Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

[DoYouKubuntu]

Prior to upgrading from 9.10 to 10.10 (via clean install), I was having problems with SeaMonkey slowing down to a crawl. That was bad enough--I'd click on a tab and it would take 20, 30, 50 seconds to actually switch to it, or I'd scroll down with my trackball and 30, 50, 80 seconds later the page would finally move down--but it wasn't affecting anything else.

Now, however, after the upgrade, it's unbearable. Wait, I've left out some stuff!

After upgrading and having SM slow down to UNBEARABLE levels, I did some experimenting and research and ended up disabling various things and deleting various files that SM created. Right now SM is running great. So THAT slowness isn't the issue. However...

When I have SM running, *NOTHING* else I typically use--the GIMP, GNU Backgammon, digiKam, OpenOffice, etc.--runs fast. Does anyone remember 1200 baud modem connections? Well, that was FAST compared to how these apps run! I'll be trying to play backgammon, and the pieces literally hang in mid-air for several seconds. Oh, even the computer's clock stops. I have it set to display seconds, and I'll watch as it freezes and then 50 seconds, 1-1/2 minutes, 3 minutes later it finally jumps forward to the right time.

Closing SeaMonkey solves the problem. So I don't feel any doubt that SM is the culprit. But I don't know how/why or what I can do about it. I love SM and do not want to change--I use it as my browser and I also use its e-mail and news clients, and I have years of archived mail from it that I don't want to lose access to. But I'm a busy, multi-tasking girl, and I simply CANNOT deal with either the slowness SM brings to my other apps OR the reality of having to shut down SM every time I want to do something else.

Any ideas or thoughts on how to troubleshoot and fix this will be most appreciated!

[claydoh]

Re: Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

Oddly enough, have you tried disabling any desktop effects (ctrl-alt-f12 to toggle on/off)? Or turning off nepomuk/strigi (Desktop Search in System Settings).

Excessive harddrive activity may point to nepomuk and strigi's file indexing processes, which can be pretty heavy on older hardware. Graphics drivers/desktop effects can often cause slowness as well depending on the GPU, and again the age of the computer.

Your system's specs might help here, and you may want to look at ksysguard which will show if Seamonkey is just chewing up all your ram or cpu, or perhaps you may see if something else is doing it, and Seamonkey is the tipping point.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

Oddly enough, have you tried disabling any desktop effects (ctrl-alt-f12 to toggle on/off)? Or turning off nepomuk/strigi (Desktop Search in System Settings).

Oops, I left out some OTHER stuff! Yes, those were the first to go. I've pared down everything I thought might be contributing to this issue, but it still happens.

Excessive harddrive activity may point to nepomuk and strigi's file indexing processes, which can be pretty heavy on older hardware. Graphics drivers/desktop effects can often cause slowness as well depending on the GPU, and again the age of the computer.

It's a 4-year-old HP laptop that FLIES as a rule. It's literally only been since upgrading to 10.10 that this started happening. I actually toyed with the idea today...for a moment...of downgrading back to 9.10 because, seriously, my laptop used to fly on that.

Your system's specs might help here

Processor: AMD Sempron 3200+ 1.6 GHz Data Bus Speed 1600.0 MHz

Cache Memory: Type L2 cache Cache size 512.0 KB

RAM: Installed Size 512.0 MB / 2.0 GB (max) Technology DDR II SDRAM

Storage controller type Serial ATA

300 GB hard drive

Display Type 15.4 in TFT active matrix Max Resolution 1280 x 800

Graphics Processor / Vendor NVidia GeForce Go 7200 Video Memory 256.0 MB

Audio output type Sound card Audio Input Microphone

Input device type Touchpad, Keyboard, Logitech trackball

Telecom: Modem Fax / modem Max Transfer Rate 56.0 Kbps Protocols & Specifications ITU V.90

Networking: Data link protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet; Broadcom 43xx wireless

Expansion Slots Total (Free) 2.0 Memory , 1.0 ExpressCard 54/34 Interfaces 1.0 x Ethernet - USB 2.0 , 1.0 x S-Video - RJ-45 , 3.0 x Microphone - RJ-11 , 1.0 x Display / video - VGA , 1.0 x Expansion , 2.0 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) , 1.0 x Headphones , 1.0 x Consumer IR , 1.0 x USB 2.0 , 1.0 x Modem

Battery: Technology Lithium ion Installed Qty 1.0

and you may want to look at ksysguard which will show if Seamonkey is just chewing up all your ram or cpu, or perhaps you may see if something else is doing it, and Seamonkey is the tipping point.

Will have a look.

Thanks for the ideas/feedback.

[claydoh]

Re: Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

512 mb ram is definitely the culprit here. Pretty tight unfortunately

Another item that will reduce your ram usage as you don't use Kontact/Kmail is to turn off Akonadi (if you haven't aready). It is a bit hidden, though. In the Kmenu's search bar, just type in Akonadi, and selct Akonadi Server Configuration, and you can turn it off from there, it could free up a decent number of MB for you.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

512 mb ram is definitely the culprit here. Pretty tight unfortunately

But is 10.10 really that much more...intensive...than 9.10?

Another item that will reduce your ram usage as you don't use Kontact/Kmail is to turn off Akonadi (if you haven't aready). It is a bit hidden, though. In the Kmenu's search bar, just type in Akonadi, and selct Akonadi Server Configuration, and you can turn it off from there, it could free up a decent number of MB for you.

Thanks. I had missed this. I meant to shut it off but forgot.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

Okay, in the few minutes since I shut off Akonadi, things are a little better. I actually have the GIMP and SM running right now, and they're both usable. (The GIMP is a little laggy, but not unbearable.) So we're making progress!

[claydoh]

Re: Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

Actually yes I find 10.10 more of a hog than 9.10 and 10.04, though Natty (11.04) seems lighter to me than either Lucid or Maverick. I am guessing the graphics drivers/kernel/KDE version combination just is bad in 10.10 for older machines.

Although natty is a bit leaner imo, I still tend to have lot of processes running. My 8 year old p4 (2ghz, 1 gb ram) does OK as long as I don't have too many heavy things going on at once. Kontact, choqok, kopete, quassel, web browser w/6 tabs open, etc, etc always running sure adds up on it I need to close something if i want to run Gimp (which is quite a ram-intensive application by nature)

Firefox 3 is awful, worse on flash pages. Rekonq, chromium are much lighter browsers. As is the upcoming Firefox 4, actually. KDE 4.6 is waaayyy batter than 4.5 in this regard as well

Haven't used SM in a while on linux, it was a pig on XP when I was using it about 6/8 months ago at work. But that was a low ram workstation as well.

OOH a coup0le other things you can remove that can help a smidge:

remove the message indicator from the system tray - I think it was a b it of a hog.
Also try turning off the printer applet, it may be one too, not sure if that was for Maverick or previous versions. I can't remember how to keep it from loading at login, but turning it off did help my 'ole Compaq have some breathing room. YMMV of course. If you can slap 2 gb into your system, you will be very very happy 1 gb would do wonders as well. I know myself as a perennial owner of old stuff that ram is more important than cpu speed for a lot of things. Worth the $$ if you can manage it.

Having said that, I just got hold of 2 less-old laptops, both dual-core dells, it is like night and day comparing 3 and 5-year-old systems to the 8 year old ones, holy moleee!

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

Actually yes I find 10.10 more of a hog than 9.10 and 10.04, though Natty (11.04) seems lighter to me than either Lucid or Maverick.

Interesting.

I am guessing the graphics drivers/kernel/KDE version combination just is bad in 10.10 for older machines.

I don't know. On my laptop, its 3D effects work just great and test as very fast, for example in GNU Backgammon and various 3D chess games--as long as SeaMonkey isn't running simultaneously!

OOH a coup0le other things you can remove that can help a smidge:

remove the message indicator from the system tray - I think it was a b it of a hog.

Already done.

Also try turning off the printer applet

Will do.

If you can slap 2 gb into your system, you will be very very happy 1 gb would do wonders as well. I know myself as a perennial owner of old stuff that ram is more important than cpu speed for a lot of things. Worth the $$ if you can manage it.

That may be the next move. It's just that--you know, as an ANCIENT *nix user, I'm not accustomed to the concept of having to upgrade my HARDWARE just because I upgraded my OS version. I was hoping to just keep this laptop rolling with its current configuration (I had to pop in a new hard drive a couple years ago when the old one died, but that just comes with computing) until I get ready to buy a new one. Of all the laptops I've had I like this one the best--it's an HP dv6000--and figured as long as it's rocking and rolling, why not stick with it? If it comes down to a choice of stepping back down to 9.10 or adding some memory...right now, I'm honestly not sure which way I'll go. If that's the choice, I may just buy a new laptop.

Oh, TOTALLY switching gears--that reminds me of a recent exchange I had with HP. All my computers and printers/all-in-ones are HP/Compaq, and I'm on their mailing list for special sales and such. A few weeks ago I got an e-mail with these GREAT laptop prices--but, of course, they're all pre-installed with windoze, which I don't want. So I e-mailed their pre-sales department and said I don't want any Micro$oft products on the computer NOR do I want to pay for any, and to please let me know how to go about ordering one that either doesn't have an OS pre-installed or comes with Linux. Their response? They're LOCKED IN to pre-installing Micro$oft because of license agreements with M$. I told them that sucks. I reminded them that there is--at minimum--a new user base of Linux users entering the market at the rate of 300,000 per day (thanks to Android devices), and that as a longtime *nix friendly company they're doing themselves, and their potential customers, a disservice by not offering Linux as an OS option.

Okay, /soapbox.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Help me troubleshoot this slowness problem

A little update: We're now starting day 2 and things are MUCH better. I was actually able to play backgammon last night--while SeaMonkey was running--and although it ran a tad bit slower than normal, it was okay. I can also use the GIMP--with multiple large images open (I create all of my merchandise images at 3600x3600 pixels and 300dpi)--while SM is running and it's okay, too. A little slower than normal, but usable. Right now, I'm not fighting off the urge to pull out what remains of my hair! (I had a craniotomy to remove a brain tumor--whole right side of my head was shaved!) So things are definitely looking up.

*IF* it starts to slow down again...I'll be back.