Re: Slow response of X
Joseph H. Fry wrote:
> On Wed, 2005-10-19 at 09:12 -0700, Basajaun wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I have a weird problem with the response time inside X. I am running
> > Debian Etch, kernel 2.6.12-1-686-smp on a P4 3.4GHz HT with a SATA
> > drive and 1GB RAM. Whenever I start X (XFCE 4.2.2), I experience the
> > following problems:
[snip]
> I doubt it's HD related... your numbers from hdparm (not quoted) were
> resonable. I think your issue is a little deeper, probably in memory or
> interrupts.
>
> First of all, have you tried with the prebuilt debian kernel... perhaps
> you set an option in your custom kernel thats flaky?
Yes, of course. All these problems happen with both 2.6.12-1-686 and
2.6.12-1-686-smp, as well as with any 2.6.13.4 I have compiled myself.
I am getting the impression that it's not the kernel's fault (my custom
kernel can be, and probably is, flaky, but I have some hopes on the
Debian ones :^).
> Second, are you sure there isn't a problem in hardware/bios that is
> causing this...
No, I am not. It might well be the case.
> has this machine worked as expected in the past? If you
> haven't tested it, try using a knoppix cd or some such to see if it's
> just your Debian install.
This is a brand new PC, bought for the research group I work in,
together with an identical one, upon which Slackware was installed by a
workmate. Not only I get little help from that fellow, but I even have
to bear him mocking at me because Slackware rocks and Debian sucks
(needless to add, that other computer works fine).
I have Ubuntu in a second root partition (I always make two partitions
to use as / by two different OSs), and I might give it a try.
I have to add that I have Debian Etch installed at home (on an AMD
2800+), and works like a charm, so I don't think I messed something
basic up at work... but it could be so.
> I would probably update your system bios and tinker with some of the
> settings (especially the "PNP OS" stuff) as sometimes a small change can
> make a huge difference.
I will see to it. However, as I say above, the other new PC works fine,
and presumably has the very same BIOS configuration. We did not change
anything except installing the OS.
> Finally you don't say what additional hardware is in your machine.
> Perhaps removing any cards or other attached hardware one peice at a
> time will reveal the cause of the problem. If you can, try running the
> system on different ram, or remove one stick at a time (if you have more
> than one).
>
> Joe
It has NO additional HW. The video is in-MB, as is the sound and NIC.
It has no PCI cards or anything else, except a LG CD-RW.
Regarding the RAM, between joke and joke, my Slackware fellow told me
(when asked about that possibility) that usually RAM errors produce far
more radical problems. I also ran memtest86, or whatever that memory
testing utility that is automatically added to the grub menu upon
instalation is called. I only had it running for some minutes. I think
errors usually appear quite fast, but I could be wrong and the RAM is
flaky, and I have to run memtest86 for 3 hours and have it almost
finish all the tests before it fails... who knows?
Thanks, Joe, I'll try the BIOS for now (and the alternative OS).
Basajaun
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