HELP! GNOME running slowwwww
 

I just installed Fedora Core 4 on my Toshiba Satellite A65-S1062 labtop running 512MB with a Celeron 2.70 GHz and ATI Mobility Radeon 7000 IGP.

GNOME is running like total crap. I am two days into linux with no previous experience, so I haven't been able to fine tune anything - turning off unneeded services, etc - but I can't imagine anything resulting in enough improvement.

Simply moving a window around studders and isn't smooth. Scrolling firefox is studdered and crappy. Even running a program takes longer then in XP. Now when I've had these studdering display issues in XP before, I knew that the display driver / video card config wasn't correct. But FC detected the correct video card. I didn't know which monitor to pick from the list, so i just picked some 17 inch Toshiba.. .maybe that could be it.. but still wouldn't fix how long it takes to run.

I thought that the Linux experience as a whole would be faster, crisper, etc. Not more sluggish and bloated then XP. I _HOPE_ and assume that I'm simply doing something wrong here. Any help that you all could provide would be amazing... just keep in mind I'm a total noob.

Also, I forgot to mention:
The System Monitor shows that 185.6MB of memory is being used (42%) if I just have open two Firefox tabs, GAIM, and Evolution. No SWAP is being used.. and the CPU seems to run between 20% - 50% always.

do you know that fedora core 4 is still in beta stage and not for final release?

Well, you did choose a bloated distro. Perhaps what you need to do is to take some time to actually learn how to use Linux, how to fine tune your system, disable unwanted services, etc...

Just like with anything new, it takes time to learn.

I have never used Fedora, so I really can't speak too much about it, but I can say that the first couple of weeks after I started running Slackware (I would have started with a more newbie-friendly distro if I could have, but one does one's best with what one has, right?) I thought I had really bitten off more than I could chew. (I should perhaps mention that the last time I did anything on a command line, other than executing basic dos commands, I was "programming" in BASIC on an Apple clone!) Long story short, it's now been about 2 months, and while I still don't know how to do everything I need to do, I feel MUCH more comfortable about my ability to figure it out. Don't panic, pick up a release that's out of beta if you feel you should, take your time, read the documentation included with your distro (especially the HOWTOs), research the boards here for questions others may have asked that might help you figure things out, ask questions when you're stuck, and remember to share your results. We're all in this together!

A better option would be to use a live copy of linux such as Knoppix or Mepis. A quick google search will point you to the most convenient download locations for this distro. This would give your the opportunity to get your feet wet in linux without having to install anything on your laptop.

Also, try out other distros. Often distributions dont detect hardware correctly ( or at all ) and the best way to fix this if you dont know what u are doing is to simply use another distro.

My recommendations are:

Mandrake
SuSE
Mepis ( can be installed onto a HDD )
Knoppix can be too

Dont get discouraged, if you keep at it you'll work things out.

-dafat

go with dafatdude suggestion :

I'd recommend

ubuntu, mepis, pclinuxos and of course knoppix as some of the best live-cd out there. And they are all hd installable if you find the one that works best with you box.

I really want to get away from Windows but it's so hard to run Linux with no previous experience especially when it comes time to install software. I was totally clueless. I tried it couple years back and it was even harder to install back then. So, I gave up but now I want to give it another try and still running into problems. I had Lindows 4.0 installed couple years back and it was real easier but I don't want to pay their yearly fee CNR (I think that's what it's called). The reason I want to try Linux is because I want to learn about it. CNR just install the software for you automatically. I think Linus has come along way since the first time I tried it couple years back but it's still gear toward advanced users not newbie like me.

(I'm not giving yet though.. if there's a will there's a way):D

Just be patient with it.

Fedora isn't a bad distro, it's easy to install and it's the one I'd recommend for noobs, It is a bit bloated though. When you get to the point where you're confortable compiling your own kernel, you may try that, it's the best way to speed things up, especially boot time. Most distros install a kernel that can handle just about anything by default, so if you remove the things you don't need, it helps alot. Just read some how-to's before you attempt it so you don't screw things up.

I just about gave up on linux myself when I first installed it, there is a pretty steep learning curve, but once you get used to it, it's awesome. I rarely use Windows now (6 months later).

I recommend Gentoo linux once you get used to linux...it's basically linux from scratch, but it has the emerge command, which makes compiling and optimizing things simple, the library of software is huge. It's also the fastest full-featured distro I've found.

I would think one of the liveCD distros would work pretty well for a new user.

personally, i think learning linux at this point is a waste of time. i know this is major flame bait on a board like this, but if i hadnt been using some variety of unix for the last 10 years or so i wouldnt want to bother with learning unix, unless you have no real hobbies or ample amounts of time you dont mind not getting paid for screwing around on computers. not that i know a lot about linux, just enough to do basic sys admin stuff and keep my machines relatively secure, but since i happen to already have all this "residual knowledge" floating around in my head, i can easily take advantage of the gains primarily in stability and flexibility quite easily. but if i had to start from scratch - i wouldnt think its worth it. I do it because i make money using it. plain and simple.

if your having so much difficulty installing linux, you probably wont be able to take advantage of its features anyway, and you are probably not a real hardcore geek like most a lot of the people around. just stick with xp or whatever you have on your computer, and go mountain climbing with a french girl.

Though I've never really used Fedora past the live DVD's I get in Linux-Magazine, I would agree here. Newbies like me need something to help out with. The bloat kind of comes with the territory, since there's so much to discover.

My recommendation to the OP is to stick with it. I'm now using Linux 100% on my laptop (no dual boot) and have been since July. No issues here.

I've finally gotten to the point where I cringe everytime I have to open Explorer at work and "map a drive" to a drive letter.

I had Slackware back in the 3.6 days. Wow, what a plunge. I've also ran EVERY Windows since 2.0 (Still have it somewhere around here...hmm). So a few years ago, I bought this laptop. Low powered to say the least, especially with XP Pro bloating it. Then the mobo died....After getting another mobo, I looked at my options, and downloaded Slackware 10.2

When I first ran X, I was disapointed too. Stuttery video, crappy scrolling, scroll wheel wont work, slow.....

So I started playing with it, installing drivers it needed, recompiling the kernel (many, many times). Then tweaking, and messing with it.

Did I make mistakes? YES. Was it fustrating? HECK YES! Did I quit? Yes. Then came back and plowed into it.

Now my video (While not screaming, it's a i830m with 256mb memory, jeez!) plays movies/DVDs fine. The scrolling stutter in a window has stopped. Moving windows around is alot easier. The touchpad works as designed. Why? Because I fixed it the way I wanted it to work

Most of your problems seem to be video related. Google your video chipset. See what others have done. Get rid of some of the 'eyecandy' that your desktop manager installs. Tweak your computer your way.

That's the true attraction oof GNU/linux. It's yours. Make it that way.

And ignore malaka.

Probably the best distribution to start with is Ubuntu... then go to ubuntuguide.org to configure it. After you get bored with how easy that installation went, move on to Debian. Learn how to set up and run your wireless and video card... you usually have to download and install ATI drivers separately from the Linux install. Do some reading about it on various web sites found through Google - and take lots of notes - you'll need to refer to them. And, you may have to install/reinstall a couple of times to get it right - or to fix something that gets really messed up. But, not to worry, just come here and ask questions - most of us have and we all realize there's a fairly steep learning curve to any Linux distribution.

Personally, Fedora Core was frustrating and broke often while updating. Apt (Debian, Ubuntu) is a much better package manager than RPM (FC4).

Not to worry, you'll get it... no matter what problem you're likely to come across, somebody already has run across it, fixed it, and can help you fix it, too.

Another good reason for live cds. Fewer discouraged newbies.

It slays me when I see people recommending Gentoo, Debian, and Slackware to newcomers. Sure, you may be in love with your distro of choice, wanting the world to share in your joy but realistically, its too difficult for most newcomers.

Start the newbies out on something really simple and set the hook.

not that this is the place for it, but i dont like ubuntu. i havent tried it since it first came out, so they may have developed it quite a bit. but nothing works out of the box with ubuntu, it was pretty much the same as any linux distro. since i despise spending time trying to get things to work on my computer, and i just want it to WORK, i now use MEPIS. great hardware support, even for my prosumer grade sound card (M-audio Delta44 with breakout box) which was very surpring to me, and its based of debian so you got a zillion packages (like ubuntu) but it comes already installed with all the little things people want, but ubuntu doesnt include, codecs, video stuff, gray area software, etc.

I have experienced the syptoms you describe here, but that was on a P120 with 144Mb memory.

At the 'linux on laptops' site at http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/hosted/tsa65.html there is a report by someone who has installed Gentoo on an A65 (I have no experience with this machine - I just checked the site) - but I don't recommend Gentoo for you, but hopefully the article will give you some leads.

It may be useful to check his comments on video & (especially) monitor config.

Like anything wothwhile, sticking at it pays off. Feel good when you've got it working properly (and keep a note of what you did).