Ubuntu

Speeding up Ubuntu

Asked by beAn

ok its one of two things or just both.

applications (or anything done on this computer) seem a bit slow

Firefox is definitely slow.. is there a way to fix this problem?

I posted a question earlier but I recieved nothing that could help me. I was asked for my specs and I posted them a little too late, I guess. I'll repost them here, let me know if there is anything I can do because Ubuntu is acting ridiculously slow in response time

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1510 PC card Cardbus Controller
02:02.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter (rev 04)
02:07.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB21 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB PRO/100 VE (MOB) Ethernet Controller (rev 81)

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actionparsnip
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

You have 2 things to do to make thinsg faster.

1) Install ATi video drivers to make your graphics card work for you.
2) http://digg.com/linux_unix/How_to_make_Ubuntu_extremely_fast

Firefox is HORRIFICLY slow nd resources hungry, it takes up a whopping 40% of my 1.6Ghz CPU + 1Gb DDR2. There are slimmer browsers based on Gecko and perform much better (Swiftfox, Firepup, Kazehakase etc) which use a hell of a lot fewer resources.

You can also find a million guides on how to tweak Gecko based browsers using about:config and allowing more pipelines and prefetching etc. This can improve the experienced speed also.

The ATi driver will help loats with rendering etc. I suggest you hit this first.

If you get into hdparm, you can can get more horsepower from better settings on your hard drive but if you push too far you will strain the drive and can damage it physically so BEWARE

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beAn (somerefriedbeans) said : 		#2

The I have the Radeon Mobility 7500
I haven't been able to find any linux drivers for it.
On ATi's website they start with the Mobility 9600 and above
What should I do?

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midnightflash (midnightflash) said : 		#3

The open-source-driver which is installed by default is the right one for your graphics-card.
How much RAM does the machine have?

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beAn (somerefriedbeans) said : 		#4

I wanna say it has around a gig. I can't remember exactly but I do believe a gig or so

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midnightflash (midnightflash) said : 		#5

Uh! Thats far enough RAM!
The 7M is quite slow, but let's say nearly sufficient. (using one myself)
There is still a little problem with Compiz and Firefox. Making the response a lot slow on older graphics.

You should at least turn off "smooth scrolling" in FF.
(preferences - advanced - "TheFirstTabOnTheLeft")
This helps a lot!

What kind of Notebook are we talking about?

Greetings
mid

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Best actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#6

You can use the open driver instead, it comes as part of a default install.

If you run:

gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and find the section (not the line in te screen section) that says:

Configured Video Device

under that add the line:

Driver "ati"

save the file and reboot

you can use recovery mode to reset the file back to failsafe. If that doesnt work try:

Driver "radeon"

instead.

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beAn (somerefriedbeans) said : 		#7

It is an IBM ThinkPad R40
It was passed on to me from a friend.

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beAn (somerefriedbeans) said : 		#8

Thanks actionparsnip, that solved my question.