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Ubuntu is getting slower and slower (unbearable!)

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WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member -  
WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member -
Hello,

It's horrible, my Ubuntu is getting slower and slower, I feel like I'm on Windows! It freezes, struggles to manage multiple processes at once, and shows errors everywhere... I used to deal with this kind of stuff on Windows, and I knew how to respond (open Task Manager to stop tasks, clean everything with CCleaner or TuneUp Utilities, etc...) but here, I don't know what to do...

I don't know why, but I feel like my PC gets slower with every new version of Ubuntu. Do you think my computer might not be powerful enough for 12.04? (I can't even imagine 12.10 coming out today if I'm not mistaken)

How can I see the running processes in Ubuntu (I ran the command ps -aux, but it froze), how can I optimize Ubuntu for my computer?

I have various processes like Tor or VirtualBox installed recently that might be causing the slowdown; what do you think?

Thanks for your help,

Wally.

Ps: I'm writing to you from my Windows 7, Ubuntu displayed a graphic error at startup, I couldn't access it.
Configuration: Toshiba Satellite L350 / 160 GB Hard Drive
Windows 7 ~ Ubuntu 12.04 ~ Fedora 17
Gnome3 !!

--
Sent from a crappy PC, in a lousy network room, on a piece of junk computer. See you soon, I

7 answers

  1.
    Pico51 Posted messages 846 Status Member 69
     
    As far as I'm concerned, I never upgrade Ubuntu because, as the documentation states, "the upgrade makes radical changes to your system, it is greatly advisable to take certain precautions." Generally, it doesn't remove the existing packages but installs new ones, which usually creates a nice mess on the PC. Personally, if I want to upgrade, I reinstall everything.

    Regarding system optimization: http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/optimisation
    Then, disable all unnecessary things like Compiz, Gnome 3 (in favor of an older version), if your computer is a bit old, prioritize LXDE.

    --
    Don't forget to search before asking a question. Thank you!
    Pico ;)
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  2. jns55
     
    Hello,
    Can you provide the specifications of your PC (memory, processor)?
    Since a few versions, Ubuntu has been affected by the same syndrome as Windows: it requires more and more memory to run. And the arrival of Gnome 3 hasn’t helped, quite the opposite.
    To see the currently running processes, open the terminal and type the command top, the processes will be displayed sorted by CPU usage.
    There are variants of Ubuntu that are much less resource-heavy: Xubuntu with the XFCE desktop is much lighter, for example. Or Linux Mint Mate (the Mate desktop is a fork of Gnome 2, therefore lighter than Unity and, in my opinion, more practical).
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    1. Gemini
       
      +1 for xfce, a rocket with my Fedora.
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  3. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
     
    Thank you for your replies!

    My config: http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00088681.html

    I completely formatted my hard drive a month ago, to start the school year with a clean computer ^^ (proper partitioning, installation of my OSs,...) I had the ubuntu 11.4 live CD, so I installed it and upgraded to 12.4

    I don't use Gnome3 on Ubuntu, but Unity. I really like it, I find it ergonomic, but if I really have to change...

    Compiz... I don't know what it is, I'll look into it.

    I will read the Optimization documentation, try to restart Ubuntu, and run the top command.

    --
    Sent from a crappy PC, in a terrible network room, on a piece of shit computer. See you soon, I hope we can sleep together.
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  4. chuckapple Posted messages 3810 Status Member 323
     
    For the graphics card issue, it's that your graphics card is no longer supported. I had the same problem on my PWM G4, so I went back to Mac OS X 10.4...
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    1. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
       
      Yet no updates have been made between the time when everything was working and the time when it stopped working!
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    2. chuckapple Posted messages 3810 Status Member 323
       
      sure and certain? because for me personally, my PWM G4 under 10.10 is impeccable but under 12.04 there are graphics card problems...
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    3. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
       
      Sure and certain, no updates today! But it might be related to some graphical changes in the virtual machines, I don't know...
      0
    4. chuckapple Posted messages 3810 Status Member 323
       
      well, I wouldn't know what to say to you...
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    5. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
       
      It's okay, thanks anyway!
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  6. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
     
    Well, it looks like Ubuntu doesn't want to boot normally anymore (although I haven't done anything in particular). Here is the error message at startup after the Ubuntu logo:
    "The system is running in low-graphics mode, Your screen graphics card, and input devise setting could not be detected correctly. You will need to configure these yourself."

    Then it offers me different options, but the only one that works is "run in 2D graphics mode for one session" or something like that.

    After that, I cannot launch Firefox, (again) an error message.

    Then, here are the results of the top command:

    It shows me several processes, it changes all the time, but here are the ones that are often at the top: Xorg (always first), Unity 2d-shell, tor, docky, gnome-terminal, metacity, networkmanager, syndaemon,...

    There are plenty of others, and I remind you that this is not in "normal" mode, since I can't start my session like before...

    Any ideas? I have one, I think I'm going to have no choice, but I would like to find other solutions before the radical method...

    And is my PC too old?

    Thanks to you.

    --
    Sent from a crappy PC, in a lousy network room, on a piece of junk computer. See you soon, I'
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    1. jns55
       
      No, your PC is not too old; it should normally work fine with this processor and 3 GB of memory.
      Unity is Canonical's home interface and is based on GNOME 3... Whether it's GNOME Shell or Unity, the resource requirements are the same.
      It's true that Linux is now struggling with some graphics cards that are a few years old (basically since the switch to kernel version 3). It’s likely that the driver for your video card is not the right one. Try installing the proprietary driver if you haven't already done so.
      In the results of the top command, you can see the percentage of CPU usage for each process; it's this percentage that gives an idea of where the bottleneck is.
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    2. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
       
      The percentage changes all the time, between 0 and 30%, it's difficult for me to draw conclusions from it...

      "Try installing the proprietary driver if you haven't done so already. ", how? I think it's done, well I'm not too sure, I didn't look into it much, I installed Ubuntu, and it worked, so I don't really know how to do it...
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    3. jns55
       
      See here:
      http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/gestionnaire_de_pilotes_proprietaires
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  7. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
     
    I don't understand anything anymore; now everything works without me doing anything like before, but there are still errors, and sometimes it freezes a bit.

    Compiz: I can't find it; I've searched the Ubuntu documentation but I can't find how to disable it.

    Is there a way to do a "scan" to check for errors throughout the system? Or alternatively, to do a system restore without losing my programs and preferences?
    --
    Sent from a crappy PC, in a lousy network room, on a piece of junk computer. See you soon, I
    0
    1. jns55
       
      To replace compiz with metacity:
      Open the terminal and type
      metacity --replace
      This change is lost when you restart, but it will allow you to see if compiz is indeed the culprit.
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    2. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
       
      Indeed, it seems much smoother! (but of course, I've lost a lot of little effects that I liked, and then the taskbar at the top!!)

      I'm thinking that it might be because of that, but I have an application called Docky, which allows me to have a dock like Mac OSX... Could that be what's using up resources?
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    3. jns55
       
      It's sure that for desktop effects, it's over, but if it's smoothness you're looking for, it might be the solution.
      As for Docky, it's easy to see if it's resource-hungry by looking in the system monitor, there's the consumption of each process. You can also kill that process to see if it changes anything. Well, it's true that the more processes you run, the more resources it consumes.
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    4. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
       
      In the system monitor, when I'm not using Docky (hidden), the CPU % is at zero (normal), but when I hover over Docky and move it a little, then Docky, Python, and Compiz jump to around 15%!
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    5. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
       
      Well, I've removed Docky; it was bothering me a bit anyway.
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  8. WallyWaller2006 Posted messages 204 Status Member 15
     
    To wrap up the discussion:

    The only solution will be to completely format the hard drive and reinstall my OS, but directly the latest version of Ubuntu (and not the 11.04 and then do updates, as I did, which may have caused chaos with incompatibilities and I don't know what).

    Otherwise, to prevent this: Plan ample space in terms of partitioning, so as not to run out of room, use the top command or check the system monitor to see the running processes, and be careful not to install resource-hungry programs (in terms of CPU and graphics with Compiz) like I did with Docky.

    Thank you all!!
    --
    Sent from a crappy PC, in a terrible network room, on a piece of junk computer. See you soon, I'll
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