Increasing page loading speed, RAM, memtest

[AbleTassie]

I have an older laptop TOSHIBA Satellite L25 S1216 circa early 2006 with 1.25 GB of RAM (DDR2). I would like to increase speed. One of my goals is to increase the speed at which I can move to different pages in a PDF document during an online WebEx document sharing interview. It currently takes time (about 8 seconds) to "load" when I move to a different page. This time can add up over the course of an interview. Even the rate at which typed characters appear on my screen is slow sometimes.

A couple simple RAM tests seem to indicate RAM is working OK. But I have figured out how to get into the grub boot menu and use memtest to test the RAM I presently have. There are two grub options: (a) memtest 86+ and (b) memtest 86+, serial console 115200. I plan to run memtest86+ overnight.

QUESTION#1: Is there a significant difference between these two above options (a) and (b)?

QUESTION#2: I like Ubuntu 12.04 LTS very much, but it appears that a "lighter desktop version of Ubuntu" like Lxde (Lubuntu) or xfce (Kubuntu) might increase speed. Is this correct?

QUESTION(S)#3: I am thinking of moving up to 2GB of RAM by replacing the factory 0.25 GB (250MB) RAM chip with a 1GB RAM chip that matches (in terms of clock speed 667MHz) the 1GB I previously added (years ago) to the factory 0.25GB. Would this likely help?

The TOSHIBA specs for the laptop say that dual-channel support requires two memory modules of same capacity and clock speed. The capacities of the two current memory chips differ (1GB & 0.25GB) and I think the clock speeds may differ too (667MHz & I think the 0.25GB is 533MHz). Perhaps I need to add two new memory chips that are the same? But this would be more expensive.

TOSHIBA currently recommends this chip for my PC:

Kingston 1GB PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2 Notebook Memory Module

Thank you,

R.

[oldrocker99]

You don't need to install another version; you can open Synaptic (assuming it's installed) and install LXDE or XCFE, both of which are a lot lighter-weight than Unity. Or you can open a terminal and:

sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop

or

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

Either one is easy to learn and use, and both are less resource-intensive than Unity.

Good luck and do post your results.

[AbleTassie]

OK, I am installing lubuntu right now. I noticed that new pdf pages load faster when less applications are open. Any answers to my other questions will be greatly appreciated.

R.

[AbleTassie]

You don't need to install another version; you can open Synaptic (assuming it's installed) and install LXDE or XCFE, both of which are a lot lighter-weight than Unity. Or you can open a terminal and:

sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop

or

sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

Either one is easy to learn and use, and both are less resource-intensive than Unity.

Good luck and do post your results.

I put the command sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop into the terminal. But I'm not sure if the install of Lubuntu was complete, because the desktop screen looks the same as it does for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. When I restart the computer, however, there is a Lubuntu logo.

In the grub menu, there is an Ubuntu option, but not a Lubuntu option.

QUESTION: How can I tell for sure if Lubuntu was successfully installed?

I can't say for sure that navigating around in a pdf document is quicker after my install (successful or unsuccessful) of Lubuntu.

Thanks,

R.

[deadflowr]

Lubuntu-desktop is just that, a desktop.
It doesn't install a new operating system.

To access, somewhere in the login screen
(I state this because I don't know if that changed for you or not)
You can switch desktops.

In the Ubuntu login screen, to change the desktop click on the button in the corner where you enter in your login name and password.
A selection should now appear with lubuntu as one of them. Select it and press enter then enter you login stuff(password) and try logging in.

Other login screens usually have a dropdown on a panel that you can use to switch the desktop.
Most will say something like "default"

I hope some of this makes sense.

[AbleTassie]

Thanks deadflowr, I used your comments to figure out how to get to the Lubuntu desktop. I think that pdf pages do load faster with Lubuntu.

QUESTION: Does Xubuntu or another "flavor" of Ubuntu use even less resources than Lubuntu?

Any answers to my original questions on RAM memory will be greatly appreciated.

Looks like I'll run memtest 86+ tonight while sleeping, since I don't really know what memtest 86+ serial console is.

Thanks,

R.

[Youri_van_Dijk]

It's difficult to judge whether adding ram might help. Though I think your current setup might have some issues as Toshiba notices you need to have matching clock speeds and capacity and the 1 and original sized are very much different... Is the complete size of ram detected in Ubuntu? I'm not an expert and I think a lot of people here will find it difficult to indicate a clear yes/no answer. When using such an old machine it might be better to save the money and use it to invest in a more recent (second hand?) machine.

In terms of performance the only distro I know that could be lighter is Bohdi Linux. Kubuntu should be less applicable as it requires more resources. Lubuntu needs a minimum of 512 Mb ram while Bohdi requires only 128. I'm not sure wether you could just install that from the command line though. To noob for school

[Youri_van_Dijk]

Btw regarding xubuntu it seems it is a little heavier than lubuntu. Source: http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.nl/20...buntu.html?m=1

[deadflowr]

As far as going even further down the rabbit hole of desktops, you could run a plain window manager, which can bring down the resources even lower.
Something like awesome or fluxbox.
I don't know what Enlightenment is exactly, but it is wicked quick.

About your ram though,

1)more is always better.

2)your ram's speed will only run as fast as the lowest speed of the ram you have.
As you(I think) stated, you have 667mhz and 533mhz.
The machine would be running at the lower number(533mhz).

So in this respect, it is best to get matching ram.
That way you aren't just through away potentially helpful assets.

[Bucky Ball]

By installing *ubuntu-desktop anything there is a good chance you are making your machine more bloated as you are essentially installing Xubuntu into Ubuntu, both running on the Ubuntu kernel. Installing *ubuntu-desktop is the wrong advice for people wanting to try a DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT and I wish people would stop giving it. It can cause unexpected problems, duplication, redundancy and bloat. Install xfce4 or lxde ONLY. They are the desktop environments used by Xubuntu and Lubuntu respectively and they DON'T drag in all the default apps and dependencies, which is exactly what you do when you install *ubuntu-desktop. Your menus will show the Ubuntu default apps AND the Xubuntu/Lubuntu default apps, many of which do exactly the same thing but have different names.

For instance, if you had Lubuntu and Xubuntu-desktop installed with Ubuntu you would have Nautilus, Thunar and PCmanFM filemanagers. Three file managers ...

It can make a real mess and is not easy to get back from there. On a lower spec machine it can be a nightmare. Been there.

* Rant off. Just to clarify, install xfce4 or lxde from the repos, log out, choose either from the 'Sessions' pop up menu, login.