low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Here you can post about your various experiences with PC hardware. You can also post about hardware that is not compatible with the linux kernel or not recommended for use with Porteus.
User avatar
francois
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 6434
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 14:25
Distribution: xfce plank porteus nemesis
Location: Le printemps, le printemps, le printemps... ... l'hiver s'essoufle.

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#1 by francois » 20 Jul 2017, 09:33

This is a thread for those who have old or low resources computers. Please provide your strategies. Being able to provide the best performance with these old boxes is a service to mankind: taking care of this small planet.

It would be good that you identify according to this topic:
1) you box,
2) your computer specifications with a link to the manufacturer or lspci specifications or both.
3) your software strategies: browser, text editor,

My case:
ultraslim MSI 340X that came out in 2009. Specifications:
https://hothardware.com/news/msi-specs- ... -wind-u123

Code: Select all

root@porteus:~# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M-E LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801IBM/IEM (ICH9M/ICH9M-E) 4 port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 02)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation WiFi Link 5100
root@porteus:~# 
This box does a lot better with lxde DE than with xfce porteus OS. Opera is better than google-chrome, but palemoon seems to be even more performant. My main problem in my day to day tasks is with the use of the text editor: libreoffice taxes resources enormously.

Would augmentation of the virtual memory and/or loading to ram of the OS provide a better experience.

Any suggestion or similar description of low ressource computer strategies or trouble shooting is welcome.
Prendre son temps, profiter de celui qui passe.

jssouza
Legendary
Legendary
Posts: 1165
Joined: 09 Jul 2015, 14:17
Distribution: Porteus x86 arm

Re: low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#2 by jssouza » 20 Jul 2017, 20:37

Hi François,

1. Linux box: Raspberry Pi 2
2. lspci (No pci bus on arm)
3. Software strategies: LXDE, palemoon, mousepad (preferred over leafpad because of its syntax highlighting ability)
LXDE definitely is the right desktop for low resource. It is very low on memory usage (about 90MB of memory usage at startup)
Image

If storage space (on the boot device) is not an issue, I have seen that compressing xzm modules with lzo rather than xz, speeds up the system during runtime. Probably because lzo favors speed over compression ratio. So even though the porteus modules are bigger, system is more responsive, since the squashfs access to the compressed modules are faster.

User avatar
francois
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 6434
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 14:25
Distribution: xfce plank porteus nemesis
Location: Le printemps, le printemps, le printemps... ... l'hiver s'essoufle.

Re: low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#3 by francois » 21 Jul 2017, 13:23

Thanks for your strategies. I like the compressing scheme. And you confirm the use of lxde.

For the text editor, I was thinking something alike libreoffice. I wonder is latex could be the propound?
Prendre son temps, profiter de celui qui passe.

User avatar
brokenman
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6105
Joined: 27 Dec 2010, 03:50
Distribution: Porteus v4 all desktops
Location: Brazil

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#4 by brokenman » 23 Jul 2017, 21:09

jssouza can you please PM me a link to your ARM version. I have a Pi2 here doing nothing.
How do i become super user?
Wear your underpants on the outside and put on a cape.

User avatar
ncmprhnsbl
DEV Team
DEV Team
Posts: 3924
Joined: 20 Mar 2012, 03:42
Distribution: v5.0-64bit
Location: australia
Contact:

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#5 by ncmprhnsbl » 23 Jul 2017, 21:46

@brokenman
is this what you're looking for: Porteus 3.2 for Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 (armhf) ?
Forum Rules : https://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=44

User avatar
brokenman
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6105
Joined: 27 Dec 2010, 03:50
Distribution: Porteus v4 all desktops
Location: Brazil

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#6 by brokenman » 24 Jul 2017, 01:49

Indeed. Thanks.
How do i become super user?
Wear your underpants on the outside and put on a cape.

jssouza
Legendary
Legendary
Posts: 1165
Joined: 09 Jul 2015, 14:17
Distribution: Porteus x86 arm

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#7 by jssouza » 24 Jul 2017, 07:56

Thanks ncmprhnsbl.

brokenman, a feedback from you on Porteus for Pi is mandatory please :) .

privateip
White ninja
White ninja
Posts: 14
Joined: 17 Aug 2017, 18:34
Distribution: LFS

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#8 by privateip » 31 Aug 2017, 12:31

Hi,
Does selection of kernel version affect the performance of old and low resources computer?

User avatar
francois
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 6434
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 14:25
Distribution: xfce plank porteus nemesis
Location: Le printemps, le printemps, le printemps... ... l'hiver s'essoufle.

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#9 by francois » 07 Sep 2017, 15:21

1) I would say that kernel should solve more the non compatibility issues, but also it could create some compatibility issues. Though by looking on the net about performance issues there could be pros, but there are cons. I found:
Look at the newer versions of the kernel and see if they mention perfomance improvements, though you better stick with your distribution (porteus) most recent kernel:
https://superuser.com/questions/224538/ ... nux-kernel

Brokenman, neko or fanthom would be better advisors than me on that topic.

2) Finally, use of palemoon, helps a lot in my case, compared to firefox and google-chrome.
Prendre son temps, profiter de celui qui passe.

Bogomips
Full of knowledge
Full of knowledge
Posts: 2564
Joined: 25 Jun 2014, 15:21
Distribution: 3.2.2 Cinnamon & KDE5
Location: London

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#10 by Bogomips » 21 Sep 2017, 12:16

@francois

Things move so quickly in this world of computers, and so that we are on the same page it would be interesting to know what you consider a low resource computer. What is your definition of a low resource computer?
Linux porteus 4.4.0-porteus #3 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 23 07:01:55 UTC 2016 i686 AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2) MemTotal: 901760 kB MemFree: 66752 kB

User avatar
francois
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 6434
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 14:25
Distribution: xfce plank porteus nemesis
Location: Le printemps, le printemps, le printemps... ... l'hiver s'essoufle.

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#11 by francois » 21 Sep 2017, 17:11

@bogomips:
MSI ultraslim 340x came out in 2009:
specifications:
https://hothardware.com/news/msi-specs- ... -wind-u123

lspci output:

Code: Select all

root@porteus:~# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579V Gigabit Network Connection (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev c4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM76 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
01:00.0 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller (rev 07)
02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 2230 (rev c4)
root@porteus:~# 
Presently running with:
porteus 3..2.2 xfce edition
palemoon browser is best tolerated as firefox and google-chrome will jam the hdd.


xubuntu will give a satisfactory behavior even with google-chrome, why is that so?
Prendre son temps, profiter de celui qui passe.

Bogomips
Full of knowledge
Full of knowledge
Posts: 2564
Joined: 25 Jun 2014, 15:21
Distribution: 3.2.2 Cinnamon & KDE5
Location: London

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#12 by Bogomips » 22 Sep 2017, 00:37

All things being relative, the only possible low I'm able to see in the spec (1st post did not link to spec) is the CPU. My cpu:

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:~$ sudo /usr/sbin/dmidecode -t 4
# dmidecode 3.0
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.5 present.

Handle 0x0004, DMI type 4, 40 bytes
Processor Information
        Socket Designation: Socket AM2 
        Type: Central Processor
        Family: 80286
        Manufacturer: AMD
        ID: 62 0F 10 00 FF FB 8B 07
        Version: AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor
        Voltage: 1.3 V
        External Clock: 200 MHz
        Max Speed: 2700 MHz
        Current Speed: 2700 MHz
        Status: Populated, Enabled
        Upgrade: Socket 940
        L1 Cache Handle: 0x000A
        L2 Cache Handle: 0x000B
        L3 Cache Handle: Not Provided
        Serial Number:  
        Asset Tag:  
        Part Number:  
        Core Count: 1
        Core Enabled: 1
        Thread Count: 1
        Characteristics:
                64-bit capable
How would yours compare?
Linux porteus 4.4.0-porteus #3 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 23 07:01:55 UTC 2016 i686 AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2) MemTotal: 901760 kB MemFree: 66752 kB

User avatar
francois
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 6434
Joined: 28 Dec 2010, 14:25
Distribution: xfce plank porteus nemesis
Location: Le printemps, le printemps, le printemps... ... l'hiver s'essoufle.

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#13 by francois » 22 Sep 2017, 01:14

Output:

Code: Select all

[porteus ~]# sudo /usr/sbin/dmidecode -t 4
# dmidecode 3.1
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.5 present.

Handle 0x0022, DMI type 4, 40 bytes
Processor Information
	Socket Designation: Socket BGA1023
	Type: Central Processor
	Family: Core i5
	Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
	ID: A9 06 03 00 FF FB EB BF
	Signature: Type 0, Family 6, Model 58, Stepping 9
	Flags:
		FPU (Floating-point unit on-chip)
		VME (Virtual mode extension)
		DE (Debugging extension)
		PSE (Page size extension)
		TSC (Time stamp counter)
		MSR (Model specific registers)
		PAE (Physical address extension)
		MCE (Machine check exception)
		CX8 (CMPXCHG8 instruction supported)
		APIC (On-chip APIC hardware supported)
		SEP (Fast system call)
		MTRR (Memory type range registers)
		PGE (Page global enable)
		MCA (Machine check architecture)
		CMOV (Conditional move instruction supported)
		PAT (Page attribute table)
		PSE-36 (36-bit page size extension)
		CLFSH (CLFLUSH instruction supported)
		DS (Debug store)
		ACPI (ACPI supported)
		MMX (MMX technology supported)
		FXSR (FXSAVE and FXSTOR instructions supported)
		SSE (Streaming SIMD extensions)
		SSE2 (Streaming SIMD extensions 2)
		SS (Self-snoop)
		HTT (Multi-threading)
		TM (Thermal monitor supported)
		PBE (Pending break enabled)
	Version: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3317U CPU @ 1.70GHz
	Voltage: 0.8 V
	External Clock: 100 MHz
	Max Speed: 1700 MHz
	Current Speed: 1700 MHz
	Status: Populated, Enabled
	Upgrade: Socket BGA1023
	L1 Cache Handle: 0x0024
	L2 Cache Handle: 0x0025
	L3 Cache Handle: 0x0026
	Serial Number: Not Specified
	Asset Tag: Not Specified
	Part Number: Not Specified
	Core Count: 2
	Core Enabled: 2
	Thread Count: 4
	Characteristics:
		64-bit capable

[porteus ~]# 
P.S. I realised that first post would not give specs and corrected to the appropriate link. Thanks.
Prendre son temps, profiter de celui qui passe.

Bogomips
Full of knowledge
Full of knowledge
Posts: 2564
Joined: 25 Jun 2014, 15:21
Distribution: 3.2.2 Cinnamon & KDE5
Location: London

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#14 by Bogomips » 23 Sep 2017, 11:36

^ So, it looks like apart from cpu (2cores, add 50%) ~2.5 GHz, the resources seem to be in every way superior to mine. :)

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:~$ sudo /usr/sbin/dmidecode -t 6
# dmidecode 3.0
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.5 present.

Handle 0x0006, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
        Socket Designation: A0
        Bank Connections: 0 1
        Current Speed: Unknown
        Type: Other Unknown EDO
        Installed Size: 1024 MB (Double-bank Connection)
        Enabled Size: 1024 MB (Double-bank Connection)
        Error Status: OK

Handle 0x0007, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
        Socket Designation: A1
        Bank Connections: None
        Current Speed: Unknown
        Type: Other Unknown EDO
        Installed Size: Not Installed
        Enabled Size: Not Installed
        Error Status: OK

Handle 0x0008, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
        Socket Designation: A2
        Bank Connections: None
        Current Speed: Unknown
        Type: Other Unknown EDO
        Installed Size: Not Installed
        Enabled Size: Not Installed
        Error Status: OK

Handle 0x0009, DMI type 6, 12 bytes
Memory Module Information
        Socket Designation: A3
        Bank Connections: None
        Current Speed: Unknown
        Type: Other Unknown EDO
        Installed Size: Not Installed
        Enabled Size: Not Installed
        Error Status: OK

guest@porteus:~$ sudo /sbin/fdisk -l /dev/sda
Disk /dev/sda: 232.9 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xe0239727

guest@porteus:~$ /sbin/lspci
00:00.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Memory Controller (rev a1)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 LPC Bridge (rev a2)
00:01.1 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 SMBus (rev a2)
00:01.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Memory Controller (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 USB 1.1 Controller (rev a3)
00:02.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 USB 2.0 Controller (rev a3)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI bridge (rev a1)
00:05.0 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
00:06.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 IDE (rev a2)
00:07.0 Bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Ethernet (rev a2)
00:08.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 SATA Controller (rev a2)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2)
00:0d.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control
Interestingly enough M$ are offering a surface pro 2017 with an i3, but the stores were not offering this, saying processing power insufficient to be of any practical use. (Again M$ crows about new Edge browser, specifically to run on tablet for win10, but they don't provide a user guide! (captive clientele). Now Edge on tablet has a third of display taken up by tab bar, and have no idea how to get rid of the bar or minimise it. Therefore just use PaleMoon which serves me good.)

Already described how box maximised in various topics. However the one major precaution is to keep Javascript on a tight leash, otherwise even when minimised, browser could be running a script of no use to user, but which will guzzle up cpu cycles and bring system to standstill. :evil: This requires turning on JS only when absolutely necessary, and thereafter stopping JS execution in all open tabs. And in the same vein setting up the hosts file should also help.
Linux porteus 4.4.0-porteus #3 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 23 07:01:55 UTC 2016 i686 AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2) MemTotal: 901760 kB MemFree: 66752 kB

Bogomips
Full of knowledge
Full of knowledge
Posts: 2564
Joined: 25 Jun 2014, 15:21
Distribution: 3.2.2 Cinnamon & KDE5
Location: London

low ressource computer: your setup to maximize your box

Post#15 by Bogomips » 30 Sep 2017, 13:12

Rounding Off
  1. Low Physical Memory Strategies
    • Using just 30% of ram. ramsize=30%

      Code: Select all

      guest@porteus:~$ df -h .
      Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
      aufs            262M   39M  224M  15% /
      
    • Swappiness

      Code: Select all

      guest@porteus:~$ cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness
      10
      
    • Redirecting /tmp to Real Filesystem (See CLI Trivia last section of post Live Running for more details)
      cliexec=mount~--bind~/mnt/sdXy/Path/to/tmp~/tmp
  2. Software Stategy
    Activating kde5 after starting cinnamon. i.e. 003-kde5.xzm Most of kde apps becoming accessible. ;) This can also lead to fewer dependencies for usm to find, and consequently smaller modules. This setup allows making do with swap partition total of 645 MiB. (At the moment using 50% of swap. ram usage 77% of 872 MiB. Conky, Konsole, Kate, Nemo, PaleMoon windows open, Javascript not enabled.)
    • Low Physical Memory Restriction
      Normally able to have open or minimised: Nemo, Konsole, Kate, Conky(always open, serving to keep tabs on system usage when Javascript enabled), but as well can only run one of Browser or SMPlayer or LibreOffice. (Managed to run SimpleScreenRecorder with Browser in order to record embedded video.) Should cpu load reach 100% with Browser open and Javascript enabled, Magic SysRq is your friend: Alt+SysRq+f ;) to get Browser once more functioning.
Linux porteus 4.4.0-porteus #3 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 23 07:01:55 UTC 2016 i686 AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2) MemTotal: 901760 kB MemFree: 66752 kB

Post Reply