First time install questions - running slow
 

My old compaq PC crashed due to a virus a few years back requiring a complete system restore. I have a new PC now and decided to bring the compaq out of the basement and see what it could do running linux.
I don't personally know anybody running linux, so I learned as much as I could on the web. Here's what I have running:

Damn Small Linux, installed on hard drive (Windows has been completely removed)
AMD 533 MHZ, Compaq Presario desktop, 192 MB ram
Video is integrated, shares 8MB memory with the motherboard.

Everything works fine, but graphics seem very slow, especially surfing the net (firefox, cable modem). Pages load fairly quickly but scrolling down the page is very slow and "choppy".

How can I fix it?

Have you tried other browsers? More RAM isn't a bad thing, but 192MB should do, if you're talking about browsing the net :) You could also try fuzzing around with the scrolling options (does FF use "smooth scrolling" or something?), or changing your resolution and see if that helps. Is your desktop system running smoothly except for web pages scrolling, or is it overall sluggishness? What desktop environment does DSL use (I'm not sure; probably/hopefully not Gnome/KDE, but what about WindowMaker, XFCE, Fluxbox, IceWM, Blackbox, ...?)

What about
?

Thanks for the reply. I use the Fluxbox window manager. I'll run that command and post the results here. I'll try changing my resolution, how do I do that. I don't think it has anything to do with firefox because opera and kommander (sp?) do it as well.
Basically, it's acting like how a windows machine does when it's running low on RAM. The system never shows that it's using much RAM however.

Drivers?
 

I have a similar set up and actually had the very same problem. In my situation during install the video was not detected and a generic drive was installed. I tried everything and got no where. Then I asked a friend and sure enough I was running a generic driver. Once I installed the correct drive I no longer had the chopping issue while browsing. Are you having the same issue while trying to watch video as well? If so check the video driver and make sure that it matches your hardware.

Through your GUI, go into Administration and then into Display. Once there click on hardware, take a look at what your system sees and that it actually matches what you have.

Hope this helps,

Gregg

Ok, I looked at my "DSL system stats" and it says
Xserver "x386"
Xmodule "trident"
XDESC "Cyberblade (Generic) Cyberblade/I7

According to Compaq's website I have a Trident/Canero video card.
No linux drivers of course on their site.

No luck with Google. Any suggestions?

Ok, I got it fixed.. Apparently, Damn Small Linux uses XVERSA instead of Xfree86, and Xversa doesn't use hardware acceleration. I used synaptic to install Xfree86, and after a little configuration, the system is running much faster.
Thanks!

Uh huh... the goal for that distro is "small."