Again: Mint 19.1 installs but starts painstakingly slow on HP laptop

Blaubaer

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Hi all,
I'll try to pick up an old unresolved thread here beause I've got exactly the same issue, except that I'm using Mint 19.3 (Cinnamon). Maybe there are some new answers by now.

Here's my inxi:

System: Host: COMPAQ Kernel: 5.3.0-46-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.5.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.8
Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic
Machine: Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: Presario CQ61 Notebook PC v: 0491110000200D10000020000
serial: <filter>
Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 363F v: 42.15 serial: N/A BIOS: Hewlett-Packard v: F.13 date: 01/25/2010
Battery: ID-1: BAT0 charge: 44.8 Wh condition: 47.2/48.8 Wh (97%) model: Hewlett-Packard Primary status: Charging
CPU: Topology: Dual Core model: AMD Athlon II M320 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: K10 rev: 2 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm bogomips: 8378
Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/2100 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 800 2: 2100
Graphics: Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RS880M [Mobility Radeon HD 4225/4250] vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.0
Display: server: X.Org 1.20.5 driver: ati,radeon unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1366x768~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: AMD RS880 (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.3.0-46-generic LLVM 9.0.0) v: 3.3 Mesa 19.2.8 direct render: Yes
Audio: Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus ID: 00:14.2
Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RS880 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4200 Series] vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.1
Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.3.0-46-generic
Network: Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Hewlett-Packard U98Z062.12 802.11bgn
driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 3000 bus ID: 02:00.0
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000
bus ID: 03:00.0
IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives: Local Storage: total: 240.11 GiB used: 21.59 GiB (9.0%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: MK2556GSY size: 232.89 GiB
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer Blade size: 7.23 GiB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 228.23 GiB used: 15.85 GiB (6.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 69.4 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info: Processes: 183 Uptime: 11m Memory: 3.59 GiB used: 1.24 GiB (34.6%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.5.0
Shell: bash v: 4.4.20 inxi: 3.0.32
 


Well, it is based on older Athlon components, and the spinner drive doesn't help. Also, there is /dev/sdb showing an 8GB sized drive. Is that normally attached during boot?

There are other things to check from the boot process, but lets start with hardware.
 
So, another thing to check is see what takes the most time during boot. Open a terminal and enter:
Code:
systemd-analyze blame
and then post the output here. I recently fixed a long boot problem that even showed up after switching to an SSD for my primary drive a few years ago, and just put up with it because the SSD was just freaking awesome!
 
From my experience Linux Mint has always been a slow at startup.

Open the terminal and copy and paste systemd-analyze post its output.

Here's mine.
Code:
thomas@Dell-Optiplex-380:~$ systemd-analyze
Startup finished in 5.770s (kernel) + 35.195s (userspace) = 40.966s
graphical.target reached after 35.184s in userspace
thomas@Dell-Optiplex-380:~$
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for your hints! I'll get that beast back tomorrow and will run the systemd-analyze as suggested.

I bought the old Compaq from Ebay for a girlfriend to quickly replace her defunct Thinkpad T60. It works if you are patient enough, but it's not fun. It not only boots slowly but also the keyboard and touchpad keys get frozen all of a sudden every once in a while. The freeze lasts about 20 seconds. The pointer is still movable, but pointless however.

I bought the Compaq with a promised SSD but received a rotary disk drive instead. The seller apologized and sent me a compensation, enough to buy a used SSD from a friend. I'll replace the disk and maybe I'll start from scratch again.

Mint Cinnamon is preferred as it's UI is pretty much like Windows. Should I go back to an older OS or kernel version?

BTW, the installation from USB live stick is fast and also the live Linux runs fast and smoothly on the old Compaq (from RAM disk, however).
 
Last edited:
I bought the Compaq with a promised SSD but received a rotary disk drive instead. The seller apologized and sent me a compensation, enough to buy a used SSD from a friend. I'll replace the disk and maybe I'll start from scratch again.

Don't buy a used SSD unless it's dirt cheap new SSDs can be bought for next to nothing these days.

Mint Cinnamon is preferred as it's UI is pretty much like Windows. Should I go back to an older OS or kernel version?
Stick with the latest kernel.

In stead of using Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.3 with its Cinnamon / Gnome3 based user interface which uses massive system resources give Linux Mint Xfce 19.3 a try as it uses a lot less system resources.
 
Thanks for your advice. I literally bought the SSD "for next to nothing" from a good friend.

I don't think my girlfriend will be happy with XFCE since she's been using Windows for many years. The installed Mint as such isn't really lame once it's fully booted. May be it's just damaged or bad installed.

How can I trace the sporadic keyboard and touchpad-key freezes?
 

Attachments

  • systemd-analyze_blame.txt
    2.9 KB · Views: 372
Looking at your blame file. It took 14 seconds for your hard drive to spin up and initialize.
It took 9 seconds for your networkd to come up.
Are you using a modem to connect? Modem-manager took another 9 seconds.

It seems this system is taking almost 90 seconds to boot up. That seems a little long.
I don't know your hardware. But my system boots up in about 10 seconds.

corsair3900 ~]$ systemd-analyze blame
7.547s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
2.152s systemd-udev-settle.service
1.403s dracut-initqueue.service
1.249s upower.service
1.181s plymouth-quit-wait.service
1.036s udisks2.service
1.034s lvm2-monitor.service
676ms akmods.service
668ms firewalld.service
659ms systemd-logind.service
570ms lvm2-pvscan@259:3.service
443ms lightdm.service
436ms vboxdrv.service
415ms plymouth-read-write.service
399ms httpd.service
352ms systemd-journal-flush.service
345ms sssd.service
291ms initrd-switch-root.service
230ms systemd-udevd.service
173ms polkit.service
165ms systemd-journald.service
162ms auditd.service
150ms abrtd.service
137ms ModemManager.service
127ms dnf-makecache.service
120ms vboxweb-service.service
103ms cups.service
93ms php-fpm.service
83ms systemd-remount-fs.service
75ms sysroot.mount
74ms smartd.service
69ms initrd-parse-etc.service
64ms [email protected]
58ms cockpit-motd.service
47ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
44ms sysstat-summary.service
39ms systemd-vconsole-setup.service
39ms gssproxy.service
 
Can you give output of "top"
or perhaps output of "glances" (you may have to install it)
Also output of "lshw -class cpu" (you may have to install lshw also)
and finally output of just "w".
 
I had opened the beast (in search of the phone modem ;) ) and was just about cloning the HDD to the new SSD. I re-installed the HDD to make the listings.

During my work at the open laptop I realized no more freezes. I'll keep on trying...

Nope, keys are freezing again :(

When I switched the touchpad off and on a flickering touchpad symbol appeared on the screen for about 10 seconds and then eventually fading away.
 

Attachments

  • glances.txt
    1.8 KB · Views: 397
  • lshw-class-cpu.txt
    862 bytes · Views: 335
  • w.txt
    251 bytes · Views: 370
  • TOP.txt
    6.5 KB · Views: 367
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SOLVED!

Back to good old Sara! Mint 18 runs ok. I don't know what Tricia is missing but she doesn't like my old Presario.

Thank you very much for your patience!

Best regards,
Blaubaer
 
that's great news @Blaubaer and welcome to linux.org :)

i liked the S series too, particularly Sarah and Sonya.

be aware that they run out in April next year when Ubuntu cease support for 16.04 'Xenial Xerus'

do you think if you get time you can give us the systemd-analyze and the blame figures on sarah?

cheers

chris turner
wizardfromoz
 
Unfortunately Sara is not perfect neither. Keys are still suffering sporadic freezes, probably caused by lack of appropriate touchpad drivers. Someone suggested a forced reinstall of the Synaptic software which I tried to no avail. I had to re-install Windows 10 because it apparently supports obsolete hardware better than Linux.

At least I learned a bit about Linux' system and hardware tools. Thanks for your great support!

Best regards,
Blaubär
 

Attachments

  • glances.txt
    1.8 KB · Views: 349
  • inxi.txt
    2 KB · Views: 370
  • inxi14.04.txt
    2.6 KB · Views: 339
  • lshw-class-cpu.txt
    862 bytes · Views: 332
  • systemd-analyze_blame.txt
    2.9 KB · Views: 366
  • TOP.txt
    6.5 KB · Views: 332
  • w.txt
    251 bytes · Views: 385

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