Re: Slow response of X
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:
>
> a) When autocompleting a command with TAB in a terminal (mrxvt), it
> "freezes" for maybe 3 seconds or more, then proceeds. After the first
> time I do it, I have "fast" autocompletions (for other commands too),
> at least for a while. I would swear that this problem is not in the
> console.
>
> b) When moving the cursor over the icons in the panel, I sometimes get
> delays in their focus (and trigger responsiveness). Maybe 90% of the
> time the focus is immediate, but a 10% of the times it is not, with
> delays of even 10-20 seconds!!
>
> c) Some (all?) the apps take a long time to launch. Maybe they always
> did (with my previous computers/kernels), but I'd swear that 30 seconds
> to open KMail, or over 15 to start Firefox is not quite correct.
>
> d) Right-clicking on the background produces an XFCE menu (as it should
> be), but also with a delay, sometimes null, sometimes of 3-6 seconds.
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?
Second, are you sure there isn't a problem in hardware/bios that is
causing this... 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.
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.
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
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