[xubuntu-users] tmp-filesystem unusabel

[Ralf Mardorf]

Hi,

to hold /tmp you don't need a HDD or SSD at all. The /tmp directory has
got no content that needs a backup/restore. Everything in
/tmp should be regularly deleted by systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service.
So yes, you can replace /tmp by any other partition on any other HDD or
SSD. Instead of a HDD or SDD you could use the RAM to hold /tmp. You can
either add a tmpfs entry to fstab or just enable the tmp.mount systemd
unit. Google is your friend.

My Arch Linux install does use half of the RAM as tmpfs:

[rocketmouse at archlinux ~]$ df -ht tmpfs
Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
run             7.6G  1.2M  7.6G   1% /run
tmpfs           7.6G  384K  7.6G   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs           7.6G   31M  7.6G   1% /tmp
tmpfs           1.6G  252K  1.6G   1% /run/user/1000

IOW at the latest when the machine is powered down, /tmp is empty, if
it is a tmpfs.

I don't know what the culprit is that /tmp can't be used on your
machine. Guessing is a bad advisor. You could check the HDD or SDD
using smartctl (Google can help again) or better use the proprietary
tool provided by the vendor of you HDD/SSD. For my TOSHIBA/OCZ/KIOXIA
SSDs the proprietary tool is available for Linux. I needed to download
a live Linux prvided by the vendor and copy it from the live Linux to my
Arch Linux install. So I've got a tool that is way more reliable and
informing than smartctl and I can update the SSD firmware, even while
they are in use.

Regards,
Ralf