Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 13

Thread: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Beans
    6

    Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    just installed the latest 14.04 LTS -32 bit version. I feel there is some lag....it's not that fast. I am sure it needs tweaking, but i dont know how to diagnose the problems or fix them. Anyone can systematically show me what to do?

    I have an old computer

    Gateway MX 6437
    2 GB of RAM
    description: CPU
    product: AMD Turion(tm) 64 Mobile Technology ML-32
    size: 1800MHz
    capacity: 1800MHz
    width: 64 bits
    clock: 200MHz

    Code:
    top - 08:21:02 up  1:46,  4 users,  load average: 0.75, 0.94, 1.21
    Tasks: 185 total,   1 running, 184 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
    %Cpu(s): 42.5 us, 14.3 sy,  1.1 ni, 40.4 id,  1.6 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.1 si,  0.0 st
    KiB Mem:   1998152 total,  1621844 used,   376308 free,    29020 buffers
    KiB Swap:  2031612 total,    16872 used,  2014740 free.   777188 cached Mem
    
    
      PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S %CPU %MEM     TIME+ COMMAND                                                               
    13443 ari_ron+  20   0    5580   1340    952 R 17.9  0.1   0:00.04 top                                                                   
    12790 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  6.0  0.0   0:02.62 kworker/0:2                                                           
        1 root      20   0    4568   2188   1360 S  0.0  0.1   0:03.24 init                                                                  
        2 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kthreadd                                                              
        3 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:02.30 ksoftirqd/0                                                           
        5 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kworker/0:0H                                                          
        7 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:09.26 rcu_sched                                                             
        8 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 rcu_bh                                                                
        9 root      rt   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 migration/0                                                           
       10 root      rt   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.08 watchdog/0                                                            
       11 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 khelper                                                               
       12 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kdevtmpfs                                                             
       13 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 netns                                                                 
       14 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 writeback                                                             
       15 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kintegrityd                                                           
       16 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 bioset                                                                
       17 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.14 kworker/u3:0                                                          
       18 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kblockd                                                               
       19 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 ata_sff                                                               
       20 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 khubd                                                                 
       21 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 md                                                                    
       22 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 devfreq_wq                                                            
       25 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 khungtaskd                                                            
       26 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.70 kswapd0                                                               
       27 root      25   5       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 ksmd                                                                  
       28 root      39  19       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.59 khugepaged                                                            
       29 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 fsnotify_mark                                                         
       30 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 ecryptfs-kthrea                                                       
       31 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 crypto                                                                
       43 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kthrotld                                                              
       66 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 deferwq                                                               
       67 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 charger_manager                                                       
      108 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 scsi_eh_0                                                             
      109 root      20   0       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.02 scsi_eh_1                                                             
      110 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 firewire                                                              
      111 root       0 -20       0      0      0 S  0.0  0.0   0:00.00 firewire_ohci                                                         
    ari_ronnie@gateway:~$ htop
    ari_ronnie@gateway:~$
    Code:
    ari_ronnie@gateway:~$ free
                 total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
    Mem:       1998152    1612344     385808      38728      29116     777376
    -/+ buffers/cache:     805852    1192300
    Swap:      2031612      16872    2014740
    Last edited by Iowan; April 19th, 2014 at 01:35 PM. Reason: Add code tags, merge

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Kubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    what graphics card do you have? Ubuntu is modern operating system aimed at latest mashcines. for older and slower computers using Xubuntu or Lubuntu works best. Ofcourse Ubuntu can also be used but needs to be tweaked quite a bit. and 3D accelerated unity interface might need to be dumped.
    Read the easy to understand, lots of pics Ubuntu manual.
    Do i need antivirus/firewall in linux?
    Full disk backup (newer kernel -> suitable for newer PC): Clonezilla
    User friendly full disk backup: Rescuezilla

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Beans
    6

    Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RS480M [Mobility Radeon Xpress 200]

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    /dev/root
    Beans
    Hidden!

    Arrow Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    Welcome to the Ubuntu Forums

    I suggest that you try some other flavour of Ubuntu with a lighter desktop environment, Xubuntu which is medium light or Lubuntu which is ultra light.

    If you have a fast internet connection, I suggest that you download the corresponding iso files. You can use 32-bit as well as 64-bit versions, and I think with only 2 GB RAM, it might be better with 32 bits (others might advice differently).

    -o-

    If you have a slow internet connection, or you want a quick solution, you can install the corresponding flavours or only the desktop environments with the following commands from a terminal window

    Code:
    sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
    sudo apt-get install Lubuntu-desktop
    Code:
    sudo apt-get install xfce4
    sudo apt-get install lxde
    and then you can select the desktop environment at the login screen. But this method means that the system will get doublets for many tasks, and it is difficult to get a clean system (again).
    Last edited by sudodus; April 19th, 2014 at 01:47 PM. Reason: mastablasta was faster ;-)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Beans
    6

    Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    newbie questions:
    - should i have downloaded the 64 bit? would it have made any difference?
    -Based on the specs, should i downgrade to a faster distro, Xubuntu, etc..if so, which one is preferrable (i use this laptop only for web browsing - no gaming)
    - is it possible to keep Ubuntu on and run other lighter version of Linux. if so, whats the quickest way

    Sorry, lot's of questions. Recent convert from Windows, quite literally one day, but already loving Ubuntu.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Beans
    6

    Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    i think i am going to go with one...Xubuntu...downloading now. what's these codes do?
    sudo apt-get install xfce4sudo apt-get install lxde

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    /dev/root
    Beans
    Hidden!

    Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    I think it makes no big difference in speed. A different desktop environment and a different choice of application programs will make a bigger difference.

    I think Xubuntu might be a good choice. You can test both desktops in the same system according to the second alternative in my previous post.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Beans
    6

    Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    Thanks for your prompt replies, guys. Appreciate it. I am going to try to use Xubuntu. Just curious, the tweaks to make Ubuntu faster, is it a tremendous effort? I am just trying to assess the level of difficulty.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    /dev/root
    Beans
    Hidden!

    Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    Standard Ubuntu is not very easy to tweak, instead it is made robust and for relatively new computers. The community flavours (Xubuntu etc) are easier to tweak.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    London, England
    Beans
    7,698

    Re: Complete newbie with Ubuntu - first day. My Ubuntu is slow...need to diagnose

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris_Sabian View Post
    i think i am going to go with one...Xubuntu...downloading now. what's these codes do?
    sudo apt-get install xfce4sudo apt-get install lxde
    They install the other desktop GUI software.
    apt-get is the software package manager for installing and removing software.
    sudo is a command that effectively means "run the following command as administrator".

    So "sudo apt-get install xfce" says that as administrator, install the package xfce4. xfce4 is the GUI that Xubuntu uses. Similarly, lxde is the GUI that Lubuntu uses. You can install them all into Ubuntu, and have a choice of which GUI to run as you log in.

    However, I would suggest that you go ahead with a complete install of Xubuntu and overwrite Ubuntu. Ubuntu will load a number of services that are of little use in the xfce4 GUI, and Xubuntu loads a number of services that are of use in xfce4 and not loaded by Ubuntu. Your best experience will be with the *buntu version for the GUI you intend to use.

    Good luck with it.
    I don't think you will find any easy tweaks to make it faster. They try to make it pretty-much as fast as they can before they release it. You won't find a settings slider that says "Glacial" and one end and "Ludicrous Speed" at the other end.
    Last edited by The Cog; April 19th, 2014 at 02:23 PM.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •