diff -urN ref/include/linux/mm.h 2.3.42aa3-alpha/include/linux/mm.h
--- ref/include/linux/mm.h	Sun Feb  6 19:28:44 2000
+++ 2.3.42aa3-alpha/include/linux/mm.h	Sun Feb  6 19:25:00 2000
@@ -461,7 +461,7 @@
 
 #define __GFP_DMA	0x20
 
-#define GFP_BUFFER	(__GFP_WAIT)
+#define GFP_BUFFER	(__GFP_HIGH | __GFP_WAIT)
 #define GFP_ATOMIC	(__GFP_HIGH)
 #define GFP_USER	(__GFP_WAIT | __GFP_IO)
 #define GFP_HIGHUSER	(GFP_USER | __GFP_HIGHMEM)
diff -urN ref/include/linux/mmzone.h 2.3.42aa3-alpha/include/linux/mmzone.h
--- ref/include/linux/mmzone.h	Sun Feb  6 19:28:44 2000
+++ 2.3.42aa3-alpha/include/linux/mmzone.h	Sun Feb  6 19:24:37 2000
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 	unsigned long offset;
 	unsigned long free_pages;
 	int low_on_memory;
-	unsigned long pages_low, pages_high;
+	unsigned long pages_min, pages_low, pages_high;
 	struct pglist_data *zone_pgdat;
 
 	/*
diff -urN ref/mm/page_alloc.c 2.3.42aa3-alpha/mm/page_alloc.c
--- ref/mm/page_alloc.c	Sun Feb  6 19:28:44 2000
+++ 2.3.42aa3-alpha/mm/page_alloc.c	Sat Feb  5 22:37:15 2000
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@
 LIST_HEAD(lru_cache);
 
 static char *zone_names[MAX_NR_ZONES] = { "DMA", "Normal", "HighMem" };
-static int zone_balance_ratio[MAX_NR_ZONES] = { 128, 128, 128 };
+static int zone_balance_ratio[MAX_NR_ZONES] = { 128, 128, 128, };
+static int zone_balance_min[MAX_NR_ZONES] = { 10 , 10, 10, };
+static int zone_balance_max[MAX_NR_ZONES] = { 255 , 255, 255, };
 
 /*
  * Free_page() adds the page to the free lists. This is optimized for
@@ -196,9 +198,6 @@
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-#define ZONE_BALANCED(zone) \
-	(((zone)->free_pages > (zone)->pages_low) && (!(zone)->low_on_memory))
-
 static inline unsigned long classfree(zone_t *zone)
 {
 	unsigned long free = 0;
@@ -215,21 +214,6 @@
 static inline int zone_balance_memory (zone_t *zone, int gfp_mask)
 {
 	int freed;
-	unsigned long free = classfree(zone);
-
-	if (free >= zone->pages_low) {
-		if (!zone->low_on_memory)
-			return 1;
-		/*
-		 * Simple hysteresis: exit 'low memory mode' if
-		 * the upper limit has been reached:
-		 */
-		if (free >= zone->pages_high) {
-			zone->low_on_memory = 0;
-			return 1;
-		}
-	} else
-		zone->low_on_memory = 1;
 
 	/*
 	 * In the atomic allocation case we only 'kick' the
@@ -243,43 +227,6 @@
 	return 1;
 }
 
-#if 0
-/*
- * We are still balancing memory in a global way:
- */
-static inline int balance_memory (zone_t *zone, int gfp_mask)
-{
-	unsigned long free = nr_free_pages();
-	static int low_on_memory = 0;
-	int freed;
-
-	if (free >= freepages.low) {
-		if (!low_on_memory)
-			return 1;
-		/*
-		 * Simple hysteresis: exit 'low memory mode' if
-		 * the upper limit has been reached:
-		 */
-		if (free >= freepages.high) {
-			low_on_memory = 0;
-			return 1;
-		}
-	} else
-		low_on_memory = 1;
-
-	/*
-	 * In the atomic allocation case we only 'kick' the
-	 * state machine, but do not try to free pages
-	 * ourselves.
-	 */
-	freed = try_to_free_pages(gfp_mask, zone);
-
-	if (!freed && !(gfp_mask & __GFP_HIGH))
-		return 0;
-	return 1;
-}
-#endif
-
 /*
  * This is the 'heart' of the zoned buddy allocator:
  */
@@ -310,11 +257,31 @@
 		 * further thought.
 		 */
 		if (!(current->flags & PF_MEMALLOC))
-			/*
-			 * fastpath
-			 */
-			if (!ZONE_BALANCED(z))
-				goto balance;
+		{
+			if (classfree(z) > z->pages_high)
+			{
+				if (z->low_on_memory)
+					z->low_on_memory = 0;
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				extern wait_queue_head_t kswapd_wait;
+
+				if (z->low_on_memory)
+					goto balance;
+
+				if (classfree(z) <= z->pages_low)
+				{
+					wake_up_interruptible(&kswapd_wait);
+
+					if (classfree(z) <= z->pages_min)
+					{
+						z->low_on_memory = 1;
+						goto balance;
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
 		/*
 		 * This is an optimization for the 'higher order zone
 		 * is empty' case - it can happen even in well-behaved
@@ -590,7 +557,11 @@
 		zone->offset = offset;
 		cumulative += size;
 		mask = (cumulative / zone_balance_ratio[j]);
-		if (mask < 1) mask = 1;
+		if (mask < zone_balance_min[j])
+			mask = zone_balance_min[j];
+		else if (mask > zone_balance_max[j])
+			mask = zone_balance_max[j];
+		zone->pages_min = mask;
 		zone->pages_low = mask*2;
 		zone->pages_high = mask*3;
 		zone->low_on_memory = 0;
diff -urN ref/mm/vmscan.c 2.3.42aa3-alpha/mm/vmscan.c
--- ref/mm/vmscan.c	Sun Feb  6 19:28:44 2000
+++ 2.3.42aa3-alpha/mm/vmscan.c	Fri Feb  4 20:10:33 2000
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@
 	return priority >= 0;
 }
 
-static struct task_struct *kswapd_process;
+DECLARE_WAIT_QUEUE_HEAD(kswapd_wait);
 
 /*
  * The background pageout daemon, started as a kernel thread
@@ -471,7 +471,6 @@
 {
 	struct task_struct *tsk = current;
 
-	kswapd_process = tsk;
 	tsk->session = 1;
 	tsk->pgrp = 1;
 	strcpy(tsk->comm, "kswapd");
@@ -510,7 +509,7 @@
 			run_task_queue(&tq_disk);
 		} while (!tsk->need_resched);
 		tsk->state = TASK_INTERRUPTIBLE;
-		schedule_timeout(HZ);
+		interruptible_sleep_on(&kswapd_wait);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -533,7 +532,6 @@
 {
 	int retval = 1;
 
-	wake_up_process(kswapd_process);
 	if (gfp_mask & __GFP_WAIT) {
 		current->flags |= PF_MEMALLOC;
 		retval = do_try_to_free_pages(gfp_mask, zone);