[SLE] No Luck Yet: System S L O W after upgrade
Still no luck solving this problem. I tried recompiling the kernel, but after ~8 hours of compiling time (on a P200 w/64mb) I got an error stating the kernel was too large... Arrggghhh!!!! The system doesn't seem to slow at the command line. Only in KDE is there a noticeable slowdown. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's just because the CLI is inherently faster, or it's due to a problem with K. The system is so slow as to be unusable at this point, so any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated! Thanks! Mike
I just upgraded to 6.2, & now my system is running VERY slow. KDE takes ~4 minutes to launch. Netscape about the same. characters take about a second or so each to appear on the screen. Everything is unusably slow.
Anything in particular I should check for? It sounds as if it could be the same problem as the one in the thread "Slow Kernel" from yesterday & today, but unfortunately, I never recieved most of the replies to that thread.
TIA!
Mike
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On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Mike Payson wrote:
Still no luck solving this problem. I tried recompiling the kernel, but after ~8 hours of compiling time (on a P200 w/64mb) I got an error stating the kernel was too large... Arrggghhh!!!! The system doesn't seem to slow at the command line. Only in KDE is there a noticeable slowdown. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's just because the CLI is inherently faster, or it's due to a problem with K.
8 hours? That is how long it took me to compile 2.0.x on a 386dx20 with 4 megs of ram. Something sure isn't right here! What happens when you try a different window manager? What about if you run "top" or "xsysinfo?" Is almost 100% of the cpu being used? Is there something sucking up all your cpu time? Does it detect all of your ram? Also with 6.1 you could install 2.0.x kernel, can you/ did you try to install the older kernel? Sorry if this has already been suggested; I have only half kept up with this thread. Just giving you some ideas that MIGHT work. BTW did you do make bzImage (and make bzdisk or bzlilo) instead of just make zImage -- you may avoid the kernel to large error. Later, Matt. -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
8 hours? That is how long it took me to compile 2.0.x on a 386dx20 with 4 megs of ram. Something sure isn't right here! What happens when you try a different window manager? What about if you run "top" or "xsysinfo?" Is almost 100% of the cpu being used? Is there something sucking up all your cpu time? Does it detect all of your ram? Also with 6.1 you could install 2.0.x kernel, can you/ did you try to install the older kernel?
I don't know exactly how long it took. I went to bed after about 4 hours, & checked it periodically after that. The first several times I checked it it was still compiling, but after 6 hours it had failed. I haven't tried any other WM's yet, but I'll do that. Top reports ~15% user, ~24 system, 0% nice and ~61% idle. All memory is recognized & the vast majority of it is free (all but 6mb). It shows a load average of ~.80 ~1.8 ~1.15. The only process consistently using a large chunk of the cpu was top itself which used ~25%. xsysinfo is apparently uninstalled. ktop reported usages of user ~30% nice 0% and system ~35%.
Sorry if this has already been suggested; I have only half kept up with this thread. Just giving you some ideas that MIGHT work.
Mo problem. I'd prefer redundant info to no info, but in fact I've had few responses, and this one was not redundant.
BTW did you do make bzImage (and make bzdisk or bzlilo) instead of just make zImage -- you may avoid the kernel to large error.
I haven't tried this yet. Since I don't really know what to change, I'm not sure how productive it'll be to recompile. I'm waiting for specifics first (though I may try again before I go to bed tonight...). Mike -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
Message from: <mpayson@eskimo.com>
8 hours? That is how long it took me to compile 2.0.x on a 386dx20 with 4 megs of ram. Something sure isn't right here! What happens when you try a different window manager? What about if you run "top" or "xsysinfo?" Is almost 100% of the cpu being used? Is there something sucking up all your cpu time? Does it detect all of your ram? Also with 6.1 you could install 2.0.x kernel, can you/ did you try to install the older kernel?
I don't know exactly how long it took. I went to bed after about 4 hours, & checked it periodically after that. The first several times I checked it it was still compiling, but after 6 hours it had failed.
I haven't tried any other WM's yet, but I'll do that. Top reports ~15% user, ~24 system, 0% nice and ~61% idle. All memory is recognized & the vast majority of it is free (all but 6mb). It shows a load average of ~.80
This strikes a bell with me. Almost all your memory is free? Usually, almost all memory would be in use by the kernel as buffers and caches and such. If your machine doesn't buffer your hard disk, that would explain quite a slowdown. Try running free and see if it also lists the memory as unused. If it does that is likely to be your problem. Unfortunately, I don't know where to look for the solution. Good luck Ole -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
I haven't tried any other WM's yet, but I'll do that. Top reports ~15% user, ~24 system, 0% nice and ~61% idle. All memory is recognized & the vast majority of it is free (all but 6mb). It shows a load average of ~.80
This strikes a bell with me. Almost all your memory is free? Usually, almost all memory would be in use by the kernel as buffers and caches and such. If your machine doesn't buffer your hard disk, that would explain quite a slowdown.
Try running free and see if it also lists the memory as unused. If it does that is likely to be your problem. Unfortunately, I don't know where to look for the solution.
That may have been an error on my part. Every time I've checked top since, it's showed up exactly the opposite-- 56m used, the rest free. I suspect that when I moved from one system to the other, I misinterpreted my scrawled notes. -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Mike Payson wrote:
Still no luck solving this problem. I tried recompiling the kernel, but after ~8 hours of compiling time (on a P200 w/64mb) I got an error stating the kernel was too large... Arrggghhh!!!! The system doesn't seem to slow at the command line. Only in KDE is there a noticeable slowdown. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's just because the CLI is inherently faster, or it's due to a problem with K.
Ok, I finally figured out what the problem was. My first impulse had been that the system was slow at the console as well as in X. Further experimentation showed that it was actually fine until I launched X, so that narrowed the scope of the search considerably. Upon experimentation, I discovered that the newest version of the SVGA server was incompatible with my hardware. Going back to version 3.3.1 solved the problem. Thanks for everyone's suggestions! Mike -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
On Wed, Sep 01, 1999 at 04:49:20PM -0700, Mike Payson wrote:
On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Mike Payson wrote:
Still no luck solving this problem. I tried recompiling the kernel, but after ~8 hours of compiling time (on a P200 w/64mb) I got an error stating the kernel was too large... Arrggghhh!!!! The system doesn't seem to slow at the command line. Only in KDE is there a noticeable slowdown. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's just because the CLI is inherently faster, or it's due to a problem with K.
Ok, I finally figured out what the problem was. My first impulse had been that the system was slow at the console as well as in X. Further experimentation showed that it was actually fine until I launched X, so that narrowed the scope of the search considerably. Upon experimentation, I discovered that the newest version of the SVGA server was incompatible with my hardware. Going back to version 3.3.1 solved the problem.
Thanks for everyone's suggestions!
Ah.. just glad you finally figured it out. Let's face it. It's always much less stressful to go through a dark alley with a few friends along. `*8> -- Brad Shelton On Line Exchange http://online-isp.com -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
Hi, On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Mike Payson wrote:
Still no luck solving this problem. I tried recompiling the kernel, but after ~8 hours of compiling time (on a P200 w/64mb) I got an error stating the kernel was too large... Arrggghhh!!!!
This is definetely unusual. It shouldnŽt take 8 hours to compile the kernel on a machine like yours. IŽll ask a bunch of questions, maybe we can isolate the problem.
The system doesn't seem to slow at the command line. Only in KDE is there a noticeable slowdown. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's just because the CLI is inherently faster, or it's due to a problem with K.
o Are you doing your regular work as the root user, or do you have a "normal" account as well? Does it make a difference? o What kind of video card do you have and which X-Server do you run? o Do you have a sound card and is it configured properly?
The system is so slow as to be unusable at this point, so any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated!
o Do you start a lot of services/daemons on system startup? o Do you hear hard disk activity, even if you donŽt do anything with the system? o What does "xosview" say about system load, memory consumption, swapping activity? o If your system has a "Turbo" switch: Is it in High Speed Mode? o Check your BIOS settings re: system speed on bootup o Check /var/log/messages and /var/log/warn for unusual entries Good luck! Bye, LenZ -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Lenz Grimmer SuSE GmbH mailto:grimmer@suse.de Schanzaeckerstr. 10 http://www.suse.de/~grimmer 90443 Nuernberg, Germany -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
At 12:37 PM 8/31/99 +0200, you wrote:
Hi,
On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Mike Payson wrote:
Still no luck solving this problem. I tried recompiling the kernel, but after ~8 hours of compiling time (on a P200 w/64mb) I got an error stating the kernel was too large... Arrggghhh!!!!
This is definetely unusual. It shouldnŽt take 8 hours to compile the kernel on a machine like yours. IŽll ask a bunch of questions, maybe we can isolate the problem.
The system doesn't seem to slow at the command line. Only in KDE is there a noticeable slowdown. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that's just because the CLI is inherently faster, or it's due to a problem with K.
o Are you doing your regular work as the root user, or do you have a "normal" account as well? Does it make a difference?
I log in as a normal user then su to root. I have logged in as root, though, & the system is just as slow
o What kind of video card do you have and which X-Server do you run? o Do you have a sound card and is it configured properly?
It's a cheap MB with SiS 5597/98 video, running the svga driver. I know this is far less then optimal, but I doubt it is the problem, since it had been working fine before the upgrade. The soundcard is also onboard. I believe it's properly configured-- I used it prior to upgrading-- but I don't have speakers currently, so I could be wrong.
The system is so slow as to be unusable at this point, so any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated!
o Do you start a lot of services/daemons on system startup?
Not a lot, but probably more then I need. weed some of them out.
o Do you hear hard disk activity, even if you donŽt do anything with the system?
Disk activity is frequent, but not constant. When I'm not doing anything, it's quiet.
o What does "xosview" say about system load, memory consumption, swapping activity?
Load ~2.5, mem ~56m used, swap 492k used
o If your system has a "Turbo" switch: Is it in High Speed Mode?
N/A
o Check your BIOS settings re: system speed on bootup
I went through this when the problem first cropped up, & everything looked fine. I'll double check it, thpugh.
o Check /var/log/messages and /var/log/warn for unusual entries
Nothing looks unusual to me. The only thing that might be out of the ordinairy is that my ethernet cards stop transmitting every 50 minutes or so. But, I'm not currently on our LAN due to this problem (normally this machine does IP masq. for the network, but since it's so slow, the browsers are timing out before it re-routes the connection), so I presume that they are just periodically checking whether the net is back up. The slowdown problem existed before I disconnected from the net. One thing that might be related... While I was connected to the net, I noticed a packet or two being sent in each direction (via our DSL router) starting midway through booting, & continuing every 3 or 4 seconds. I didn't really think much of it, but maybe you will... Thanks! Mike -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
Hi, On Tue, 31 Aug 1999 mpayson@eskimo.com wrote:
I log in as a normal user then su to root. I have logged in as root, though, & the system is just as slow
Is it also slow in X, when you log in as a user and start X immediately?
o What kind of video card do you have and which X-Server do you run? o Do you have a sound card and is it configured properly?
It's a cheap MB with SiS 5597/98 video, running the svga driver. I know this is far less then optimal, but I doubt it is the problem, since it had been working fine before the upgrade.
OK. Since the kernel compile took way too long as well, it shoulnŽt be the X server.
The soundcard is also onboard. I believe it's properly configured-- I used it prior to upgrading-- but I don't have speakers currently, so I could be wrong.
OK. Maybe you should check the output of "cat /dev/sndstat" and /var/log/messages afterwards.
The system is so slow as to be unusable at this point, so any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated!
o Do you start a lot of services/daemons on system startup?
Not a lot, but probably more then I need. weed some of them out.
Yes, please try this as well. Especially look for Databases or anything else.
o Do you hear hard disk activity, even if you donŽt do anything with the system?
Disk activity is frequent, but not constant. When I'm not doing anything, it's quiet.
Frequent activity could be swapping. Hmm...
o What does "xosview" say about system load, memory consumption, swapping activity?
Load ~2.5, mem ~56m used, swap 492k used
You always hat a load of 2.5? This is unusually high. Is it the same on the console before starting X? Try to run "top" on the console and in X. By pressing "s", "1" and "enter" afterwards, you can increase the update rate. "shift+m" will show you the memory hogs. Also try "pstree", for a complete list of processes.
o If your system has a "Turbo" switch: Is it in High Speed Mode?
N/A
o Check your BIOS settings re: system speed on bootup
I went through this when the problem first cropped up, & everything looked fine. I'll double check it, thpugh.
OK.
o Check /var/log/messages and /var/log/warn for unusual entries
Nothing looks unusual to me. The only thing that might be out of the ordinairy is that my ethernet cards stop transmitting every 50 minutes or so. But, I'm not currently on our LAN due to this problem (normally this machine does IP masq. for the network, but since it's so slow, the browsers are timing out before it re-routes the connection), so I presume that they are just periodically checking whether the net is back up. The slowdown problem existed before I disconnected from the net.
OK. Have a look in /var/log/messages, when the card stops transmitting, maybe this will give us a hint. What kind of network card is it?
One thing that might be related... While I was connected to the net, I noticed a packet or two being sent in each direction (via our DSL router) starting midway through booting, & continuing every 3 or 4 seconds. I didn't really think much of it, but maybe you will...
Hmm. Does this machine have a static IP address, or did you configure it as a DHCP client? Maybe you should also post the output of the following commands and files: /var/log/boot.msg free df pstree cat /proc/interrupts cat /proc/modules Good luck! Bye, LenZ -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Lenz Grimmer SuSE GmbH mailto:grimmer@suse.de Schanzaeckerstr. 10 http://www.suse.de/~grimmer 90443 Nuernberg, Germany -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/
participants (5)
-
bshelton＠online-isp.com -
grimmer＠suse.de -
k01164＠ko.sdu.dk -
mbanta1＠jfet.ece.jhu.edu -
mpayson＠eskimo.com