Which Memory Model Is Best For 5500?

[snowfarthing]

Over the last few weeks, I've been trying to set up my Zaurus to the point where I could install as many math programs as I can find.  In trying to get my system to what I wanted it to do, I corrupted my SD card and lost some important files (which, miraculously, and through the help of a program called PhotoRec I was able to get back); but because I was at a math conference I had to wait a week before I could do so.

Now, the reason my SD card became corrupted in the first place was that I was trying to run Opie (with OpenZaurus 3.5.4, and a 64-0 zImage) from that SD card using Altboot; and I found that Opie was very unstable.  It  crashed regularly, particularly when I was trying to install things to and from the SD card.  Since then, I read that trying Opie on SD isn't for the faint of heart, because of these issues.

But then, the reason I tried this particular setup was because previously I was trying Opie straight from flash, with a 58-6 zImage, that became unstable because I tried installing teTeX, and ended up filling up my 6MB of memory with symlinks.  Eventually my goal was to set up PocketWorkstation as well, to see if that would help me to be able to compile things on the Zaurus, and then run things to my heart's content.

So, what what would be the best  zImage to use as a good compromise between system stability and maximum system memory?  Is there a completely stable way to run Opie from SD?  How stable is GPE under SD?  (I like Opie better, but my feelings are based on about 5 minutes of experimenting with GPE, and I'd like to experiment more!)  If Opie isn't ready for SD yet, what's the best zImage to use?  (I know 58-6 is out of the question; right now I'm leaning towards 48-16.)

It is my understanding that Opie is heading towards SD-only, which is a direction I really like.  (While my Zaurus crashed and burned in my experimentation with it, I nonetheless like the idea a lot.)  In the meantime, however, I'd like to be able to use my Zaurus without worrying about instability, and would appreciate any help to get it there!

[koen]

64-0 is the best split

[snowfarthing]

While thinking about it last night, that was sort-of the conclusion I was coming to.

In particular, I was thinking that putting all of root on SD was rather unstable; but would it be possible to move a couple of the directories?  In particular, I was thinking I could move /usr to the SD card (probably as /media/card/myopie/usr) and then on the Zaurus itself, remove /usr and replace it with a symbolic link /usr -> /media/etc.

I'd also have to figure out all the places that files are kept.  (I'd imagine that /home would be symbolically linked in this way, too.)

If this could work, then I'd be able to use 64-0 without worrying about the stability problems that come from trying to put all of root on SD.

If I do this, however, how would I work with other SD cards?  I know from experience that Opie doesn't work well without its /usr directory.

[snowfarthing]

Also, another question:  would things be any more stable if I installed Opie or GPE to CF instead of SD?  This might not work too well, since I recently got a SanDisk WiFi/128MB card, but I realized it wouldn't hurt to ask.