LinuxQuestions.org - 3 problems - worst is my laptop runs really slow when I take it away from my home net

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3 problems - worst is my laptop runs really slow when I take it away from my home net

1.Newbie with IBM Thinkpad R50 160 gig HDD 1.5 gig ram - dual boot system with Win XP

Normally runs as master default boot Linux Mint 8 and runs (fast) on wireless from BTHomehub router.

Take it away from home - grinds to a shuddering windows style halt. In a hotel - use their Internet (cat 5 cable or wifi) - eureka - all is well - merely plugging the cable in does the trick. I suspect some process is running which requires a network connection. I am not clever or experienced enough with Linux to chase this one down.

It is annoying because I want to use Compiz for work presentations and people wow! at wobbly windows and spinning 3D cube desktops (p***ed off with Powerpoint etc I suppose)

Help!

2. Another equipment/ work related laptop - they gave me a dinky machine but with a woeful Sis Magic 3 graphics card which I assume is attached with electric glue - Did this ever get sorted out with Ubuntu? There is a PCMCIA graphics card but $200 !! I don't even know if it works on other than Windows -

basically display settings only run 800 x 600 - and makes Linux (any Ubuntu based OS) look ropey for images and special effects

3. Even with a decent graphics card - on my other machines - the generic drivers in Virtual Box have the same effect - no Compiz or decent definition images

ditto - Help!
4. I lied - can't get open files to burn up on close in Compiz (on the fast PCs with Compiz working as planned)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdeye (Post 3903488)

My Fedora Core 6 (yeah, old, I know) PC does the same when our internet connection is down. Accessing pages off the local Apache server, or using MySQLCC takes -ages- to respond.

I think it is due to a DNS resolution attempt that has to wait to time out (when you are connected it does resolution, but when you are not, obviously, it can't...!) So the moment your connection goes down, your network-related activity slows down, even if you are working locally, due to the system trying to do DNS which never completes, and thusly, has to first timeout before you can continue.

You can try the following to stop the slowness. Note that doing this will kill all connectivity in the system.

Code:

1. Open a terminal (xterm)



2. Become superuser by typing 



su



and then entering your root password when requested.



3. At the prompt type:



/sbin/ifconfig eth0 down



/sbin/route del default



4. Type



exit



to leave the rooted terminal. NEVER LEAVE A ROOT TERMINAL OPEN. ALWAYS "exit" IMMEDIATELY AFTER USE!

Assuming that

- eth0 is your currently active network device that is involved in the useless DNS queries being done (if that, in the first instance IS your problem!)

This -should- help with the response times of applications when not connected. After you've done the above, check if your system (when not connected to any internet access point) is faster.

Not sure how you are going to RESTORE connectivity if you want to keep the laptop on and then move into a place where you are connected again. I don't use DHCP so I am responsible myself for choosing and setting up an IP address when I want to get "back" onto the internet at my home office (this is a desktop PC, not a laptop, so I always "know" what the correct network settings are). To do that (after doing the above) I do:

Code:

1. Open a terminal.



2. Become root.



3. At the prompt type



/sbin/ifconfig eth0 10.0.0.8 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 10.254.255.255 up



/sbin/route add default gw 10.0.0.2 eth0

Assuming that

- 10.0.0.8 is the IP address you want to assign to your machine
- 10.0.0.2 is the IP address of the gateway that puts you onto the internet
- eth0 is the correct device to use (for example, if you have wi-fi -AND- wired cat5 on the same machine, you'll most likely use eth0 for wired, and maybe eth1 for wi-fi, or the reverse, or even completely different device node names)
- Obviously this won't work if you're at an unfamiliar location and you don't know what the valid IP address range is, or what the gateway / router IP address is for the LAN - which is what DHCP is for, but I'm completely unfamiliar with using DHCP "manually" from the terminal.

Of course, if you again are in a place where there is connectivity, or you want to go back online, just reboot the system to get back "up" on the internet.

Thanks - The web is silent in general searches - in fact the majority of "slow" problems seem to be caused by actually being connected. However I did find a Windows answer which suggested - as you have diagnosed - a DNS issue. Suggested was to use DynDNS or no-ip for example and get a dynamic address. This is a faff in itself for a non IT trained person - my ISP is apparently notorious for not releasing its ISP IP to other than business account users..

I will try your idea out - if I lose connectivity and it works I can always go back to setting up a connection again upon return home - Ubuntu and in this case Linux Mint a least take the burden out of that. I will post results later for your info. Thanks