slow computer - ubuntu 21.04

[TheFu]

I have to say, my first gut feeling was some DNS issue. That can make a fast system become really slow as the queries need to time out before failing, so checking the DNS differences between the systems couldn't hurt. Plus, somehow lots of 20.04 and later systems seem to run into DNS config problems much more often.

[jgw]

thanks for all the replies. Here is a link to logs program. This is what happens in less than 5 minutes. I also mentions wireguard a lot. I don't have wireguard on my system and I don't think it runs under 21.04 anyway. Some pretty strange stuff in here.
https://pastebin.com/JbyVxtdR

[QIII]

Do you have your OS set to connect to a VPN on startup? It is possible, if unlikely, that that could be where the Wireshark reference is coming from.

Do you have Geoclue installed?

Check your startup apps. Eliminate everything that is not default and try then. Some of those apps can suck up resources and bog you down.

[jgw]

Thanks for the reply!
Its "wireguard". I checked my vpn (PIA) Since they are my vpn I don't need wireguard as i think that too is a vpn which is, I think, free!

Here is what starts up:
backups (backs up every 7 days)
firefox (browser)
im-launch (mystery)
private internet access (vpn)
ssh key agent (not sure why or what)
thunderbird (mail)
zapp-sn-watcher (have no idea)

No geoclue

The problem is actually pretty simple. There is something running and, when it runs, nothing else can happen and my mouse freezes. Even when it isn't it won't work. When this happens it takes from 2 to 8 minutes before my system will work again. If I had a clue as to what it was I would deal with it but when everything is frozen I am stuck. What I was hoping for was a program that would simply keep track of what was running and how many resources were being used. I guess there is nothing like that. If I was younger I would just write it but, I fear, those days are over. Since my mchines have nothing of real value, my other option is to save everything I can, on another drive, and then just start over from scratch. its a pain but its also, I suspect, a solution. I didn't have, incidentally, all these problems before I moved to 21.04 from 20.04.2 I still have two machines that have not moved and they work just fine.

[corradoventu]

Open 'system monitor' and keep it open on 'resources' so when your system hangs you may have an idea of the problem.

[TheFu]

There are 20+ system monitoring tools. These can write to local and remote systems, provide graphs for most things, and feed into alarming systems. Those alarm system can notify someone or attempt to fix known problems without bothering any humans. Something like Zabbix or opennms or nagios .... there are at least 20 of these tools. SysUsage is one of the simpler tools. I ran that for a few years. Then moved to Munin. Of course, you can create your own using sar, but that's really old-school.

[ActionParsnip]

if you run:

top

and watch the terminal as you use the system does anything hog the CPU or RAM?

[jgw]

Here are some links to my logs. These are from the logs program itself. Its broken down into:
important
all
applications
system
security
hardware

When I read these things there always seems to be something missing, not whatever, can't find, or doesn't have something. Security lists a lot of things that can't be found, not there, or the wrong thing. Security failed to discover or is skipping and it all has to do with a 'uri' file. Applications is similar to security. it just goes on and on. My main problem is that I really have no idea what is really something that needs attention or not. I tried leaving the monitor on but when things freeze I can't move the mouse so I am doomed, same with all the other stuff. I can't see it unless everything is dandy. Once I have a freeze I usually have to re-boot. Even when I re-start strange things happen. I automatically start firefox. then I decided to close that and just deal with my email. I tried to stop it and failed, then I went to the system monitor and tried to stop it- and failed. then I tried to kill it - and that didn't work either. It just sat there. the wonder was that firefox was frozen but my mouse was working everywhere else.

Here are some links to the logs program results. I don't know what else to do. Perhaps some kind person can give me thoughts on this stuff. I also suspect that I am probably going to far and expecting too much.

all_log.txt https://pastebin.com/j7MxcXZK
hardware_log.txt https://pastebin.com/TvqZQQxL
security_log.txt https://pastebin.com/bFJyM1v8
system_log.txt https://pastebin.com/gcP8fAX6
important.log.txt https://pastebin.com/jdJVkfcq
applications_log.txt https://pastebin.com/Mn64x9wc

[TheFu]

System monitoring: https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/...ntu-16-04-lts/
I expect the setup for newer releases is the same or extremely similar.
Monitoring helps determine why a system is slow and narrows down why.

[jgw]

"https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/server-monitoring-with-munin-and-monit-on-ubuntu-16-04-lts/" says its good up to ubuntu 16.04. Before I follow those instructions I need to know if it will also work on 21.04 (I have tried older stuff before and sometimes it didn't quite work) This also assumes its dealing with a server. I have no idea if I have a server! This is a question I have been thinking of asking about - are all versions of ubuntu servers or do I have to add something to become a server?

Any help is appreciated and thank you for the reply!