPi Memory Card. Be sure to expand the memory space as described above.

▪Logs are rotated and deleted by the Logrotate utility. Logrotate is configured in the file /etc/logrotate.conf.

Updating the Raspberry Pi Operating System

Updates to the Raspbian operating system occur often. To keep current, RigPi has an automatic update feature that updates your system in the background once per week. You can also update manually using these commands in Terminal:

Update system package list cache: sudo apt update

Upgrade software: sudo apt full-upgrade

Reboot RSS to apply the changes: sudo reboot