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Which version of Linux is right for my Toshiba Satellite?

I have a Toshiba Satellite L505D that was previously running Windows 7 32 bit. The processor is an AMD Athlon II Dual Core M300 and I have 3 GB of DDR2 memory.

I just installed ubuntu 12.04 and it seems to be working correctly, however it is slower than I was expecting it to be. Firefox also seems to crash often.

Since this is the only Linux I have tried, I'm just wondering if there might another version that could work better (i.e. faster -- I just use this for Skype and web browsing, so no fancy features needed.)

Thanks!

Choosing a lightweight window manager and desktop environment will feel less slow.
I prefer Debian as a distribution that leaves choices to the user, but I won't pretend to know your mind.
Using extensions like NoScript and Adblock and disabling flash speed up browsing.

Have you tried fiddling with the swappiness value?

$ cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

Probably defaulting to a value near 60. A value of 0 is for no swap available (as in kill off apps when you run out of RAM).

Otherwise stop services like cups / apache / mysql if you're not actively using them. And if you don't need to use something like pulse for audio, you can gain a noticeable amount of perk by not using it. Although java generally requires it, and skype probably plays better with pulse than without. And make sure that you're not running a 64 bit version of linux on a 32 bit machine, that can lead to a few crashes of applications. But oddly runs rather well considering. You should have a value " lm " and just lm in the /proc/cpuinfo information if your cpu is 64 bit.

You might also try limiting the RAM used up by things like java.

$ export JAVA_OPTS="-Xmx128m -Xms128m"
$ padsp firefox

Quote:

I just installed ubuntu 12.04 and it seems to be working correctly, however it is slower than I was expecting it to be. Firefox also seems to crash often.

Sounds like a video driver issue to me.

Might help. Might not.

I run AntiX on a Acer Aspire with about the same specs as your Toshiba . I can install skype (but I won't because I don't use it)

Code:

$ inxi -F -z

System:    Host: biker Kernel: 3.7.8-antix.1-amd64-smp x86_64 (64 bit) 

          Desktop: Fluxbox 1.3.2 Distro: antiX-13-beta1_x64-base Ahmad Sami 7 February 2013

Machine:  Mobo: Acer model: Aspire 5534 version: V1.10 Bios: Acer version: V1.10 date: 08/26/2009

CPU:      Dual core AMD Athlon X2 L310 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 svm) 

          Clock Speeds: 1: 1196.988 MHz 2: 1196.988 MHz

Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS780M/RS780MN [Mobility Radeon HD 3200 Graphics] 

          X.Org: 1.12.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@60.0hz 

          GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RS780 GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.5

Audio:    Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) driver: snd_hda_intel 

          Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.7.8-antix.1-amd64-smp

Network:  Card-1: Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) driver: ath9k 

          IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>

          Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller driver: r8169 

          IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>

Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (0.3% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MK2555GS size: 250.1GB 

Partition: ID: / size: 7.7G used: 2.2G (30%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 88G used: 743M (1%) fs: btrfs 

          ID: swap-1 size: 2.10GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 

Sensors:  System Temperatures: cpu: 65.0C mobo: 0.0C 

          Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 

Info:      Processes: 103 Uptime: 1:22 Memory: 368.2/3703.8MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 1.8.38

Right video drivers make a difference in speed. This box with AntiX is lightening fast vs Windows 7 .

You made it further than me. I can't install Ubuntu, blackbuntu or fedora. I've tried pendrivelinux and unebootin on my pny 16gb and staples 4gb flashdrives. I get errors like no target CD ROM, etc. memory test passes, can't check integrity of CD ROM, won't install base system grrrrr. If I use wubi it loads but says there is no root. Toshiba satellite l655d-s5159 amd64. Any leads greatly appreciated.

I have installed Salix on a Toshiba Satellite a few years ago and it has worked just fine. Celeron 1.6 and 500mb RAM. I mostly use it as a type-writer and a web browser. Store music and photos.

Quote:

Originally Posted by catchment (Post 4898712)

I'd recommend Debian 7, the latest version. Debian is one of the very advanced platforms. Has been on the go for much longer than most.

I have Debian installed on my wife's Satellite along with Windows, and Debian is much, much faster than Windows. Debian 7.1 should run fine on your machine, and faster than Ubuntu, especially if you use XFCE instead of Gnome.

I'd recommend Slackware personally or Salix. Slackware and Salix are both fairly lightweight on the system and don't require too much to work with, plus learning how Slackware operates can be beneficial to understanding Linux's internals and all.

Get the x64 version even though you only have 3GB of RAM. It'll work better for your 64-bit CPU.

Multi-lib packages are available in AlienBOB's repository also.

Any.
The question should be - What sort of software is better to my hardware...
I'd recommend something with Gnome Shell. If it will be too slow, change it to LXDE or XFCE.
If you have no experience it's better to you to get something with easy installator, like OpenSuse, Fedora, goddamn Ubuntu etc.
If you really want fast lightweight system, try Lubuntu (Ubuntu with LXDE)

Considering you just installed Ubuntu, switching to XFCE should be pretty easy to test if its fast enough.

If not you can leave the desktop environments and try a window manager. I use fluxbox or enlightenment on my netbook, but there's many to choose from.
Much Simpler, but much faster.
The only tricky thing is configuration of the wm menu.
Once you get all your Apps setup in the menu text config its so easy.

I use Slackware as I've found it to be very fast and stable. Just takes a little more reading during the install than some, but it's not hard.