Score:0

Ubuntu

Laptop becomes slow

sivasdpi

12/16/22, 5:21 PM

I had attached my laptop specifications. I use chromium browser, microsoft teams for work. In an 8 hrs of work, my laptop slowly becomes slower by around 3 - 4hrs of work.

When I restart my laptop, it gets speed. How to resolve this without restarting everytime? Do I need to clean ram memory frequently?

enter image description here

192

2 + 5

swap

ram

heynnema

12/16/22, 7:52 PM

Edit your question and show me `free -h` and `sysctl vm.swappiness` and `swapon -s`. Start comments to me with @heynnema or I'll miss them.

Unix

12/17/22, 4:13 PM

If it's a RAM problem caused by web browsers, just close some tabs and you will see how it gets fast. If you close the browsers or even clean the swap memory and the computer it's still slow, then it would not be a RAM problem.

Raffa

12/17/22, 4:23 PM

4GB RAM is barely enough these days ... [zram](https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/admin-guide/blockdev/zram.html) might actually help in your case ... to enable zram support run `sudo apt install zram-config` then reboot.

Archisman Panigrahi

12/17/22, 6:05 PM

@heynnema OP updated the question, but mistakenly tagged you in a comment in the answer below, and you probably did not get a notification.

heynnema

12/17/22, 6:25 PM

@ArchismanPanigrahi Thanks for the heads up!

Score:2

Ubuntu

Archisman Panigrahi

12/16/22, 5:46 PM

This is most likely happening because the physical RAM is getting filled up, and the computer is using a part of the Hard Disk as memory. This is known as swap.

Increasing the swap or changing the amount of swappiness may not help much, as swap is inherently slow, and it is quite clear that you are not running out of swap (then the computer would freeze).

You can try the following.

When the computer becomes slow, close Chromium and Teams, and open a Terminal. Temporarily move the memory from swap to RAM with the command
```
sudo swapoff -a && sudo swapon -a
```

And the computer should become more responsive again.

Using alternatives - as per my experience, Firefox consumes less RAM per tab than Chromium. Also, the web interface of Teams at https://teams.microsoft.com consumes less memory than the Teams client (irrespective of whether you use Firefox or Chromium).
Switch to a lighter distro like Lubuntu. However, this may not change the scenario too much in case you are using several Chromium tabs and Microsoft Teams simultaneously.
Consider upgrading the amount of RAM.

0 + 7

sivasdpi

12/16/22, 6:01 PM

Can I execute above command without closing chromium, teams ? Because it requires continuous work flow

Archisman Panigrahi

12/16/22, 6:10 PM

@sivasdpi You can try, but in case Chromium + Teams consume more memory than your RAM, it might freeze your computer. Check the updated answer.

sivasdpi

12/16/22, 6:20 PM

Web interface of teams also don't navigate within them quickly. It responds slowly. Will install Lubuntu and see how it works.

Archisman Panigrahi

12/16/22, 6:30 PM

@sivasdpi You can try the command `sudo swapoff -a && sudo swapon -a` once. If it works and does not freeze your computer, you may not have to switch operating systems.

sivasdpi

12/16/22, 6:48 PM

Thanks @Archisman. Will check and inform you.

sivasdpi

12/17/22, 4:05 PM

@heynnema I had executed your commands and posted above results . Pls check and do the needful

sivasdpi

12/17/22, 4:07 PM

I executed ur command. It doesn't give any result . Felt little improvement in performance . Will check for another 2 - 3 days and inform

Score:0

Ubuntu

heynnema

12/17/22, 6:26 PM

You have too little RAM, and too little SWAP. Ultimately you should add more RAM.

Let's try and compensate by increasing your /swapfile from 2G to 4G...

Note: Incorrect use of the rm and dd commands can cause data loss. Suggest copy/paste.

In the terminal...

sudo swapoff -a           # turn off swap
sudo rm -i /swapfile      # remove old /swapfile

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=4096

sudo chmod 600 /swapfile  # set proper file protections
sudo mkswap /swapfile     # init /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile     # turn on swap
free -h                   # confirm 4G RAM and 4G swap

Edit /etc/fstab, using sudo -H gedit /etc/fstab or sudo pico /etc/fstab.

Confirm this /swapfile line in /etc/fstab... and confirm no other “swap” lines... use SPACES in this line... confirm NO TABS...

/swapfile  none  swap  sw  0  0

reboot                    # reboot and verify operation

0 + 9

sivasdpi

12/18/22, 4:42 PM

I feel difficult to execute above command. Let's do it using remote computer logging in. We shall arrange a time to do. My email id is [email protected]. pls send ur email address

heynnema

12/18/22, 6:16 PM

@sivasdpi As long as you copy/paste the commands into `terminal`, you should be able to do this yourself. Everything after the # is a comment, so you don't need to copy that part of the line, only the command part. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes.

heynnema

12/24/22, 10:41 PM

@sivasdpi Status please...

sivasdpi

12/25/22, 5:07 PM

Will update soon @heynnema

sivasdpi

12/26/22, 4:38 PM

I had uploaded the result above. Pls check if I did correct.

heynnema

12/26/22, 5:46 PM

@sivasdpi It all looks good except for the last step, where you verify the /swapfile line in /etc/fstab. It's probably ok, but go ahead and review it. If the slowness situation is improved, please remember to accept my answer by clicking on the checkmark icon that appears just to the left of my answer. Thanks!

sivasdpi

12/27/22, 1:04 AM

I will work for 4 days and see how it performs. Then sure will accept your answer. Thanks

sivasdpi

1/5/23, 5:44 PM

After a week of usage I found laptop didn't freezed too much. It improved. It freezes 2 times only browser freezed. I just restarted browser rather than restarting laptop. It is okay for me. Thanks. I gave a check mark to your answer. Pls share your personal email address to ask doubts.

heynnema

1/5/23, 6:47 PM

@sivasdpi Good news! Thanks for the update. Consider adding more RAM.

Elon Musk

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

EN: Laptop becomes slow

TH: แล็ปท็อปจะช้า

RO: Laptopul devine lent

RU: Ноутбук становится медленным

VI: Laptop trở nên chậm chạp

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