I have Ubuntu 5.06, Firefox and Thunderbird. It is in only (should say first) Linux computer on the office network. (It is a reasonably fast puter, better than the others)

Loading (or reloading) a web page sometime takes minutes while the Windoze computer load the same pages in the blink of an eye. Obviously something is very wrong.

What info can I provide to obtain your assistance please in speeding things up?

If you could post the specs of the computer you're trying to run it on. Also, try opening up a terminal and run 'top' (no quotes) and post the results here.

You could always try tuning up firefox, some people have reported that it makes a difference but still debatable.

1.Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

network.http.pipelining network.http.proxy.pipelining network.http.pipelining.maxrequests

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

3. Lastly right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it recieves.

Are any other applications sloooow, or just Firefox when loading pages?

Have you tried using some other web browsers, like Epiphany, Konqueror or Mozilla? What about email apps? Maybe there is an issue with the network hardware or configuration.

Take a look at this post @ www[dot]ubuntuforums[dot]org/showpost.php?p=1176183 on modifying ubuntu from ipv6 to ipv4. I haven't tried this yet, but it makes sense. (sorry no link).

Disable IPv6 in Ubuntu and Firefox.

Apologies for going quiet, but I was called away for a couple of days. Thanks for all the helpful replies, which I will work through one by one.

zytsef,

I know a half dozen ways to find a computer's specs in Win$, but don't know how in Ubuntu Linux. Is there a command that will list the principal components?

For what it's worth, generally it is a fair spec machine: about 1/2 GB RAM, a late model processor (but not not dual processor or 64 bit), NVidia mobo and video card. If I remember correctly, the hdd is 80GB

Trying to copy the top results but as I highlight and try to copy, the highlight disappears as the order changes. Is there a way to get a static (momentary) view for this purpose?

craigs80,

May try to fine tune Firefox in due course but think that the problem is more generic.

michapma,

Thunderbird opens (already downloaded) messages quickly, but is very slow about accessing the email server and getting messages.

Open Office seems to run faster than on comparable spec Windoze machines.

Have not tried any other browsers.

Will wait for your feed back on this before proceeding on the next replies.

Thanks again.

Try "top -n 1" to only print out a single snapshot (and not dynamically update), although you should watch top to make sure nothing is happening periodically to slow down the system.

Definitely disabling IPv6 might help. I've heard of a lot of cases where that is the issue. Otherwise are there any other symptoms? Hard drive thrashing? You can check your memory usage with the free command. In general you're OK here so long as the swap isn't being used (or used very lightly).

bt, thanks for that. When I get to office today will try both of those.

Also does anyone know how to get a hardware profile in Ubuntu? If so, can report exact bits here.

Here are the results from top -1 n

top - 15:34:50 up 3 days, 54 min, 3 users, load average: 0.03, 0.07, 0.07
Tasks: 80 total, 1 running, 78 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Cpu(s): 1.7% us, 0.7% sy, 0.3% ni, 97.0% id, 0.0% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.3% si
Mem: 516500k total, 475364k used, 41136k free, 66812k buffers
Swap: 0k total, 0k used, 0k free, 105764k cached

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
6311 root 15 0 127m 59m 9584 S 1.0 11.7 59:16.60 Xorg
7896 Odysssey 15 0 32492 15m 9260 S 1.0 3.0 2:29.87 gnome-terminal
11467 Odysssey 16 0 2080 1052 824 R 0.3 0.2 3:29.06 top
1 root 16 0 1552 508 444 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.57 init
2 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 ksoftirqd/0
3 root 5 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.14 events/0
4 root 6 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 khelper
22 root 15 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kacpid
154 root 5 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.09 kblockd/0
192 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.06 pdflush
193 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.02 pdflush
195 root 9 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 aio/0
194 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.58 kswapd0
782 root 25 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kseriod
1151 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:01.28 kjournald
1176 root 10 -10 1532 360 288 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.05 udevd
4101 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 khubd
4989 root 25 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 shpchpd_event
5312 root 6 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 ata/0
5337 root 19 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_0
5338 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_1
5741 root 5 -10 2140 976 700 S 0.0 0.2 0:00.00 dhclient3
6228 root 16 0 1552 380 316 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.02 dd
6230 klog 16 0 2432 1468 436 S 0.0 0.3 0:00.09 klogd
6263 root 16 0 10108 2372 1952 S 0.0 0.5 0:00.00 gdm
6274 root 16 0 10436 2820 2336 S 0.0 0.5 0:00.02 gdm
6945 messageb 15 0 2248 1104 868 S 0.0 0.2 0:00.42 dbus-daemon-1
6957 hal 16 0 7632 6068 1592 S 0.0 1.2 0:01.84 hald
6970 root 20 0 1544 432 376 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.00 inetd

Hopefully zytsef can see if there is anything hogging resources?

Here are the computer specs:

Chaintech 7NJL6 ATX Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2900+ CPU 400FSB Barton Core
Chaintech G-Force MX4000 Video card
NVidia Nforce2 Ultra 400 + MCPS
Realtek RTL8139(A) PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
W2K SP4
512 MB RAM

On disabling IPv6, Here are the results from top -1 n

top - 15:34:50 up 3 days, 54 min, 3 users, load average: 0.03, 0.07, 0.07
Tasks: 80 total, 1 running, 78 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Cpu(s): 1.7% us, 0.7% sy, 0.3% ni, 97.0% id, 0.0% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.3% si
Mem: 516500k total, 475364k used, 41136k free, 66812k buffers
Swap: 0k total, 0k used, 0k free, 105764k cached

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
6311 root 15 0 127m 59m 9584 S 1.0 11.7 59:16.60 Xorg
7896 Odysssey 15 0 32492 15m 9260 S 1.0 3.0 2:29.87 gnome-terminal
11467 Odysssey 16 0 2080 1052 824 R 0.3 0.2 3:29.06 top
1 root 16 0 1552 508 444 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.57 init
2 root 34 19 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 ksoftirqd/0
3 root 5 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.14 events/0
4 root 6 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 khelper
22 root 15 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kacpid
154 root 5 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.09 kblockd/0
192 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.06 pdflush
193 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.02 pdflush
195 root 9 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 aio/0
194 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.58 kswapd0
782 root 25 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kseriod
1151 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:01.28 kjournald
1176 root 10 -10 1532 360 288 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.05 udevd
4101 root 15 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 khubd
4989 root 25 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 shpchpd_event
5312 root 6 -10 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 ata/0
5337 root 19 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_0
5338 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_1
5741 root 5 -10 2140 976 700 S 0.0 0.2 0:00.00 dhclient3
6228 root 16 0 1552 380 316 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.02 dd
6230 klog 16 0 2432 1468 436 S 0.0 0.3 0:00.09 klogd
6263 root 16 0 10108 2372 1952 S 0.0 0.5 0:00.00 gdm
6274 root 16 0 10436 2820 2336 S 0.0 0.5 0:00.02 gdm
6945 messageb 15 0 2248 1104 868 S 0.0 0.2 0:00.42 dbus-daemon-1
6957 hal 16 0 7632 6068 1592 S 0.0 1.2 0:01.84 hald
6970 root 20 0 1544 432 376 S 0.0 0.1 0:00.00 inetd

Hopefully zytsef can see if there is anything hogging resources?

Here are the computer specs:

Chaintech 7NJL6 ATX Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 2900+ CPU 400FSB Barton Core
Chaintech G-Force MX4000 Video card
NVidia Nforce2 Ultra 400 + MCPS
Realtek RTL8139(A) PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter
W2K SP4
512 MB RAM

On disabling IPv6, Googled for instructions and found this:


Quote: Having IPv6 be the cause of 'slow' connection is actually a common
misconception, reinforced in that disabling some IPv6 features may help
mitigate the problem, in most cases it is the result of bad network
configuration.

IPv6 itself does not in any way slow down your connection, problems will
arise however if you have a route out to the IPv6 internet but it is not
operational, as the browser will try to connect and it will take a while
to time-out, note this would also happen with a bad IPv4 internet
connection. Quote Closed

Do you have any comment on this, and if closing IPv6 is the recommended action, what is the preferred method in Ubuntu please?

Thanks.

Googled for instructions and found this:

Quote: Having IPv6 be the cause of 'slow' connection is actually a common
misconception, reinforced in that disabling some IPv6 features may help
mitigate the problem, in most cases it is the result of bad network
configuration.

IPv6 itself does not in any way slow down your connection, problems will
arise however if you have a route out to the IPv6 internet but it is not
operational, as the browser will try to connect and it will take a while
to time-out, note this would also happen with a bad IPv4 internet
connection. Quote Closed

Do you have any comment on this, and if closing IPv6 is the recommended action, what is the preferred method in Ubuntu please?

Thanks.

Do:

traceroute google.com

at the command line and copy us the output.

cg

From the above reply, the output of top (only 1.7% CPU, even though I assume this is at system idle) and the machine specs, I think it's clear that the problem is NOT machine performance.

As you quoted:This agrees with what I suggested before and what some others are suggesting, and this is where I would concentrate my efforts.

Unfortunately, although I have enough experience to recognize that you can not worry about machine performance since and that the problem is likely to be network configuration, I don't have enough experience to help you figure out how to optimize it.

Maybe if we can help you to post the right info though, someone of the more knowledgeable ones will be able to help.

Here are my feeble attempts to help out:

I recommend using at least one other browser for comparison. Ubuntu uses Gnome, so you probably have Epiphany installed by default. Look in the menu under Internet to find a link for it, or else press Alt+F2, type in ephiphany and hit Return (should also work). See if the performance is better. If it is, then the implication is that Firefox is not well configured.

It also occurs to me that using a bad proxy can seriously slow down loading times. Check in Firefox's options whether a proxy is being used. If no proxy is being used, then that's not the problem. If one is, try another proxy, and/or try temporarily disabling the proxy to compare performance.

From the same source you quoted (at least I think it's your source), there is something else you can try:The last paragraph referred to is the first quoted part about "host www.google.com", you might try that.

Also from that Ubuntu forum thread, if you want to disable IPV6 just for Firefox:You might also look at Ubuntu's "Network Settings" dialogue, available (maybe only with root password?) from the menu, probably under System > Administration > Networking.

Also, this is actually for Ubuntu 5.10 and 6.06 (Dapper), but maybe it can help:
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu#Networking
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper#Networking

Ubuntu is a flavor of Debian, so the Debian manual can also be helpful to you. For example, 8.6.29 Network testing basics, although this is more for people with administrative experience. Nevertheless, posting the output of such tools in this forum might be useful for getting help, even if you don't understand the output itself.

If the suggestions in this thread don't help, you can get a headstart on identifying the problem by googling ubuntu and network configuration.

Hope that helps.

ClosetGeek, thanks and will do as soon as I get to the office. (This computer is in a different location than where I am as I write this.)

Michapma, Thank you for the detailed explanation. This is very helpful and I will also try this.

A couple of quick questions to help move me along when I get there:

""Network Settings" dialogue" Do you mean just go through whatever options/choices I find there, or once I get into those menus, are there specific commands I should give to get info that helps analysis, and if so what commands?

"you can start filing bug reports against whichever specific applications are being slow" Not sure how to do this. Does he mean sending a report to the software producer or posting test results in forum?

Also by "being slow", I assume he means subjective identification, i.e. "seems" slower than normal or expected?

Thanks again to both.

I don't know exactly what to do with it, since I don't have a Ubuntu box or even a live CD where I am now. I just wanted to make sure you know where this tool is, and yes you might take the time to open it and look at the settings without changing anything. Something might make click in your mind, or if something there doesn't make sense to you, you can ask here. So no specific thing to do from my end, it's just a tool where some basic network configuration changes can be viewed and made.

The former, but actually you can ignore this part about filing bug reports. By that he means that, before you start filing bug reports for specific applications (such as Firefox), you should make sure your system is configured correctly. The reason is that if the problem is with system configuration and not the program, the bug report is bogus. The important part is just to see how it reacts to the command "host www.google.com".


Exactly, as in your case: "Firefox on this Ubuntu box seems slow when I compare it to how browsers perform on the same webpages under Windows." You also mentioned that Thunderbird is fast offline, but seems slow fetching stuff from the server. (Another hint that the network configuration is at fault.) But again, you don't actually need to file any bug reports.

ClosetGeek, Ubuntu 5.04 does not seem to know the "traceroute" command. I did find a traceroute tab in Network Tools but can't figure out how to copy it. I expect that what you want to see is the time required for each hop rather than the IP#, so here is the list (in ms):
1- 0.23
1- 31.634
2- 40.914
3- asymm
4- no reply *
5- 33.974
6-9 asymm
10-31 (same as 4)

Do you know how I might copy the entire results?

michapma, Here is the result from host command:

odyssey@ubuntu:~$ host www.google.com
www.google.com is an alias for www.l.google.com.
www.l.google.com has address 64.233.179.104
www.l.google.com has address 64.233.179.99
odyssey@ubuntu:~$

It wasn't instantaneous, but pretty dang close!