Feature Request: Swap Partition

[LuckiestVenus]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
On systems with more limited RAM (4, 6, 8GB), it's easy to fill up the memory, these systems almost always benefit from a Swap file/partition. Adding the Swap partition/file manually is always a hurdle and it could be dangerous to your computer's information, just one bad RM away...

Describe the solution you'd like
Add a drop down into the automatic disk partition screen that let's you select between:

• Swap partition
• Swap partition (with hibernation)
• Swap file
• No Swap

EndeavourOS already modified/enabled Calamares to use these features. It could be setup dependent based on what file system you pick (in case there is some compatibility problem between filesystem XYZ and Swap).

[vnepogodin]

We use Zram which conflicts with swap

[LuckiestVenus]

I am not a RAM guru (pardon my ignorance if there is a detail I am missing), but it seems that it is possible to add something akin to a Swap compatible with Zram:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Zram
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/SwapOnZRAM

Does Cachy use that trick by default?

Either way, how viable would it be for Cachy to allow you to pick between normal memory + Swap and Zram during install?

[LuckiestVenus]

I researched a bit more and I think the following could work out to give users a swap partition.
Zram does indeed look to be incompatible or problematic with normal swaps (tbh, it's hard for me to grasp what the challenges are that make them incompatible).

However, Zswap exists, it's a middle point between Zram and a normal swap (slower than zram but faster than swap). Before sending the swapped memory to the disk, it compresses the data on the memory (like a pre-swap) and depending on what the system does, it decides whenever to send it to the disk or keep it loaded in that compressed state.
In practice it increases CPU a bit but it makes the swapping more efficient and less IO intensive.

EndeavourOS has Zswap enabled by default and it doesn't have trouble with more complex partition schemes (works fine for me with encrypted BTRFS, as a swap partition).

If a swap partition gets added, Zswap would be a more than welcome bonus for it.
A swap makes the limit of your system more flexible and it would enable the use of hibernation. Some users might prefer the trade-off in memory speed for the extra reliability (could even give you time to stop a memory leak) + hibernation. If this goes against Cachy's objectives, I would make it clear in some part of the wiki or main site (FAQ, maybe).

[ptr1337]

We do not really plan to add support for hibernation or normal swap, since it does kinda conflict with zram. Closing as not planned