I have a Pi Zero 2 W logging data once an hour, it's a 1Mb database
that gets updated each hour. It has killed its SD card twice in less
than a year and I'm wondering why.
I have a similar logging system using a venerable Pi 2 that's been
running for much longer and writing somewhat more data without any
problems.
The Pi Zero 2 W replaced a Beaglebone Black that had run for several
years without any problems.
Is the Pi Zero 2 W more fussy about its SD card, does it work the card harder. or have I just been unlucky?
I'd welcome any recommendations for cards that last well.
On 03/08/2026 15:45, Chris Green wrote:
I have a Pi Zero 2 W logging data once an hour, it's a 1Mb database
that gets updated each hour. It has killed its SD card twice in less
than a year and I'm wondering why.
I have a similar logging system using a venerable Pi 2 that's been
running for much longer and writing somewhat more data without any problems.
The Pi Zero 2 W replaced a Beaglebone Black that had run for several
years without any problems.
Is the Pi Zero 2 W more fussy about its SD card, does it work the card harder. or have I just been unlucky?
I'd welcome any recommendations for cards that last well.
Samsung and Sandisk sell high endurance SD cards intended for
security camera and dashcam applications. These are not
particularly fast, but are designed to survive continuous
writing of data.
I have a Pi Zero 2 W logging data once an hour, it's a 1Mb database
that gets updated each hour. It has killed its SD card twice in less
than a year and I'm wondering why.
I have a similar logging system using a venerable Pi 2 that's been
running for much longer and writing somewhat more data without any
problems.
The Pi Zero 2 W replaced a Beaglebone Black that had run for several
years without any problems.
Is the Pi Zero 2 W more fussy about its SD card, does it work the card harder. or have I just been unlucky?
I'd welcome any recommendations for cards that last well.
Samsung and Sandisk sell high endurance SD cards intended for
security camera and dashcam applications. These are not
particularly fast, but are designed to survive continuous
writing of data.
in the true 'if i wanted to go there i wouldn't be starting from here' tradition if its a 2W why not send its data to somewhere more
interesting and secure?
My Pi zero W never writes to its SD car at all unless i change configurations,. Everything that writes is either stopped from writing
or writes to ram discs.
Some SD cards are better than others, I am not interested in finding out which
On Mon, 3 Aug 2026 18:29:55 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
in the true 'if i wanted to go there i wouldn't be starting from here' tradition if its a 2W why not send its data to somewhere more
interesting and secure?
My Pi zero W never writes to its SD car at all unless i change configurations,. Everything that writes is either stopped from writing
or writes to ram discs.
Some SD cards are better than others, I am not interested in finding out which
This is helpful.
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
On Mon, 3 Aug 2026 18:29:55 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:What would be more helpful would be some guidance on how to implement
in the true 'if i wanted to go there i wouldn't be starting from here'
tradition if its a 2W why not send its data to somewhere more
interesting and secure?
My Pi zero W never writes to its SD car at all unless i change
configurations,. Everything that writes is either stopped from writing
or writes to ram discs.
Some SD cards are better than others, I am not interested in finding out >>> which
This is helpful.
it! :-)
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
This is helpful.
What would be more helpful would be some guidance on how to implement
it! :-)
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
On Tue, 4 Aug 2026 10:15:29 +0100, Chris Green wrote:
On Tue, 4 Aug 2026 10:15:29 +0100, Chris Green wrote:
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
This is helpful.
What would be more helpful would be some guidance on how to implement
it! :-)
Exactly my point.
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk
writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
Maybe he's just 'not interested' in explaining.
On Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:56:57 +0200, s|b wrote:
On Tue, 4 Aug 2026 10:15:29 +0100, Chris Green wrote:
That's weird, neither Chris's posting as Philo's were shown when I
posted my follow-up. They're both using ES as a newsserver while I'm
using NIN. Another ES hickup?
On Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:56:57 +0200, s|b wrote:
On Tue, 4 Aug 2026 10:15:29 +0100, Chris Green wrote:
That's weird, neither Chris's posting as Philo's were shown when I
posted my follow-up. They're both using ES as a newsserver while I'm
using NIN. Another ES hickup?
On 2026-08-04, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
On Mon, 3 Aug 2026 18:29:55 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:What would be more helpful would be some guidance on how to implement
in the true 'if i wanted to go there i wouldn't be starting from here' >> > tradition if its a 2W why not send its data to somewhere more
interesting and secure?
My Pi zero W never writes to its SD car at all unless i change
configurations,. Everything that writes is either stopped from writing >> > or writes to ram discs.
Some SD cards are better than others, I am not interested in finding out
which
This is helpful.
it! :-)
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
Wot I do:
Replace /sbin/init with a shell script that sets up the minimal necessary
I use both ES and NIN, via leafnode running on my desktop machine. NIN
is stopping in September though isn't it?
Ian
<${send-direct-email-to-news1021-at-jusme-dot-com-if-you-must}@jusme.com> wrote:
Replace /sbin/init with a shell script that sets up the minimal
necessary
So you don't run systemd? While that may be a 'good idea' in some
ways it does require a **lot** of customisation.
Ian <${send-direct-email-to-news1021-at-jusme-dot-com-if-you-must}@jusme.com> wrote:
On 2026-08-04, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
On Mon, 3 Aug 2026 18:29:55 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:What would be more helpful would be some guidance on how to implement
in the true 'if i wanted to go there i wouldn't be starting from here' >> >> > tradition if its a 2W why not send its data to somewhere more
interesting and secure?
My Pi zero W never writes to its SD car at all unless i change
configurations,. Everything that writes is either stopped from writing >> >> > or writes to ram discs.
Some SD cards are better than others, I am not interested in finding out
which
This is helpful.
it! :-)
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk
writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
Wot I do:
Replace /sbin/init with a shell script that sets up the minimal necessary
So you don't run systemd? While that may be a 'good idea' in some ways
it does require a **lot** of customisation.
... and current stable Debian is 13, I don't think I want to go back
as far as you are! :-)
On 2026-08-04, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Ian <${send-direct-email-to-news1021-at-jusme-dot-com-if-you-must}@jusme.com> wrote:
On 2026-08-04, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:So you don't run systemd? While that may be a 'good idea' in some ways
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
On Mon, 3 Aug 2026 18:29:55 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:What would be more helpful would be some guidance on how to implement
in the true 'if i wanted to go there i wouldn't be starting from here' >>>>>> tradition if its a 2W why not send its data to somewhere more
interesting and secure?
My Pi zero W never writes to its SD car at all unless i change
configurations,. Everything that writes is either stopped from writing >>>>>> or writes to ram discs.
Some SD cards are better than others, I am not interested in finding out >>>>>> which
This is helpful.
it! :-)
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk >>>> writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
Wot I do:
Replace /sbin/init with a shell script that sets up the minimal necessary >>
it does require a **lot** of customisation.
Absolutely not :)
It's not a general-purpose computer, it's a device that runs a single program (wot I wrote), and it isn't going to change, ever. Yes, figuring out how to get things like wifi and sshd to run took a few iterations, but now that's a solved problem.
... and current stable Debian is 13, I don't think I want to go back
as far as you are! :-)
This was created many moons ago. It works, it isn't accessible from any public
network, and I have no reason to keep chasing the dragon updating it "just because".
Ultimately it may be replaced, but that will be a complete replacement with something else, not an update.
Something very similar should be possible with later versions, unless they've finally integreted systemd into the kernel!
On 2026-08-04, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
Ian <${send-direct-email-to-news1021-at-jusme-dot-com-if-you-must}@jusme.com> wrote:
On 2026-08-04, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
On Mon, 3 Aug 2026 18:29:55 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:What would be more helpful would be some guidance on how to implement
in the true 'if i wanted to go there i wouldn't be starting from here'
tradition if its a 2W why not send its data to somewhere more
interesting and secure?
My Pi zero W never writes to its SD car at all unless i change
configurations,. Everything that writes is either stopped from writing
or writes to ram discs.
Some SD cards are better than others, I am not interested in finding out
which
This is helpful.
it! :-)
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk >> > writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
Wot I do:
Replace /sbin/init with a shell script that sets up the minimal necessary
So you don't run systemd? While that may be a 'good idea' in some ways
it does require a **lot** of customisation.
Absolutely not :)
It's not a general-purpose computer, it's a device that runs a single program (wot I wrote), and it isn't going to change, ever. Yes, figuring out how to get things like wifi and sshd to run took a few iterations, but now that's a solved problem.
Ian <${send-direct-email-to-news1021-at-jusme-dot-com-if-you-must}@jusme.com> wrote:
On 2026-08-04, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:Ah, that's a bit different from my situation, I need a familiar OS on
Ian <${send-direct-email-to-news1021-at-jusme-dot-com-if-you-must}@jusme.com> wrote:
On 2026-08-04, Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:So you don't run systemd? While that may be a 'good idea' in some ways
s|b <me@privacy.invalid> wrote:
On Mon, 3 Aug 2026 18:29:55 +0100, The Natural Philosopher wrote:What would be more helpful would be some guidance on how to implement >>>>> it! :-)
in the true 'if i wanted to go there i wouldn't be starting from here' >>>>>>> tradition if its a 2W why not send its data to somewhere more
interesting and secure?
My Pi zero W never writes to its SD car at all unless i change
configurations,. Everything that writes is either stopped from writing >>>>>>> or writes to ram discs.
Some SD cards are better than others, I am not interested in finding out
which
This is helpful.
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk? >>>>> It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk >>>>> writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
Wot I do:
Replace /sbin/init with a shell script that sets up the minimal necessary >>>
it does require a **lot** of customisation.
Absolutely not :)
It's not a general-purpose computer, it's a device that runs a single program
(wot I wrote), and it isn't going to change, ever. Yes, figuring out how to >> get things like wifi and sshd to run took a few iterations, but now that's a >> solved problem.
the system in question.
I use both ES and NIN, via leafnode running on my desktop machine. NIN
is stopping in September though isn't it?
On 04/08/2026 14:09, s|b wrote:
That's weird, neither Chris's posting as Philo's were shown when I
posted my follow-up. They're both using ES as a newsserver while I'm
using NIN. Another ES hickup?
Quite likely
Out of order threads were very common back in the days of UUCP over
modems :-)
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
On 04/08/2026 10:15, Chris Green wrote:
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Here are the important lines of /etc/systemd/journald.conf
[Journal]
Storage=volatile
RuntimeMaxUse=32M
RuntimeMaxFileSize=8M
RuntimeMaxFiles=4
ForwardToConsole=no
ForwardToWall=no
That will log to RAM only, a maximum of 32M in up to 4 files, so it
should automatically prune 25% when it gets full, but I'm often having
to do it manually with:-
journalctl --vacuum-files 3
On 04/08/2026 10:15, Chris Green wrote:
E.g.-a how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Here are the important lines of /etc/systemd/journald.conf
[Journal]
Storage=volatile
RuntimeMaxUse=32M
RuntimeMaxFileSize=8M
RuntimeMaxFiles=4
ForwardToConsole=no
ForwardToWall=no
That will log to RAM only, a maximum of 32M in up to 4 files, so it
should automatically prune 25% when it gets full, but I'm often having
to do it manually with:-
journalctl --vacuum-files 3
Maybe there are versions of the OS that are optimised for minimal disk
writing, if so I'd like to know about them.
It's the config that needs to be optimised.
---druck
druck <news@druck.org.uk> wrote:
On 04/08/2026 10:15, Chris Green wrote:That last rather spoils things, I'm expecting the systems in question
E.g. how do you stop systemd's logging from writing to 'hard' disk?
It would need a **lot** of reconfiguration before it would use a
reasonable amount of space such as is available on a RAM drive.
Here are the important lines of /etc/systemd/journald.conf
[Journal]
Storage=volatile
RuntimeMaxUse=32M
RuntimeMaxFileSize=8M
RuntimeMaxFiles=4
ForwardToConsole=no
ForwardToWall=no
That will log to RAM only, a maximum of 32M in up to 4 files, so it
should automatically prune 25% when it gets full, but I'm often having
to do it manually with:-
journalctl --vacuum-files 3
to run for months (at least) without any intervention from me.
... and systemd's journalling isn't the only thing that writes, it was
just the first thing that I thought of (hence the 'E.g.').
druck <news@druck.org.uk> wrote:
That will log to RAM only, a maximum of 32M in up to 4 files, so itThat last rather spoils things, I'm expecting the systems in question
should automatically prune 25% when it gets full, but I'm often having
to do it manually with:-
to run for months (at least) without any intervention from me.
... and systemd's journalling isn't the only thing that writes, it was
just the first thing that I thought of (hence the 'E.g.').
On 08/08/2026 08:59, Chris Green wrote:
druck <news@druck.org.uk> wrote:
That will log to RAM only, a maximum of 32M in up to 4 files, so itThat last rather spoils things, I'm expecting the systems in question
should automatically prune 25% when it gets full, but I'm often having
to do it manually with:-
to run for months (at least) without any intervention from me.
... and systemd's journalling isn't the only thing that writes, it was
just the first thing that I thought of (hence the 'E.g.').
Exactly why I wish systemd would FOAD!
---druck
On 08/08/2026 08:59, Chris Green wrote:
... and systemd's journalling isn't the only thing that writes, it
was just the first thing that I thought of (hence the 'E.g.').
Exactly why I wish systemd would FOAD!
On Mon, 10 Aug 2026 19:06:57 +0100, druck wrote:
On 08/08/2026 08:59, Chris Green wrote:
... and systemd's journalling isn't the only thing that writes, it
was just the first thing that I thought of (hence the 'E.g.').
Exactly why I wish systemd would FOAD!
Ironically, it???s the one thing you can configure to work exactly the
way you want.
I'd welcome any recommendations for cards that last well.
On Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:03:39 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence DrCOOliveiro wrote:
Ironically, itrCOs the one thing you can configure to work exactly
the way you want.
As long as its the systemd way :-)
On Tue, 11 Aug 2026 07:33:18 -0000 (UTC), Jim Jackson wrote:
On Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:03:39 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D???Oliveiro wrote:
Ironically, it???s the one thing you can configure to work exactly
the way you want.
As long as its the systemd way :-)
The ???systemd way??? lets you send the logging wherever you want.
I merely meant that, in the bits you edited out, that you could even
Before Systemd "configure [it] to work exactly the way you want".
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