Q4OS Forum

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Out of memory (?)

Hi all,
I have questions about Linux file structure. I was going to install programs, when a warning appeared. It was about
low memory,  "Home" was running low, before I could grasp things it was zero, or it said so.
Everything froze,  programs didn't start.
But I managed to start Dolphin, and "Home" is 89 % used. The entire area of 73.9 GB is 85 % used.
To my surprise it seems to work after reboot.

How should I make sure this doesn"t happen ?
My disk is dual booted with W10, can I fairly easy remove that and use the entire disk, 120 GB, for Linux?  Would that be sufficient?
Thoughts on this ?
/Peter

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: Out of memory (?)

Are you sure the low memory warning wasnt about available ram?   Memory is different from storage space on the hard drive. You mentioned this in the other thread and I commented on the fact that you only have 3gb of ram in your system. Do you have a swap file to try and mitigate low memory issues? If you run out of memory, things will come to halt and the system may freeze and become unresponsive. Rebooting frees up the ram and things suddenly work again.

If it is a problem with lack of storage space in the hard drive, you could use an external USB hard drive(USB stick drive as well) to move some of your files over to it to save some space.
Youre running a 120gb ssd so you might think about cloning your 120gb ssd to a larger ssd so you have more space.
If you decide to get rid of Win 10, get yourself a 256gb or 512gb ssd and reinstall Q4OS on that drive, as I wouldnt bother doing it on the 120gb ssd, its just too small.

You need more ram and more hard drive space to avoid future issues. The present 945g/gz system doesnt support more than 4gb of ram(it also will reserve a certain portion of your ram for the integrated graphics, whether youre using it or not). Also pay attention to resource usage and how big the apps youre installing are and whether youre going to run into additional problems.

Last edited by crosscourt (2025-07-27 00:23)

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

Ok thanks, hope I can add a few new whatifs.
Do you think a 256 GB ssd would be sufficient ?
How big is (generally) a swap file ?
Would upgrading my ram from 3 to 4 GB make enough difference ?
Also, could my existing 120 GB stay as a supplement, perhaps for user data or a swap file ?

Finally, I'd say my budget won't allow a new computer, though probably the solution....
/Peter

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Out of memory (?)

What desktop environment are you using ?

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

Desktop enviroment  ?   Could you specify what you mean ?

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Out of memory (?)

Plasma, Trinity, other ?

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

Plasma 5.27.5
Distro is q4os 5.8.1-n1 Aquarius

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Out of memory (?)

Well, we don't speak about minimal requirements now. You should be fine with 3GB of RAM and 50GB of disk space, but it heavily depends on applications you will be using as well as amount of data you will produce and need to store.

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

That is a bit surprising. As I've written before my system runs on 120 GB, doublebooted with W10, and 3 GB ram. I sought help
here after everything froze when I was installing Prusa slicer. Crosscourt then responded, suggesting I had run out of ram.
Rebooting solved it for now, but your data still leaves me a little confused about memory requirements. I guess more memory is better, but
it also comes with a cost.... 
so is it possible to estimate my needs, considering I want to use Tinkercad, Prusa slicer (or  Cura), and Arduino, as I recall now. Add some relatively big user data files, and Firefox, Thunderbird, Dolphin,  word processor( something like Word).
An estimate ?  256, 500 GB ?
I realize this has to be partly guesswork, but still a guide for me.
/Peter

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 6,114

Website

Re: Out of memory (?)

30GB of disk space is more then sufficient for Q4OS 5 Aquarius with the Full profile installed. You need to add an estimated space for user data.

We don't know requirements of the mentioned apps Tinkercad, Prusa slicer (or  Cura), and Arduino.

theasmitkid

Member

From: NCT of Delhi

Registered: 2025-01-26

Posts: 348

Re: Out of memory (?)

30GB of disk space is more then sufficient for Q4OS 5 Aquarius with the Full profile installed. You need to add an estimated space for user data.

We don't know requirements of the mentioned apps Tinkercad, Prusa slicer (or  Cura), and Arduino.

Yeah I run Arduino ide on a 1.81GB ram and 32GB root partition, it runs without any problems.. tinkercad would run on any browser, for me ungoogled-chromium works the best for all uses.. some of my pretty complex looking tinkercad projects renders well on my device..

---

Coding & Robotics Enthusiast | Brave & Spck Editor @ Lenovo Tab 4 8 · Android 8.1 · 2GB · 16GB

hchiper

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2020-07-28

Posts: 790

Re: Out of memory (?)

(...) Add some relatively big user data files, (...) An estimate ?  256, 500 GB ? (...)

It depends on how "relatively big user data files" compares to 256 GB.

To give an example, I have a 500 GB SSD which I partitioned in 64 GB for the system (of which 46 GB are free presently, with "Basic" install + a selection of applications such as libreoffice, firefox, thunderbird, arduino IDE, development tools...) and the rest for users data (mounted as /home) because I have a lot of photos and I want to keep space available for some years of new files.

---

Q4OS machine: Samsung R519 - Pentium T4200 2.0 GHz - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB SSD

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: Out of memory (?)

120gb drive could stay as a supplement, as I talked about above. you could leave your system as it is a add an external drive of some type that runs on USB so you can move some files to save space. 
4gb should be fine with Plasma but if you have too many programs open at the same time, you could run into issues.  My question still is whether you have a swapfile and how big, as thats your lifeline for the system remaining usable  when you accidentally have too many apps running and memory usage takes a hit.

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

Right, appreciate that, but is unsure how to identify the swapfile. Could you give me a hint ?
The memory issue remains, others have pointed out that a system only needs around 50 GB, or even less....?
In that case my system should manage a swap file to handle comparably low ram ?
I have not tried any more installations, still at finishing Arduino, can't make it communicate with boards, or even properly identify components.
Still you, and two other members, have reported using Arduino.
I should perhaps open a new issue about ports.
/Peter

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: Out of memory (?)

I dont use Arduino just so you know.  I would start a separate thread on this issue.
Now to see your swap file, click on menu and use the search function and type KDE partition manager and once you see it, it hit enter. When it comes up youll see your drive and the swap file if it exists. Double click on the linuxswap and it will come up and show its size and properties. On my system the drive is sda1 and the swapfile/linuxswap is sda2. Typically when installing Q4OS KDE you get a swap file unless something was changed manually before install.

The amount of system storage you use varies a lot with the system and what your doing with it. Saying you can get away with x amount of storage can change very quickly when you end up adding more apps and files.  Best to either get a larger drive or add additional external storage as needed.

Last edited by crosscourt (2025-07-28 18:14)

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

Sorry, you've lost me about the swapfile, "click on menu", where is that ?
I thought Dolphin would be the place, but menu ?
Please advise
Peter

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

Sorry, I'm a  bit lost about the swapfile, click menu, where ?

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

Double answer here, it showed up so slow I tbought it had not been sent, sorry about that

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: Out of memory (?)

Your using KDE correct?  Go to the bottom left corner of the task bar and click on the application launcher(system menu) with the KDE symbol. When you get the menu youll see the search bar(top of the menu), type in the search bar KDE partition manager and when it comes up hit enter. The KDE partition manager will come up and show you the drives on your system. One of them should say linuxswap, thats your swapfile, double click on it and it will indicate the size of the file. If you dont see it then you dont have a swap file

Last edited by crosscourt (2025-07-28 21:35)

josek

Member

Registered: 2025-02-23

Posts: 91

Re: Out of memory (?)

It refers to opening the application launcher and typing "KDE Partition Manager" in the search box.

Armbroke

Member

Registered: 2025-07-10

Posts: 78

Re: Out of memory (?)

I am following instructions, I think, what happens is a search in Duck Duck Go.
Possibly anapplication I have not installed ?

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: Out of memory (?)

No, the application launcher is at the bottom left corner of the desktop in the taskbar. The search bar is at the top of the application launcher, type KDE partition manager in it and hit enter. Youll see your drives/swap, double click on linuxswap to see size. Do not go online as we are not searching in Duck Duck Go.

Last edited by crosscourt (2025-07-28 22:28)

josek

Member

Registered: 2025-02-23

Posts: 91

Re: Out of memory (?)

If it doesn't appear, you can download it from discovery-plasma through the Q40S system.

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: Out of memory (?)

He doesnt need to download/install it from Discovery as its installed by default with KDE.  If he does as we ask it will showup without issue.

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: Out of memory (?)

You can also open the application launcher, go to all appllications, and slide down to the apps that start with the letter K and youll see KDE partition manager.