Overhaul ram size / harddisk size requirements / recommendations for simplification and consistency

1 files changed, 40 insertions, 8 deletions

diff --git a/en/preparing/minimum-hardware-reqts.xml b/en/preparing/minimum-hardware-reqts.xml
index eb36bb9ce..076c65791 100644
--- a/en/preparing/minimum-hardware-reqts.xml
+++ b/en/preparing/minimum-hardware-reqts.xml
@@ -45,14 +45,14 @@ Any OldWorld or NewWorld PowerPC can serve well as a desktop system.
 <tbody>
 <row>
   <entry>No desktop</entry>
-  <entry>256 megabytes</entry>
-  <entry>512 megabytes</entry>
-  <entry>4 gigabytes</entry>
+  <entry>&ref-no-desktop-ram-minimum;</entry>
+  <entry>&ref-no-desktop-ram-recommend;</entry>
+  <entry>&ref-no-desktop-hd;</entry>
 </row><row arch="not-s390">
   <entry>With Desktop</entry>
-  <entry>1 gigabytes</entry>
-  <entry>2 gigabytes</entry>
-  <entry>10 gigabytes</entry>
+  <entry>&ref-with-desktop-ram-minimum;</entry>
+  <entry>&ref-with-desktop-ram-recommend;</entry>
+  <entry>&ref-with-desktop-hd;</entry>
 </row>
 
 </tbody></tgroup></table>
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ Any OldWorld or NewWorld PowerPC can serve well as a desktop system.
 <para>
 
 The minimum values assumes that swap will be enabled and a non-liveCD image is used.
-The <quote>No desktop</quote> value assumes that the non-graphical (text-based)
-installer is used.
+The <quote>No desktop</quote> value assumes that the text-based installer
+(not the graphical one) is used.
 
 </para><para>
 
@@ -73,6 +73,38 @@ pick and choose which applications to install; see
 <xref linkend="tasksel-size-list"/> for additional information on disk
 space requirements.
 
+</para><para>
+
+The installer normally automatically enables memory-saving tricks to be able to
+run on such low-memory system, but on architectures that are less tested
+it may miss doing so. It can however be enabled manually by appending the
+<userinput>lowmem=1</userinput> or even <userinput>lowmem=2</userinput> boot
+parameter (see also <xref linkend="lowmem"/> and
+<xref linkend="installer-args"/>).
+
+</para><warning condition="lowmem-unchecked"><para>
+
+On &architecture; the lowmem levels have not been tested, so automatic detection
+is probably outdated and you thus probably <emphasis>need</emphasis> to pass the
+boot parameter if your system has little memory.
+
+</para></warning><para>
+
+Installation on systems with less memory<footnote condition="gtk">
+
+<para>
+
+Installation images that support the graphical installer require more
+memory than images that support only the text-based installer and should
+not be used on systems with less than &minimum-memory; of memory. If
+there is a choice between booting the text-based and the graphical installer,
+the former should be selected on such systems.
+
+</para>
+
+</footnote> or disk space available may be possible but is only advised for
+experienced users.
+
 </para><para arch="not-s390">
 
 It is possible to run a graphical desktop environment on older or