Use Swap Partition In OS X

[HackBook Pro]

I have linux installed on my computer as well as OS X Leopard. Linux uses a swap partition for virtual memory. As OS X is based on unix (BSD), can I have OS X also use my swap partition for virtual memory?

[Headrush69]

I believe the issue would be OS X not understanding the "filesystem " of the swap partition.

 

If the partition was accessible, this would be the next step: http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?sto...001215021440138 or http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?sto...040716153639236

[sg]

OSX doesn't need to have a partition dedicated to swap. Swap partitions are actually pretty bad, you are limited to the size of the volume, and while traditionally the idea was to improve performance by reducing fragmentation, OSX automatically defragments key system files and swap space on a regular basis.

[Headrush69]

OSX doesn't need to have a partition dedicated to swap.

True, but since he already has a Linux swap drive that is why he wanted to try it.

 

Changing the location of OS X swap file can have advantages though. Lets say you have OS X installed on an internal drive and want to test another installation you are installing to a USB drive. Changing the swap location to the internal drive while using the USB system can improve performance. (Of course improvement subject to the amount of RAM and the need for it.)

[HackBook Pro]

I don't think OS X can mount the "swap" file system. In Linux, I can use the "swapon" and "swapoff" commands, and in the fstab file, the file system type is "swap". So, I don't think it'll work.