Very low performance

trebek · 08-01-2005, 10:06 PM

I've been having very slow performance from my linux box. It usually happens when i have certain things opened. Nevertheless, it shouldn't be happening. I mean, i have like firefox, amsn, open office, limewire, a terminal window and XMMS and it starts to lag and stays frozen with a little of mouse pointer movement every now and then. How can i look at the processes i have running with a description so i can start killing background applications? Look at it as the 'msconfig' utility from windows.

I know i have the ps aux command

but gives me no clue as to what the file relates too. I can start with httpd2, um, apache, so get it out from the start up applications so linux boots up faster.

Am i making myself closer?

aysiu · 08-01-2005, 10:13 PM

Are you using Gnome or KDE?

Bluenoser · 08-01-2005, 11:11 PM

open a terminal and run top to check which processes are running and using resources

foo_bar_foo · 08-01-2005, 11:32 PM

Linux boots into a "runlevel"
find yours by looking at
/etc/inittab
it says something like
id:3:initdefault:
that one means run level at boot is 3
the old non-gui way of doing this is go to
/etc/rc.d/rc3.d
path might be a litle different
there you find a bunch of links to init scripts
the ones that start with S mean start
the numbers are the order
if you don't want something to start at boot just put a "_" in front of it
you can kill it of first to investigate the effects of it not running
(look them up and see what they do)
you need very few of them
my homemade system will boot and run fine with only
S10sysklogd
S20network
S25random
S40alsa

the problem really however is that rpm based systems inherit redhat horrible and i mean really horrible performance to the point of unusable

now that you noticed it's time to change to debian

Electro · 08-02-2005, 01:07 AM

Debian is the same way as RPM based distributions. The deb files are only for certain architectures. I suggest Gentoo because it compiles every program for your system which is the only way to experience Linux the way it is meant to be. It makes dependecy problems be history. Though it could be that kernel parameters are poorly set for your computer. Look up sysctl in the man pages. If you have set the kernel parameters and still get horrible performance. It is time to use kernel version 2.6.x.

I suggest using chkconfig to enable or disable a service for certain runlevels. You can use the GUI programs to do this. It is best to use console programs just in case GUI does not work because a module conflict or something else.

To speed up boot, you can change a few scripts so they can detect how many services have the same procedure level to run them in parrallel or as daemons. What I mean is the letter S means to start a service and then after it is a two digit value. This number can be 00 to 99. A value of 00 will go first and a value of 99 will go last. You can rename a few services and edit a script that handles loading these files to execute them as daemons. Some services require previous services to load. By using a letter K in place of the leter S will not load the service or stop the service while switching runlevels.

To terminate programs use kill -15 PID. Using 15 is safer than 9 because it is like pressing CTL+C to end or terminate the program. If 15 does not work, use 9. Usually 9 will work 99% of them time when 15 will not work but it is not safe.

trebek · 08-02-2005, 03:42 AM

Ok, i'll check all of these things, and i am using KDE on a Mandrake 9.2.

BTW, lot's of people have suggested me their choice, but i haven't found one of my own. I'll come back in just a moment after checking these options.

Thanks guys, lots of help done here!!!

Here's my inittab file:

Code:

id:5:initdefault:

# System initialization.
si::sysinit:/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit

l0:0:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 0
l1:1:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 1
l2:2:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 2
l3:3:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 3
l4:4:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 4
l5:5:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 5
l6:6:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 6

# Trap CTRL-ALT-DELETE
ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now

pf::powerfail:/sbin/shutdown -f -h +2 "Power Failure; System Shutting Down"

# If power was restored before the shutdown kicked in, cancel it.
pr:12345:powerokwait:/sbin/shutdown -c "Power Restored; Shutdown Cancelled"


# Run gettys in standard runlevels
1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1
2:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty2
3:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty3
4:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty4
5:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty5
6:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty6

I removed lots of the comments (starting with #) cause i figured you know what all these lines mean.

I just don't want to be this morron that needs to reinstall everything because somethings are not performing properly.

foo_bar_foo · 08-03-2005, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by trebek

I just don't want to be this morron that needs to reinstall everything because somethings are not performing properly.

right and that is definitely the right thing
there is lots of stuff to do to take controll including compiling your own kernel
and you might be able to make it run fine.
Sorry about seeming to push a certain distribution just pointing out a natural progression through them
i eventually ended up using LFS for the last 5 years and i will stick with that one.

Quote:

Debian is the same way as RPM based distributions. The deb files are only for certain architectures.

this is only partly true and makes you wonder if Electro has ever used Debian.
There is alot more to making a fast efficient build than just compiler optimization.
The choices are infinite and for some reason the rmp based distros make all the wrong choices and end up with a very very bloated and slow unuseable product. Debian and Slackware are not slow like that.

trebek · 08-04-2005, 01:37 AM

I've been

'ing some things about killing processes and managing services, so far haven´t been able to do it. This brings me to my next question: i am using mandrake 9.1 or 9.2, jejejej

, and i went to login as root cause i really don't mind using root as default to login and use my computer. But, the damn thing, when logged to KDE as root, displays an annoying red background on the desktop and i cannot access the desktop normally.

Let me put it in win-dummy terms: i want to use my computer, using root, as i do when logging as my other regular user. I know this sounds strange and some of you might think otherwise, i just happen to use it this way.

Please don't think that i do no research before asking, cause i do. And i can't find any answers on this matter. I want to try some things and i want to be using the GUI normally as root.

Thanks for the help in advance.

Vgui · 08-04-2005, 10:30 AM

Just a question, but what was your motivation for switching to Linux in the first place?

ethics · 08-04-2005, 11:18 AM

The garish and less useable red background is to remind you that you are (and disuade you from) logging in as root.

you can operate all normal tasks as a common user, and assume root for a short period to make any system changes.

if you have problems running stuff as root etc. people here can help. It's setup this way for a reason