Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

[TheMatt]

I was wondering if there were any tweaks to improve the performance in KDE. Some programs take long to open. I really don't mind the time it takes to log on since I don't log out often, but programs like OpenOffice and FireFox take awhile to load. My hard disk is rather slow, but the light is not on or flickering, so that is not it. The CPU is under some load, but not that much, and I have decent RAM. Here are my specs:

Mobile AMD Sempron 3000+
1 GB DDR400 RAM
80 GB IDE hard disk

Full specs here

Thanks

[tundrius]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

I'm not sure about Firefox but I know that one way to improve the speed of OpenOffice.org is to open Writer or any other OpenOffice.org application and select the Tools/Options command and then open the Memory tab.  Check Load OpenOffice.org during system start-up and you can adjust the other memory aspects.  Increasing the Graphics cache use up to 64 MB or so is a good idea and so is increasing the Memory per object to 8 MB.

[jdunn]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

Didn't see what kernel you're using. Are you using the 386 kernel? You should probably be using the K7 kernel, I would guess. That would give you an overall performance boost.

In a terminal, type 'uname -r'

[TheMatt]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

I think I am using the 386 version.

2.6.15-27-386

The Sempron I am using is a K8 chip, but a lighter version would help. Right now its using about 850 MB of RAM.

Will I have to completely reinstall Kubuntu?

[VoodooDali]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

I was having a very similar problem; in fact I was seriously contemplating ditching KDE in favor of Xfce.

But apparently, moving up to a more optimized kernel (the 686 in my case) made a huge difference. Edgy seems to have yielded another big performance boost!

So now I'm using Edgy with a 686 kernel, KDE 3.5.5 and my computer is simply flying.

Except during boot, of course; I think that's just a Linux thing in general.

[kubicle]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

Well, in theory GTK apps (like firefox and openoffice) should take a tad longer (at least on first instance) on kde since they need some gtk libraries.

Of course, both firefox and openoffice are known for slow startups even on GTK DEs (gnome/xfce).

That said, the things mentioned in this thread are worth a try, but chances are you'll never get 'instant responsiveness'

[mchuskie]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

Right now its using about 850 MB of RAM.

It's worth pointing out that a well-configured Linux system will have close to 100% RAM usage - any memory not being used for programs it uses as disk cache to speed up access, until it's needed.

[jdunn]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

I think I am using the 386 version.

2.6.15-27-386

The Sempron I am using is a K8 chip, but a lighter version would help. Right now its using about 850 MB of RAM.

Will I have to completely reinstall Kubuntu?

No, you won't have to completely reinstall Kubuntu. All you install is the kernel from the repositories, then reboot. I'm not sure exactly which one you should use but there has to be one better optimized for your system than the 386 kernel. The 386 kernel is the lowest common denominator, meant to work on the oldest, slowest machines...which is why the 386 kernel is installed by default when you install Kubuntu.

[marek_online]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

No, you won't have to completely reinstall Kubuntu. All you install is the kernel from the repositories, then reboot.

Upgrading a kernel will mean that any self-compiled kernel modules will get snafued won't it?

I'm currently running the default installed 2.6.15-27-386, and I'd like to upgrade, but I've got ndiswrapper and the nvidia kernel driver at least installed. Would they both need reinstalling if I change kernel? And is there any way to check which modules would need recompiling? (I install and tweak software fairly regularly, but foolishly don't keep great notes on the matter).

Cheers.

[jdunn]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

No, you won't have to completely reinstall Kubuntu. All you install is the kernel from the repositories, then reboot.

Upgrading a kernel will mean that any self-compiled kernel modules will get snafued won't it?

I'm currently running the default installed 2.6.15-27-386, and I'd like to upgrade, but I've got ndiswrapper and the nvidia kernel driver at least installed. Would they both need reinstalling if I change kernel? And is there any way to check which modules would need recompiling? (I install and tweak software fairly regularly, but foolishly don't keep great notes on the matter).

Trying to update the kernel from the repositories when your current kernel is self-compiled is probably not a good idea...I'm not sure what would happen.

I don't know anything about ndiswrapper but the nvidia kernel always has to be updated whenever you update the linux kernel. The repositories usually take care of this, assuming you installed both the linux kernel and nvidia kernel through the repositories.

[TheMatt]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

How would I install the K7 Kernel? Can I have step by step instructions? Sorry, I am new to this still.

[sky]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

Hi,

You should install this package : linux-image-k7
sudo apt-get install linux-image-k7

Hope it helps.

[kubicle]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

You should install this package : linux-image-k7
sudo apt-get install linux-image-k7

And if you need the restricted modules (if you use the ubuntu packaged nvidia or fglrx drivers, for example), install 'linux-k7' package

[TheMatt]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

OK, that worked, so will it appear in my Kernel selection list automaticly at boot?

[sky]

Re: Tweaks to improve performance in KDE

Yes,

it should appear with at the end of the line k7.

Cheers