need help with KDE. everything is so slow
 

hi,

some days ago i installed gentoo on my laptop. it all runs fine so far but i have some problems with kde. when i start kde(kdm command in console) i get to the login screen where i can pick a user. i have two users to pick from, root and my normal work account. i enter my pass and continue to login. the small kde window opens and there my problem begins. the initialization is very slow. when its done, i get to the normal kde desktop. now when i select a program from the startmenu (it doesnt matter which program i choose its the same with all) it takes ages to load. a simple calculator needs ~20-30 seconds to load. during the program start there is the windowname in the taskbar with a small sandglas turning and turning. i have the impression that actually nothing is happening cause the hd-led is not blinking. after some time(20-30 secs) the hd-led blinks and the program opens. does anyone have a clue how to speed this up? i doubt that this is normal cause on other pcs running kde i have never seen something like that.

My system:

Dell Inspiron 8500
2,2GHz
1Gb Ram
40Gb HDD (5Gb partition for linux)
Resolution: 1920x1200

thx in advance

do you have dma enabled,
it is unlikely to be anabled by default

at a terminal as root type

hdparm -d /dev/hda

this will tell you if dma is on or not
if it isn't

hdparm -d1 /dev/hda

will turn it on
same for cdroms
if this is the problem, then add

hdparm -d1 -c1 -k1 /dev/hda

(-c1 switches 32bit support on and -k1 keeps settings even if the drive is told to reset)

and so on, to the end of the /etc/rc.local file

it seems that this isnt the problem, when i type:

hdparam -d /dev/hda

this is what i get:

/dev/hda: using_dma = 1 (on)

so it seems to me it is enabled....maybe you have another suggestion.

i just read something about a problem with qt which can cause this slow program loading, can someone tell me what qt is used for? im currently doing an "emerge qt" maybe it helps....

it really seems that the qt update did it, kde is now blazing fast! :)

as it seems it was just a one time thing....after ~30minutes the prgrams are as slow as before :(

Memory useage is my guess (in that it's capable of running faster)...

Reboot your computer - using a text console (before login, but immediately after turning on your computer) check your memory (memory statis in "top" will be sufficient). Go back to your graphical login screen login - do whatever, but keep checking your memory usage. Does it go much lower when your computer starts to slow down?

If it had never sped up at all (and this still may help) I would suggest checking that your video card specific X driver is loaded. (This helped a lot on my Celeron Toshiba Satelite) - but not as much as I had hoped.

ok here is what i got:

after reboot

tasks 23 total, 1 running, 22 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zomie
cpu(s) 0,0% user, 0.0% system, 0.0% nice, 100.0% idle

mem 904396k total, 34568k used, 869828k free, 2164k buffers
swap 514072k total. 0k used , 514072k free. 19676k cached

after kdm

mem 904396k total, 82632k used, 821764k free, 3592k buffers
swap 514072k total. 0k used , 514072k free. 47888k cached

after login

mem 904396k total, 150636k used, 753312k free, 6076k buffers
swap 514072k total. 0k used , 514072k free. 708892k cached

for tasks and cpu the results dont change much, so i didnt list them.

for me it seems there is enough free ram, but i dont know what those big increase in the swap section for cached means.
after i logged in i had the same effect as usual, a simple console needs around 20-30 secs to open.....

Try updating KDE to 3.1.4 and see if that helps. I had a similar problem with my 500mhz DELL Latitude laptop the other day. I found that I had a service that was not enabled at boot time that was causing other services to delay in which caused (what seemed to be) a mem problem. In my particular case, it was that I had a "Internet" service enabled at boot but the "Network" was not. Since I have a router hooked to my cable modem (and not a direct line), I need both to start at boot...(at least that's my interpretation)