LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] Slow loading of apps

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Slow loading of apps - elderly Toshiba Satellite Pro

I have been given this laptop, a 64-bit single-core machine with a 120Gb solid state disk and a Celeron 540 @ 1.86GHz. I have installed Fedora 24.

Everything seems to be working, but some activities are mind-bogglingly slow. For example, I can open LibreOfficeCalc in less than 5 seconds, which is satisfactory. If I issue a command to open a particular spreadsheet, it can take 70 seconds. This command is an example of one that takes 70 seconds:

Code:

/usr/lib64/libreoffice/program/soffice /home/carol/Documents/Shopping.ods

If I double-click on the Firefox icon, it can take 30 to 60 seconds to open.

In all cases, System Monitor shows no extra resources being used while waiting for the application to launch, so I infer it is not i/o bound in memory or disk.

To me, this has the 'feel' of the system blocking waiting for an interrupt, but that does not seem particularly likely.

Is there something about this machine I should know, or can someone guide me into debugging the problem? I just don't know where to start looking.

This request has previously been posted on the Fedora Forum here and I appreciate the help given, but it is not getting me closer to resolving the issue.

Thanks for any help,
Doug

Code:

sudo fdisk -l

If running a Desktop Environment instead of a Window Manager. What are you running?

Code:

harry@biker:~

$ inxi -S

System:    Host: biker Kernel: 4.2.1-antix.2-686-pae i686 (32 bit)

          Desktop: IceWM 1.3.8 Distro: antiX-15-V_386-full Killah P 30 June 2015

Code:

htop

Code:

top

in terminal can inform you on what is chewing up what to make you feel your system is slow. I have a feeling Fedoras system is more robust than your gear and is like, cmon already.

Edit: reading your Fedora forum link. The bottleneck is in your cpu. Which is as slow as my Panasonic CF-48.
Which is a run with a Window manager and small based Debian stable based install on with as few background processes running on.

Quote:

Celeron 540 @ 1.86GHz. I have installed Fedora 24.

firefox and libreoffice are hogs even on current hardware.
get used to it, or use abiword and qupzilla instead.
some settings might be tweaked in firefox; esp. starting the browser with a blank slate (preferences=>privacy=>clear history when ff closes) and as little addons as possible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji (Post 5585894)

Code:

sudo fdisk -l

Code:

[root@wobbly ~]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 111.8 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors

Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disklabel type: dos

Disk identifier: 0xa2f17adf



Device    Boot  Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type

/dev/sda1  *      2048  1026047  1024000  500M 83 Linux

/dev/sda2      1026048 234440703 233414656 111.3G 8e Linux LVM









Disk /dev/mapper/fedora-root: 50 GiB, 53687091200 bytes, 104857600 sectors

Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes





Disk /dev/mapper/fedora-swap: 3 GiB, 3221225472 bytes, 6291456 sectors

Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes





Disk /dev/mapper/fedora-home: 58.3 GiB, 62591598592 bytes, 122249216 sectors

Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Quote:

If running a Desktop Environment instead of a Window Manager. What are you running?

I'm running Gnome 3.

Quote:

Code:

harry@biker:~

$ inxi -S

System:    Host: biker Kernel: 4.2.1-antix.2-686-pae i686 (32 bit)

          Desktop: IceWM 1.3.8 Distro: antiX-15-V_386-full Killah P 30 June 2015

Code:

[carol@wobbly ~]$ inxi -S

System:    Host: wobbly Kernel: 4.6.4-301.fc24.x86_64 x86_64 (64 bit)

          Desktop: Gnome 3.20.3 Distro: Fedora release 24 (Twenty Four)

top and the System Monitor both show initial activity with soffice.bin, but that only lasts for a second, then it falls off the list. The only activity from then on is gnome-shell occupying +/- 3% of the processor. After more than a minute, soffice.bin flashes back and the selected document opens in libreoffice-calc.

During the 60+ seconds libreoffice is inactive, System Monitor shows there is no excessive load on the processor - just the normal idle activity.

Quote:

I have a feeling Fedoras system is more robust than your gear and is like, cmon already.

I am sure you are correct, but I am hoping I can fool Fedora into playing nicely with this hardware, because I want to use it to upgrade the Finance Manager from her ancient (2002) no-name tower. Lots of brownie points in it for me ...

Thanks for your help.
Doug

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 5585992)

firefox and libreoffice are hogs even on current hardware.

I certainly agree, however the machine is not reporting any activity - disk or processor - to account for the delay between click and launch. It has me bluffed. If all else fails, I will install a spare HDD I was given with the machine and see if Fedora plays better with that than with the SSD. I am reduced to trying to eliminate as many possible issues as I can.

Thank you for your help anyway - I can do with all the input I can get. "8-)

Kind regards,
Doug

Try latencytop - may give you some hints. Maybe also smart on that disk. Ooops - didn't notice you had a SSD; that shouldn't be the culprit.
I have F23 running on an old 32-bit P4. Not a speedster, but runs ok (ish).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Hutcheson (Post 5586316)

I certainly agree, however the machine is not reporting any activity - disk or processor - to account for the delay between click and launch.

how are you measuring it?
how are you interpreting your measurements?
sometimes X/Xorg appears to be the hog, but really it's the application causing it.
could even be the gpu itself slowing things down, not sure if that would show up in top at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00 (Post 5586328)

Try latencytop - may give you some hints.

Thanks for pointing me to latencytop - what a useful tool. I will need to get up to speed with what it is saying before I can give any meaningful feedback.

Quote:

I have F23 running on an old 32-bit P4. Not a speedster, but runs ok (ish).

This machine was running Windoze 7 with Libre Office and it did not exhibit this behaviour of being slow to open Firefox, or LibreOffice documents.

I tried swapping the SSD for an HDD, but nothing changed.

Perhaps latencytop will let me work out what is happening. It feels like a failed poll or software interrupt problem and it appears to be unique to Linux (or - gasp - only Fedora).

Sounds almost like this 6 year old laptop.
Been slow for a while, with latencytop calling out the disk I/O. Swapped out the hard-disk over a year ago - no noticeable diff. Could just be (other) components getting old and corroded.
I need to clean the fan and vents every 6 months due to the dust. Did it yesterday and it is quieter if not faster - Monday I'll get some thermal paste; that's about as much as I can do. As said above, maybe just have to put up with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 5586590)

how are you measuring it?
how are you interpreting your measurements?

Via the System Monitor 'Resources' tab and via 'top'. Neither show any unexpected activity - the processor usage stays at the idle level, so it does not seem to be thrashing the processor. Memory usage does not change, so I don't think that is the problem. I do not know how to go about getting better reporting on any of these measures.

Quote:

sometimes X/Xorg appears to be the hog, but really it's the application causing it. could even be the gpu itself slowing things down, not sure if that would show up in top at all.

Hmmm ... didn't think of the gpu.

In its previous life, this was a Windoze 7 box running Firefox and LibreOffice quite happily. The previous owner is gloating over the fact that Linux is having these problems when Windoze didn't. "8-[

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00 (Post 5586790)

As said above, maybe just have to put up with it.

Yes, it is looking that way, but Windoze 7 could run Firefox and LibreOffice without any of the enormous latency I am experiencing. Whatever is wrong, the finger is now pointing at Linux/Fedora rather than the hardware.

ok, just on a hunch that this might be graphics realted, or just to get a more technical overview, please post the output of

Code:

lspci -k

you also might want to consider using a distro more suitable for old hardware, say debian stable or the often recommended antiX.
fedora = bleeding edge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 5586881)

lspci -k

I have attached the output here as lspci.txt, but I don't think it contains anything unusual. If it was the graphics hardware, why could Windoze 7 run Firefox and LibreOffice without these delays? (Rhetorical question only - I am not asking your to answer that one ... "8->)

I would prefer not to change the distro, because my wife has become used to Fedora and I would not want to upset the apple cart at this stage.

If all else fails, she will just have to put up with the system as it is, unless she wants to front up with the cash for a replacement. "8-)

Thanks for your continuing input.

Cheers,
Doug

if my hunch about the whole thing being graphics related was correct, then this would be the relevant bit:

Code:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary) (rev 03)

        Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff10

        Kernel driver in use: i915

        Kernel modules: i915

00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (secondary) (rev 03)

        Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff10

i had a look at Intel Mobile GM965/GL960 related linux problems, but nothing extremely interesting sprang at me.

i think yours is just a general too old hardware / too new distro problem.

actually i just noticed you are running gnome 3 on that old clunker.
holy crap! forget about it. of course it lags like hell. i'm surprised it works at all.

you should try to make a live usb stick with e.g. antiX, and see how that works for you/the laptop/your wife.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho (Post 5587292)

iactually i just noticed you are running gnome 3 on that old clunker.
holy crap! forget about it. of course it lags like hell. i'm surprised it works at all.

Mmmm ... that seems sensible. I'm guessing KDE would suffer from the same coronary artery disease resulting from morbid obesity.

Quote:

you should try to make a live usb stick with e.g. antiX, and see how that works for you/the laptop/your wife.

Yes, I think I will have to bite the bullet and do just that.

To think all this started by me saying "I think we need to upgrade your computer, Darling". Famous last words!

Thanks for the on-going help and advice, ondoho.