perf(memory): size the cache to the board and stop reinstalling deps

On a 1GB Pi 3B+ the display process settles around 600MB RSS of 905MB
total. When the remaining headroom runs out the failure is not a clean
crash: fork() starts returning ENOMEM, so sshd accepts connections and
closes them before its banner, timer jobs stop running, and the panel
goes dark, while already-resident processes keep serving normally. The
board looks healthy from outside and cannot be logged into. Only a power
cycle clears it.

Three contributing causes:

- MemoryCache had a fixed 1000-entry ceiling. Entries are parsed API
  payloads of tens of KB, so one ceiling cannot serve both a 512MB Zero
  2 W and an 8GB Pi 5. Now scaled from MemTotal (150 entries at <=1GB,
  1500 at >=8GB), overridable with LEDMATRIX_CACHE_MAX_ENTRIES.

- requirements_are_satisfied() returned False for any requirement with
  extras, so a plugin depending on python-socketio[client] re-ran pip on
  every single start: ~8s, a network dependency, and a 100-200MB spike
  at the least convenient moment. During a restart loop it repeats for
  each restart. Extras are now resolved one level deep against installed
  metadata, keeping the conservative "anything unverifiable falls
  through to pip" contract.

- ledmatrix.service had no memory ceiling. MemoryMax=85% expressed as a
  percentage so one unit file suits every board. Note this needs the
  memory cgroup controller, which Pi firmware disables by default;
  first_time_install.sh now adds cgroup_enable=memory to cmdline.txt,
  and the unit file documents how to verify it took effect.

first_time_install.sh also enables persistent journald storage (capped
at 64M). Default storage is volatile, so every reboot destroys the logs
that would explain why the board rebooted.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Chuck
2026-08-18 19:13:30 -04:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
parent e6249dcc7e
commit 8927a1b6b1
5 changed files with 157 additions and 6 deletions
+37
View File
@@ -1688,6 +1688,43 @@ else
echo "$CMDLINE_FILE not found; skipping isolcpus optimization"
fi
# Enable the memory cgroup controller (idempotent).
# The Pi firmware boots with cgroup_disable=memory, so systemd's MemoryMax= is
# accepted and silently ignored — the display service then has no ceiling, and
# a runaway takes the whole board down (sshd can no longer fork, the panel goes
# dark) rather than just restarting the one service.
if [ "$SKIP_PERF" != "1" ] && [ -f "$CMDLINE_FILE" ]; then
if grep -q 'cgroup_enable=memory' "$CMDLINE_FILE"; then
echo "cgroup_enable=memory already present in $CMDLINE_FILE"
else
echo "Adding cgroup_enable=memory to $CMDLINE_FILE..."
cp "$CMDLINE_FILE" "$CMDLINE_FILE.bak" 2>/dev/null || true
sed -i '1 s/$/ cgroup_enable=memory cgroup_memory=1/' "$CMDLINE_FILE"
echo " Takes effect after reboot. Verify with:"
echo " grep memory /sys/fs/cgroup/cgroup.controllers"
fi
fi
# Persist the journal (idempotent).
# These images default to volatile storage: journald keeps everything in /run
# (tmpfs), so every reboot destroys the logs — including the ones that would
# explain why the board rebooted. Capped so an SD card is not worn out by logs.
if [ -d /var/log/journal ] && [ -n "$(ls -A /var/log/journal 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
echo "Persistent journald storage already enabled"
else
echo "Enabling persistent journald storage..."
mkdir -p /etc/systemd/journald.conf.d
cat > /etc/systemd/journald.conf.d/ledmatrix-persistent.conf <<'JOURNALD'
# Installed by LEDMatrix first_time_install.sh
[Journal]
Storage=persistent
SystemMaxUse=64M
JOURNALD
mkdir -p /var/log/journal
systemd-tmpfiles --create --prefix /var/log/journal >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
systemctl restart systemd-journald >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
fi
# Ensure dtparam=audio=off in config.txt (idempotent)
if [ "$SKIP_PERF" = "1" ]; then
: # skipped