Join Log in
Score:0
avatar Ubuntu

Lubuntu Freezing with most apps besides browser

ru flag
Jonathan

I have read other posts regarding freezing on Lubuntu and have found that I need to manage the memory with the swapfile but the instructions for the fixes were specific to a machine that's different from my own and I'm afraid I'm going to mess it up. I have a 2015 Macbook pro. I installed Lubuntu and completely erased the macOS because it no longer updates. This is what I get with free -h

enter image description here

Could someone please help me manage the existing ram so that I can run more apps? I am mostly having trouble with games and things like that but also experience periodic freezes with browsers. I installed Brave and Chrome. I can't get Firefox to work at all. Thanks in advance for your help. I'm already super impressed with how helpful the community is. And if you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a complete novice at all things Ubuntu. Please explain any fixes like you're explaining it to a fifth grader.

Edit:

Thank you to guiverc for the advice on editing the question instead of adding additional comments. I read up on how to work in vim and noticed that I needed to tell it to let me start adding lines. So I did that and the swapfile seems permanent. Everything works way better now with the exception of Endless Sky which I just can't get to stop freezing my machine. I guess it's too resource heavy. Thanks again for all your help.

89
0 + 10
guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
You haven't mentioned your release of Lubuntu, but were you not able to follow the guide available on Lubuntu's infrastructure (eg. https://discourse.lubuntu.me/t/how-to-create-a-swapfile-in-lubuntu-20-04-20-10/1959). The latest *stable* release offers to create a swap file for you (albeit small).
0
Reply
guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
Does this answer your question? [Why Lubuntu 20.04 is running slow when I use Opera or LibreOffice](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1274118/why-lubuntu-20-04-is-running-slow-when-i-use-opera-or-libreoffice)
1
Reply
guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
FYI: If you read the duplicate link I posted (my comments there are *dated*); it was planned by me to add *swap* details to manual, which hasn't been done yet (lack of resources in the small team), thus the *wiki* link on Lubuntu's discourse in my first comment.. The only references to *swap* in the Lubuntu manual won't help you sorry (https://manual.lubuntu.me/stable/search.html?q=swap&check_keywords=yes&area=default but note the manual may not match your *unstated* release as I didn't know which to provide (You didn't provide release details; stable = latest 21.04)
0
Reply
ru flag
Jonathan
The version is Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS
0
Reply
ru flag
Jonathan
Thank you for the suggestion. I did look at that link on Lubuntu running slow with Opera etc. That's what I'm concerned about though. I don't know if the line commands will work for the specs of my machine. I'm concerned about allocating the ram incorrectly and freezing the whole thing. I took nearly a half a day installing and reinstalling versions until I landed on Lubuntu (because it's said to be the lightest on system resources) and I don't want to botch it.
0
Reply
ru flag
Jonathan
Ok, I read the manual. I'm sorry. I didn't know there was a manual for it. I followed the steps and free -h now shows a swapfile with double the amount of ram I have. I'm going to reboot now. Wish me luck! (And thank you for the quick response!!)
0
Reply
ru flag
Jonathan
So I followed the directions and confirmed the swapfile with free -h but upon restart, it had reverted. I saw that I got an error when trying to make it permanent. sudo cp -pv /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bak
0
Reply
ru flag
Jonathan
I think I had it worked out but when I went to add the line inside of the /etc/fstab I got an error: E486: Pattern not found /swapfile none swap sw 0 0
0
Reply
guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
Rather than adding additional detail via comments; it's better if you amend your question & add the detail there (ie. edit your question; it's easier to read, has formatting options not available in comments etc). Placing commands in backticks allows them to be more readable too. Does your /swapfile exist? (I'd like `stat /swapfile` to check) but it maybe your edit of `fstab` (file-system table) wasn't right... I've tried to massage the swap wiki on lubuntu's discourse.. but I don't know where you're getting the error "Pattern not found" (if it's `vim` it's not an beginner friendly editor)
0
Reply
guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
It's possible you entered `/swapfile none..` into `vim` which was interpreted as a command; the "/" means command eg. search, thus the "Pattern not found". Maybe an GUI editor will be better, eg. `sudo featherpad /etc/fstab` (ie. replacing `vim` with the LXQt or default GUI editor `featherpad`)
0
Reply
ธงชาติไทย
Elon Musk
I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.