Linux Mint, Poor Performance!

[ibex333]

So I installed Linux Mint on my Asus eeePC 1000HE. (Atom N280 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM)

These are ok specs for Linux, no? Mint is listed as a "light" distro. Yes, I understand my CPU is somewhere between a high end Pentium 3, and a slow Pentium 4, but again, shouldn't it run Linux mint ok?

This is the MATE desktop Mint version 18(Serena).


You Tube is barely working at 360p. Forget about anything close to 720p. Pages take forever to load if they have lots of ads and graphics. Even basic linux menus sometimes stutter, and typed text takes a few seconds to catch up when I type something. What gives?!

In comparison, Windows 7 runs much better. No real slowdowns with basic OS usage, but you-tube is an experience in frustration regardless.

I really don't want to install Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux because they are ugly. I am not experienced in Linux, so I need a nice GUI and a slow introduction to command line.

 

[whm1974]

Older Atom CPUs are not worth using even with "light" distros. I might be wrong but I don't think that the iGPU of the older Atom CPU are fully supported by Linux.

 

[bbhaag]

Sounds like you need to check out PepermintOS. Its light weight and not as ugly as the other Linux distros out there targeted toward low powered hardware like yours. Take a look and dl the iso. If you don't like it you aren't out much.

 

[nevbie]

There are plenty of lighter variants than Mint+MATE. You can see some charts here: http://askubuntu.com/questions/5174...egarding-resource-consumption-and-performance

One step down from that, and not really ugly, would be something Xfce based like Xubuntu. PeppermintOS seems to be LXDE based, and that is even lighter than Xfce. It's good to test a bit with linux, they do have differences in good and in bad. As I understand your focus should be mostly on the desktop environment component.

 

[evildoc]

I have the exact same netbook as you, it came with 1 GB of RAM and Win XP, I added a second GB of RAM. I have installed an SSD, have had good luck installing linuxlite 3.2, linux mint 18.1 XFCE, and Peppermint 7 on it. The limitations are that it will never take the place of a full size laptop with more processing power. I use mine simply for checking email, looking up things on Goggle while watching TV, reading some of the forum boards. It is not a speed demon and it will never be one

 

[whm1974]

Sounds like you need to check out PepermintOS. Its light weight and not as ugly as the other Linux distros out there targeted toward low powered hardware like yours. Take a look and dl the iso. If you don't like it you aren't out much.

PepermintOS looks like it will squeeze more performance out of the OP's hardware or maybe try out Linux Lite. But there is only so much you could do with low end hardware.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Is it the whole OS that's sluggish or just some programs? I find in the past few months my firefox is always super sluggish for about the first 10 minutes after I open it. I don't know if some kind of update caused that or what. I need to let it "warm up" and go do something else.

 

[bbhaag]

I have the exact same netbook as you, it came with 1 GB of RAM and Win XP, I added a second GB of RAM. I have installed an SSD, have had good luck installing linuxlite 3.2, linux mint 18.1 XFCE, and Peppermint 7 on it. The limitations are that it will never take the place of a full size laptop with more processing power. I use mine simply for checking email, looking up things on Goggle while watching TV, reading some of the forum boards. It is not a speed demon and it will never be one

Sound advice from a guy who owns the same hardware as the OP but knows the limitations of it. You should post more often evildoc. 4 post in 2 years seems like a shame.

 

[lxskllr]

Is it the whole OS that's sluggish or just some programs? I find in the past few months my firefox is always super sluggish for about the first 10 minutes after I open it. I don't know if some kind of update caused that or what. I need to let it "warm up" and go do something else.

My netbook runs firefox terribly. I haven't used it much the last year or so, so I don't know when the problem started, but firefox hammers the cpu. Maybe it's just the way the web is now(javascript) :shrugs:. I need to test some other browsers to see if they're any better.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah some sites are so badly designed they just murder my system. Way too much overuse of javascript for stuff that could be done server side. Facebook is practically unusable now, suppose that is not a bad thing, I should not even be using that garbage anyway... but it's where most family/friends etc are.

 

[whm1974]

My netbook runs firefox terribly. I haven't used it much the last year or so, so I don't know when the problem started, but firefox hammers the cpu. Maybe it's just the way the web is now(javascript) :shrugs:. I need to test some other browsers to see if they're any better.

There is the Midori web browser:
http://midori-browser.org/
Much lighter then Firefox and Chrome. Designed to run on lower end and older hardware.

 

[Shmee]

You could try puppy linux. I used to put that on old donation computers, and this was before 2010.

EDIT: oops I see you already considered it.

 

[whm1974]

I recommend that the OP replace his system with something better as life is too short to be dealing with that weak ass hardware.

 

[taisingera]

I remember the Dell Mini 9 from 2008 with the N270 1GB and WinXP and 9" screen. That thing was so slow. Sold it within 9 months. Used it as a kitchen computer, certainly not a main laptop. OP, absolutely get at least a CherryTrail or ApolloLake laptop for cheap, as it will perform much better than that system.

 

[edcoolio]

So I installed Linux Mint on my Asus eeePC 1000HE. (Atom N280 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM)

These are ok specs for Linux, no? Mint is listed as a "light" distro. Yes, I understand my CPU is somewhere between a high end Pentium 3, and a slow Pentium 4, but again, shouldn't it run Linux mint ok?

This is the MATE desktop Mint version 18(Serena).


You Tube is barely working at 360p. Forget about anything close to 720p. Pages take forever to load if they have lots of ads and graphics. Even basic linux menus sometimes stutter, and typed text takes a few seconds to catch up when I type something. What gives?!

In comparison, Windows 7 runs much better. No real slowdowns with basic OS usage, but you-tube is an experience in frustration regardless.

I really don't want to install Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux because they are ugly. I am not experienced in Linux, so I need a nice GUI and a slow introduction to command line.

I would strongly suggest Lubuntu, Midori for speed, Chromium for greater function in a pinch, SMPlayer for Youtube, then modify PcmanFM to open/run as root.

This and AntiX are really your only options for larger supported distros with true low requirements. Your issue is not only the CPU, but also graphics.

Good luck!

 

[PliotronX]

I would strongly suggest Lubuntu, Midori for speed, Chromium for greater function in a pinch, SMPlayer for Youtube, then modify PcmanFM to open/run as root.

This and AntiX are really your only options for larger supported distros with true low requirements. Your issue is not only the CPU, but also graphics.

Good luck!

I just installed MX-16 (collaboration project with antiX) onto my mother in laws Celeron 550/2GB laptop and it runs quite well, 720p plays in firefox and if its skipping frames, I can't tell MX-16 seems like a more metro-esque version of my favorite XFCE distro Xubuntu (which is quite a bit more polished than MX). Honestly there is not a whole lot to try. Maybe Tiny Core?

 

[LightningZ71]

One thing to watch out for with that generation of Intel Atom platform is many of them used an Intel chipset that used a licensed PowerVR graphics chipset. Intel only every produced one set of drivers for Windows 7, has never updated it, and never will. The generic Intel drivers in most Linux distros will get you a desktop in X, but, there is little to no acceleration, and absolutely no video acceleration. This means that every video that you play will be rendered by the CPU, and those Atom's were not powerhouses. If you want to run a Linux distribution, there was Minix (working from old memory here, it could be something else) based distro that was sold in the far East on them that had a PowerVR produced kernel module that gave "passable" performance. There have been attempts to reverse engineer that driver onto other distros in the past, but, due to the cheapness of the hardware, its obsolescence, and the difficulty involved, it's never gotten that far. The Windows 7 driver sucks, but is stable, and apparently doesn't work at all for Windows 8.1 or above (which just use a standard universal driver for basic functionality).

 

[mxnerd]

Tried Ubuntu, Mint & Xubuntu in the past few days. Xubuntu's xfce is way faster than Mint & Ubuntu.

 

[edcoolio]

Tried Ubuntu, Mint & Xubuntu in the past few days. Xubuntu's xfce is way faster than Mint & Ubuntu.

Of course. The Distro's default desktop and program packages are the baseline drag on system resources.

 

[edcoolio]

I just installed MX-16 (collaboration project with antiX) onto my mother in laws Celeron 550/2GB laptop and it runs quite well, 720p plays in firefox and if its skipping frames, I can't tell MX-16 seems like a more metro-esque version of my favorite XFCE distro Xubuntu (which is quite a bit more polished than MX). Honestly there is not a whole lot to try. Maybe Tiny Core?

MX 16.1 just released today.

There is not really a ton to try. Tiny Core is fine, but it will not make video or web browsing any faster. Personally, AntiX is as small as I will go, and there are many desktops to choose from.

 

[PliotronX]

MX 16.1 just released today.

There is not really a ton to try. Tiny Core is fine, but it will not make video or web browsing any faster. Personally, AntiX is as small as I will go, and there are many desktops to choose from.

Same here, sometimes we are just hitting physical limitations I suppose like LightningZ71 mentioned about the lack of acceleration, just about any modern OS is going to have trouble. Might as well get a $60 Android tablet with a keyboard case..

 

[Red Squirrel]

One thing in Mint that has started to annoy me is the "wait" cursor often stays on for long even after an app is open. It will just keep spinning for absolutely no reason.

 

[PliotronX]

One thing in Mint that has started to annoy me is the "wait" cursor often stays on for long even after an app is open. It will just keep spinning for absolutely no reason.

FerenOS does that s*** too. I wonder what the commonality is.

 

[Red Squirrel]

What I find odd too is that there does not seem to be a place where you can change cursor types for specific situations. Even Windows has that. My "fix" would be to just replace the wait cursor with the normal one but there is no such feature.