Score:3

Old Laptop with Xubuntu Slow due to Web Browsers

in flag
Dan

I have an old Gateway NE71B with AMD Dual-Core Processor E1-1200 running Xubuntu 18.04. It has gotten quite slow even when entering text into a browser search bar. I was using chromium and the browser would raise CPU usage up near 100%. Firefox does the same. I downloaded Midori and it also seems to drive cpu usage at times up to 100%. Is there some way to get it to work. I did notice that when I upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 the system got really slow but the change to Xubuntu was enough to get it working OK so it is probably a borderline situation. Maybe updates have pushed it too far. If there is not a fix woul;d another flavor of Linux help?

guiverc avatar
cn flag
FYI: Xubuntu 18.04 LTS is no longer supported; refer https://xubuntu.org/release/18-04/ or https://fridge.ubuntu.com/2020/08/14/ubuntu-18-04-5-lts-released/ where you'll note only Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Desktop & Ubuntu Cloud come with 5 years of support; *flavors* only had shorter lives. I'd suggest using `ubuntu-support-status` to assess the security status of your actual install. Your question is still on-topic here, but consider how much security matters to you and the results of prior command. You're now using Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with Xfce (*not Xubuntu*).
guiverc avatar
cn flag
As to your actual question; I still use devices with 1GB of RAM which is really small these days. Those boxes have both LXDE (Lubuntu in 18.04), XFCE (Xubuntu in 18.04) & more installed - but which I use will depend on what I'll do for the day; as I try and minimize the RAM used by selecting the DE I login with by what I'll do in the session. LXDE is GTK2 so is best with GTK2 apps; Xfce in 18.04 was part GTK2 & part GTK3 so loses out on GTK2 apps, but catches up to the lighter LXDE with GTK3 apps.. I consider the libs/toolkits used by apps I'll use, with the desktop I'll use that session.
guiverc avatar
cn flag
Having multiple DEs installed complicates menu, disk space used, & increases my updates (more packages to updates), but on old resource limited boxes - it's the RAM I worry about most as that's what is most limiting (esp. with 1 or 1.5 GB only). The disk space used by having LXDE/Xfce/MATE/etc installed to disk is not an issue to me (nor the added menu complexity, bandwidth esp. given they're now EOL... MATE is fully GTK3 in 18.04 having been so for many releaes etc).
es flag
Have you used browser's task manager to actually check what makes the CPU load?
es flag
Your title talks about Lubuntu but the other text about Xubuntu. Which one are you using?
N0rbert avatar
zw flag
@Dan How much RAM do you have? Do you use SSD on this laptop? Have you checked SMART of HDD?
Dan avatar
in flag
Dan
sorry, it is Xubuntu. The sticker says 4gb of ram but I think I upgraded to 8. Is there away to check? How do I use "browser's task manager to actually check what makes the CPU load"?
es flag
`free -h`. Look for it in More tools menu in Chroo/Chromium
Dan avatar
in flag
Dan
I did use the "system monitor" to see that the cpu usage was going up to 100% on both processors when running Chromium. Without Chromium it was more in the 5 to 25% range. There is no SSD. I don't understand the comment about "more tools" but free -h shows available memory. A picture of what I am seeing is at the link. I assume the 100% cpu usage is the reason for the slowness. Chromium when gmail opened is what drove it up. https://ibb.co/7n3rrZC
es flag
"More tools" is a menu item in the three dot menu of Chrome/Chromium. Shift+Esc will launch the Task manager, too.
Dan avatar
in flag
Dan
Task manager shows browser shooting up to like 50% and GPU maybe 20%
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