Lubuntu: laptop abnormally slow

lubuntu performance

10,918

Solution 1

As strange as it may seem, what solved the problem for me was installing Compiz on top of Lubuntu.

I have an old Acer Aspire 5670 with a dedicated 512Mb ATI video card, and since ATI dropped support for their native driver in Linux, I've been struggling for years until the community released a good-enough open source driver.

What happened with Lubuntu was that it wasn't using the video card at all - and rendering all UI on CPU. Compiz immediately solved this problem. I use wobbly windows and some cool effects, and it performs WAY better (and even more stable) than a crude Lxde.

=== EDIT ===

I've gained even more performance by using metacity instead. It seems to use the available resources provided by my video card correctly, but it's lighter and more stable than Compiz.

So, if you want to try a dead-simple way to boost your Lubuntu, just do:

sudo apt-get install metacity

Then set it as the default window manager: go to Preferences->Default applications for LXSession->Core applications and set "metacity" in the "Window Manager" field (instead of openbox).

Now you can save, then log out and log back in to activate it. Or, if you don't want to restart, just type metacity --replace & 2>&1 in a terminal to activate it instantly.

=== EDIT 2 ===

You can improve it even further by decreasing swapiness to 10.

Solution 2

Open a terminal. issue the command

free

This will provide you with output that looks like this enter image description here

usage is at top of picture.

If swap usage is high this may be why your system is slow. Many laptops have slower hard drives 4200-5400 RPM in order to use less power and increase battery life. since swap is typical on a partition on the drive and often at the tail end where performance is worst this can cause poor performance. Also if the drive is beginning to fail, it will automatically retry several times to read difficult to read data, causing further delays.

If power levels are low, many laptops will also reduce CPU speed (power mangement).

Options to increase performance are many and the right answer varies with identifying where the bottleneck actually is.

1) If the drive is slow you may wish to replace it with a faster one (say 7200 RPM).

2)If the drive is failing you should replace it, again if a faster one than the original is available you may wish to go that route.

3)SSD's are much faster than HDD's. (with seek times at a small fraction of a millisecond) This is also an option. Adding more RAM to your laptop may also be a possibility.

free also provides info on the amount of RAM installed and if your laptop supports more you could

4)Install more RAM which would result in less swapping to disk which will also help performance.

Note that all of these options also apply to desktop systems.

10,918

Augustin Riedinger

Start-up enthusiast Web developer. Focusing on Ruby-on-Rails and Javascript essentially. In love with React. Check my portfolio for more info: https://augustin-riedinger.fr

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Augustin Riedinger over 1 year

My laptop is pretty new (less than a year) and has decent specs, but since 1/2 months it gets really slow even if I do things I could easily do before (development + browsing).

This makes it unusable and it is especially disappointing because:

my laptop could handle these tasks earlier and
I installed Lubuntu because I wanted to focus on performance and don't care about UI

And my questions are:

How can I make sure I don't have a background program eating all my resources?
I especially suspect my processor to under-use its capacities. How can I know about that too?
Is there a chance it is a bug in my current distribution (Lubuntu 13.10) that could be solved with 14.04? (I kind of suspect the bad performances to have arisen when upgrading to 13.04).
If it is a hardware defect, I can I know about it?

Here is the report generated by System profiler and Benchmark:

Computer
Summary
Computer
Processor   4x Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2557M CPU @ 1.70GHz
Memory  3947MB (3224MB used)
Operating System    Ubuntu 13.10
User Name   augustin (augustin)
Date/Time   mer. 09 avril 2014 18:25:02 CEST
Display
Resolution  1600x900 pixels
OpenGL Renderer Unknown
X11 Vendor  The X.Org Foundation
Multimedia
Audio Adapter   HDA-Intel - HDA Intel PCH
Input Devices
Lid Switch  
Power Button    
Sleep Button    
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard    
USB2.0 VGA Webcam   
Asus WMI hotkeys    
ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad    
Video Bus   
HDA Intel PCH HDMI/DP,pcm   3=
HDA Intel PCH Headphone 
HDA Intel PCH Mic   
Printers (CUPS)
HP-Officejet-7400-series    Default
Photosmart_B010 
Photosmart_B010_2   
SCSI Disks
ATA SanDisk SSD U100    
Generic- xD/SD/M.S. 
Operating System
Version
Kernel  Linux 3.11.0-19-generic (x86_64)
Compiled    #33-Ubuntu SMP Tue Mar 11 18:48:34 UTC 2014
C Library   Unknown
Default C Compiler  GNU C Compiler version 4.8.1 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.8.1-10ubuntu9)
Distribution    Ubuntu 13.10
Current Session
Computer Name   sempiternel
User Name   augustin (augustin)
Home Directory  /home/augustin
Desktop Environment LXDE (Lubuntu)
Misc
Uptime  18 hours, 59 minutes
Load Average    0,00, 0,00, 0,00
Kernel Modules
Loaded Modules
pci_stub    
vboxpci Oracle VM VirtualBox PCI access Driver
vboxnetadp  Oracle VM VirtualBox Network Adapter Driver
vboxnetflt  Oracle VM VirtualBox Network Filter Driver
vboxdrv Oracle VM VirtualBox Support Driver
zram    Compressed RAM Block Device
parport_pc  PC-style parallel port driver
ppdev   
rfcomm  Bluetooth RFCOMM ver 1.11
bnep    Bluetooth BNEP ver 1.3
binfmt_misc 
snd_hda_codec_hdmi  HDMI HD-audio codec
snd_hda_codec_realtek   Realtek HD-audio codec
joydev  Joystick device interfaces
x86_pkg_temp_thermal    X86 PKG TEMP Thermal Driver
intel_powerclamp    Package Level C-state Idle Injection for Intel CPUs
coretemp    Intel Core temperature monitor
kvm_intel   
kvm 
crct10dif_pclmul    T10 DIF CRC calculation accelerated with PCLMULQDQ.
crc32_pclmul    
ghash_clmulni_intel GHASH Message Digest Algorithm, acclerated by PCLMULQDQ-NI
aesni_intel Rijndael (AES) Cipher Algorithm, Intel AES-NI instructions optimized
aes_x86_64  Rijndael (AES) Cipher Algorithm, asm optimized
lrw LRW block cipher mode
gf128mul    Functions for multiplying elements of GF(2^128)
glue_helper 
ablk_helper 
cryptd  Software async crypto daemon
ath3k   Atheros AR30xx firmware driver
btusb   Generic Bluetooth USB driver ver 0.6
bluetooth   Bluetooth Core ver 2.16
asus_nb_wmi Asus Notebooks WMI Hotkey Driver
asus_wmi    Asus Generic WMI Driver
sparse_keymap   Generic support for sparse keymaps
uvcvideo    USB Video Class driver
videobuf2_vmalloc   vmalloc memory handling routines for videobuf2
videobuf2_memops    common memory handling routines for videobuf2
videobuf2_core  Driver helper framework for Video for Linux 2
videodev    Device registrar for Video4Linux drivers v2
arc4    ARC4 Cipher Algorithm
ath9k   Support for Atheros 802.11n wireless LAN cards.
ath9k_common    Shared library for Atheros wireless 802.11n LAN cards.
ath9k_hw    Support for Atheros 802.11n wireless LAN cards.
snd_hda_intel   Intel HDA driver
snd_hda_codec   HDA codec core
snd_hwdep   Hardware dependent layer
ath Shared library for Atheros wireless LAN cards.
snd_pcm Midlevel PCM code for ALSA.
snd_page_alloc  Memory allocator for ALSA system.
snd_seq_midi    Advanced Linux Sound Architecture sequencer MIDI synth.
snd_seq_midi_event  MIDI byte <-> sequencer event coder
snd_rawmidi Midlevel RawMidi code for ALSA.
mac80211    IEEE 802.11 subsystem
rts5139 Realtek RTS5139/29 USB card reader driver
snd_seq Advanced Linux Sound Architecture sequencer.
cfg80211    wireless configuration support
snd_seq_device  ALSA sequencer device management
snd_timer   ALSA timer interface
microcode   Microcode Update Driver
psmouse PS/2 mouse driver
i915    Intel Graphics
serio_raw   Raw serio driver
lpc_ich LPC interface for Intel ICH
drm_kms_helper  DRM KMS helper
mac_hid 
snd Advanced Linux Sound Architecture driver for soundcards.
mei_me  Intel(R) Management Engine Interface
drm DRM shared core routines
mei Intel(R) Management Engine Interface
soundcore   Core sound module
wmi ACPI-WMI Mapping Driver
i2c_algo_bit    I2C-Bus bit-banging algorithm
video   ACPI Video Driver
option  USB Driver for GSM modems
usb_wwan    USB Driver for GSM modems
usbserial   USB Serial Driver core
lp  
parport 
ahci    AHCI SATA low-level driver
libahci Common AHCI SATA low-level routines
Boots
Boots
Tue Apr 8 2:25  33..11.0-19-generi|-
Tue Apr 8 2:24  33..11.0-19-generi|-
Tue Apr 8 2:34  33..11.0-19-generi|-
Tue Apr 8 1:02  33..11.0-19-generi|-
Tue Apr 8 0:28  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Tue Apr 8 0:01  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Mon Apr 7 1:03  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Sun Apr 6 2:15  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Thu Apr 3 2:45  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Thu Apr 3 2:37  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Thu Apr 3 0:20  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Thu Apr 3 0:10  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Wed Apr 2 1:50  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Tue Apr 1 2:51  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Tue Apr 1 1:22  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Tue Apr 1 1:09  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Tue Apr 1 1:08  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Tue Apr 1 1:08  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Tue Apr 1 0:36  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Tue Apr 1 0:49  33..11.0-18-generi|-
Languages
Available Languages
en_AG   English language locale for Antigua and Barbuda
en_AG.utf8  English language locale for Antigua and Barbuda
en_AU.utf8  English locale for Australia
en_BW.utf8  English locale for Botswana
en_CA.utf8  English locale for Canada
en_DK.utf8  English locale for Denmark
en_GB.utf8  English locale for Britain
en_HK.utf8  English locale for Hong Kong
en_IE.utf8  English locale for Ireland
en_IN   English language locale for India
en_IN.utf8  English language locale for India
en_NG   English locale for Nigeria
en_NG.utf8  English locale for Nigeria
en_NZ.utf8  English locale for New Zealand
en_PH.utf8  English language locale for Philippines
en_SG.utf8  English language locale for Singapore
en_US.utf8  English locale for the USA
en_ZA.utf8  English locale for South Africa
en_ZM   English locale for Zambia
en_ZM.utf8  English locale for Zambia
en_ZW.utf8  English locale for Zimbabwe
fr_BE.utf8  French locale for Belgium
fr_CA.utf8  French locale for Canada
fr_CH.utf8  French locale for Switzerland
fr_FR.utf8  French locale for France
fr_LU.utf8  French locale for Luxemburg
Filesystems
Mounted File Systems
/dev/sda2   /   86,25 % (15,1 GiB of 109,9 GiB)
none    /sys/fs/cgroup  0,00 % (4,0 KiB of 4,0 KiB)
udev    /dev    0,00 % (1,9 GiB of 1,9 GiB)
tmpfs   /run    0,28 % (384,4 MiB of 385,5 MiB)
none    /run/lock   0,00 % (5,0 MiB of 5,0 MiB)
none    /run/shm    2,51 % (1,8 GiB of 1,9 GiB)
none    /run/user   0,03 % (100,0 MiB of 100,0 MiB)
Display
Display
Resolution  1600x900 pixels
Vendor  The X.Org Foundation
Version 1.14.5
Monitors
Monitor 0   1600x900 pixels
Extensions
BIG-REQUESTS    
Composite   
DAMAGE  
DOUBLE-BUFFER   
DPMS    
DRI2    
GLX 
Generic Event Extension 
MIT-SCREEN-SAVER    
MIT-SHM 
RANDR   
RECORD  
RENDER  
SECURITY    
SGI-GLX 
SHAPE   
SYNC    
X-Resource  
XC-MISC 
XFIXES  
XFree86-DGA 
XFree86-VidModeExtension    
XINERAMA    
XInputExtension 
XKEYBOARD   
XTEST   
XVideo  
OpenGL
Vendor  Unknown
Renderer    Unknown
Version Unknown
Direct Rendering    No
Environment Variables
Environment Variables
USER    augustin
LANGUAGE    fr_FR
UPSTART_INSTANCE    
XDG_SEAT    seat0
TEXTDOMAIN  im-config
SSH_AGENT_PID   1457
SESSION Lubuntu
HOME    /home/augustin
DESKTOP_SESSION Lubuntu
XDG_SEAT_PATH   /org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Seat0
INSTANCE    
DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS    unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-jfsbk0sTSw
MANDATORY_PATH  /usr/share/gconf/Lubuntu.mandatory.path
IM_CONFIG_PHASE 1
SESSIONTYPE lxsession
UPSTART_JOB lxsession
LOGNAME augustin
DEFAULTS_PATH   /usr/share/gconf/Lubuntu.default.path
XDG_SESSION_ID  c2
PATH    /usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games
GDM_LANG    fr_FR
XDG_SESSION_PATH    /org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Session0
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR /run/user/1000
DISPLAY :0
LANG    fr_FR.UTF-8
XAUTHORITY  /home/augustin/.Xauthority
SSH_AUTH_SOCK   /tmp/ssh-tQb03q64JLd2/agent.1452
SHELL   /bin/zsh
NODE_PATH   /usr/lib/nodejs:/usr/lib/node_modules:/usr/share/javascript
GDMSESSION  Lubuntu
UPSTART_EVENTS  started xsession
TEXTDOMAINDIR   /usr/share/locale/
UPSTART_SESSION unix:abstract=/com/ubuntu/upstart-session/1000/1358
XDG_VTNR    7
PWD /home/augustin
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS /etc/xdg/lubuntu:/etc/xdg:/etc/xdg/xdg-Lubuntu:/usr/share/upstart/xdg:/etc/xdg
XDG_DATA_DIRS   /etc/xdg/lubuntu:/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/usr/share/gdm:/var/lib/menu-xdg:/etc/xdg/xdg-Lubuntu:/usr/share/upstart/xdg:/etc/xdg
JOB dbus
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP LXDE
_LXSESSION_PID  1477
XDG_MENU_PREFIX lxde-
SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN   gtk
XDG_CONFIG_HOME /home/augustin/.config
Users
Users
root    root
daemon  daemon
bin bin
sys sys
sync    sync
games   games
man man
lp  lp
mail    mail
news    news
uucp    uucp
proxy   proxy
www-data    www-data
backup  backup
list    Mailing List Manager
irc ircd
gnats   Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin)
nobody  nobody
libuuid 
syslog  
messagebus  
usbmux  usbmux daemon
dnsmasq dnsmasq
ntp 
whoopsie    
lightdm Light Display Manager
augustin    augustin
pulse   PulseAudio daemon
rtkit   RealtimeKit
postgres    PostgreSQL administrator
avahi   Avahi mDNS daemon
mapbox  MapBox system user
couchdb CouchDB Administrator
memcache    Memcached
saned   
Devices
Processor
Processors
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2557M CPU @ 1.70GHz    1701,00MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2557M CPU @ 1.70GHz    1701,00MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2557M CPU @ 1.70GHz    1600,00MHz
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2557M CPU @ 1.70GHz    1701,00MHz
Memory
Memory
Total Memory    3947240 kB
Free Memory 129840 kB
Buffers 9908 kB
Cached  602272 kB
Cached Swap 925048 kB
Active  2083128 kB
Inactive    959920 kB
Active(anon)    2010676 kB
Inactive(anon)  895780 kB
Active(file)    72452 kB
Inactive(file)  64140 kB
Unevictable 0 kB
Mlocked 0 kB
Virtual Memory  9785708 kB
Free Virtual Memory 7224180 kB
Dirty   80 kB
Writeback   0 kB
AnonPages   2166272 kB
Mapped  141020 kB
Shmem   475588 kB
Slab    82140 kB
SReclaimable    39600 kB
SUnreclaim  42540 kB
KernelStack 5280 kB
PageTables  69612 kB
NFS_Unstable    0 kB
Bounce  0 kB
WritebackTmp    0 kB
CommitLimit 11759328 kB
Committed_AS    10360736 kB
VmallocTotal    34359738367 kB
VmallocUsed 359556 kB
VmallocChunk    34359368572 kB
HardwareCorrupted   0 kB
AnonHugePages   0 kB
HugePages_Total 0
HugePages_Free  0
HugePages_Rsvd  0
HugePages_Surp  0
Hugepagesize    2048 kB
DirectMap4k 66592 kB
DirectMap2M 4028416 kB
PCI Devices
PCI Devices
Host bridge Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
VGA compatible controller   Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Communication controller    Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
Audio device    Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
PCI bridge  Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
PCI bridge  Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b5) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
PCI bridge  Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b5) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
USB controller  Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
ISA bridge  Intel Corporation QS67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 05)
SATA controller Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
SMBus   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
Network controller  Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
USB controller  Fresco Logic FL1009 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 30 [XHCI])
USB Devices
Printers
Printers (CUPS)
HP-Officejet-7400-series    Default
Photosmart_B010 
Photosmart_B010_2   
Battery
No batteries
No batteries found on this system   
Sensors
Input Devices
Input Devices
Lid Switch  
Power Button    
Sleep Button    
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard    
USB2.0 VGA Webcam   
Asus WMI hotkeys    
ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad    
Video Bus   
HDA Intel PCH HDMI/DP,pcm   3=
HDA Intel PCH Headphone 
HDA Intel PCH Mic   
Storage
SCSI Disks
ATA SanDisk SSD U100    
Generic- xD/SD/M.S. 
DMI
BIOS
Date    01/20/2012
Vendor  American Megatrends Inc. (www.ami.com)
Version UX31E.211
Board
Name    UX31E
Vendor  ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (SEAGATE, www.seagate.com)
Resources
I/O Ports
0000-0cf7   PCI Bus 0000:00
0000-001f   dma1
0020-0021   pic1
0040-0043   timer0
0050-0053   timer1
0060-0060   keyboard
0062-0062   EC data
0064-0064   keyboard
0066-0066   EC cmd
0070-0077   rtc0
0080-008f   dma page reg
00a0-00a1   pic2
00c0-00df   dma2
00f0-00ff   fpu
0240-0259   pnp 00:07
0400-0403   ACPI PM1a_EVT_BLK
0404-0405   ACPI PM1a_CNT_BLK
0408-040b   ACPI PM_TMR
0410-0415   ACPI CPU throttle
0420-042f   ACPI GPE0_BLK
0430-0433   iTCO_wdt
0450-0450   ACPI PM2_CNT_BLK
0454-0457   pnp 00:06
0458-047f   pnp 00:04
0460-047f   iTCO_wdt
0500-057f   pnp 00:04
0680-069f   pnp 00:04
0cf8-0cff   PCI conf1
0d00-ffff   PCI Bus 0000:00
1000-100f   pnp 00:04
164e-164f   pnp 00:04
b000-bfff   PCI Bus 0000:03
c000-cfff   PCI Bus 0000:02
d000-dfff   PCI Bus 0000:01
e000-e03f   Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
e040-e05f   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
e060-e07f   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
e060-e07f   AHCI SATA low-level driver
e080-e083   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
e080-e083   AHCI SATA low-level driver
e090-e097   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
e090-e097   AHCI SATA low-level driver
e0a0-e0a3   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
e0a0-e0a3   AHCI SATA low-level driver
e0b0-e0b7   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
e0b0-e0b7   AHCI SATA low-level driver
ffff-ffff   pnp 00:04
ffff-ffff   pnp 00:04
Memory
00000000-00000fff   reserved
00001000-0009e7ff   System RAM
0009e800-0009ffff   reserved
000a0000-000bffff   PCI Bus 0000:00
000c0000-000ce7ff   Video ROM
000d0000-000d3fff   PCI Bus 0000:00
000d4000-000d7fff   PCI Bus 0000:00
000d8000-000dbfff   PCI Bus 0000:00
000dc000-000dffff   PCI Bus 0000:00
000e0000-000fffff   reserved
000e0000-000e3fff   PCI Bus 0000:00
000e4000-000e7fff   PCI Bus 0000:00
000f0000-000fffff   System ROM
00100000-1fffffff   System RAM
01000000-016fcdc6   Kernel code
016fcdc7-01d0eeff   Kernel data
01e6e000-01fd0fff   Kernel bss
20000000-201fffff   reserved
20000000-201fffff   pnp 00:0c
20200000-3fffffff   System RAM
40000000-401fffff   reserved
40000000-401fffff   pnp 00:0c
40200000-ba883fff   System RAM
ba884000-ba9e9fff   reserved
ba9ea000-bac0bfff   System RAM
bac0c000-bad95fff   reserved
bad96000-bad96fff   System RAM
bad97000-bade7fff   reserved
bade8000-bae33fff   System RAM
bae34000-bafe7fff   ACPI Non-volatile Storage
bafe8000-baffcfff   System RAM
baffd000-baffffff   ACPI Tables
bb000000-bfffffff   reserved
c0000000-feafffff   PCI Bus 0000:00
c0000000-cfffffff   Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
d0000000-d09fffff   PCI Bus 0000:03
d0b00000-d14fffff   PCI Bus 0000:02
d1600000-d1ffffff   PCI Bus 0000:01
d2000000-d2000fff   pnp 00:0b
ddc00000-ddffffff   Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
de000000-de9fffff   PCI Bus 0000:03
de000000-de00ffff   Fresco Logic FL1009 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 30 [XHCI])
de000000-de00ffff   xhci_hcd
de010000-de010fff   Fresco Logic FL1009 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 30 [XHCI])
de011000-de011fff   Fresco Logic FL1009 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 30 [XHCI])
dea00000-df3fffff   PCI Bus 0000:02
dea00000-dea7ffff   Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
dea00000-dea7ffff   Support for Atheros 802.11n wireless LAN cards.
dea80000-dea8ffff   Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
df400000-dfdfffff   PCI Bus 0000:01
dfe00000-dfe03fff   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
dfe00000-dfe03fff   ICH HD audio
dfe05000-dfe050ff   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
dfe06000-dfe067ff   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])
dfe06000-dfe067ff   AHCI SATA low-level driver
dfe07000-dfe073ff   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
dfe07000-dfe073ff   ehci_hcd
dfe09000-dfe0900f   Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
dfe09000-dfe0900f   Intel(R) Management Engine Interface
e0000000-e3ffffff   PCI MMCONFIG 0000 [bus 00-3f]
e0000000-e3ffffff   reserved
e0000000-e3ffffff   pnp 00:0a
fec00000-fec00fff   reserved
fec00000-fec003ff   IOAPIC 0
fed00000-fed003ff   HPET 0
fed10000-fed13fff   reserved
fed18000-fed19fff   reserved
fed18000-fed18fff   pnp 00:0a
fed19000-fed19fff   pnp 00:0a
fed1c000-fed1ffff   reserved
fed1c000-fed1ffff   pnp 00:0a
fed1f410-fed1f414   iTCO_wdt
fed20000-fed3ffff   pnp 00:0a
fed40000-fed44fff   PCI Bus 0000:00
fed45000-fed8ffff   pnp 00:0a
fed90000-fed90fff   dmar0
fed91000-fed91fff   dmar1
fee00000-fee00fff   Local APIC
fee00000-fee00fff   reserved
ff980000-ffbfffff   reserved
ffd80000-ffffffff   reserved
100000000-13f7fffff     System RAM
13f800000-13fffffff     RAM buffer
DMA
4   cascade
Network
Interfaces
Network Interfaces
lo  75,26MiB    75,26MiB    127.0.0.1
wlan0   2523,84MiB  313,60MiB   192.168.10.11
IP Connections
Connections
127.0.0.1:11211     0.0.0.0:*   udp
0.0.0.0:80  LISTEN  0.0.0.0:*   tcp
127.0.1.1:53        0.0.0.0:*   udp
0.0.0.0:3030    LISTEN  0.0.0.0:*   tcp
127.0.0.1:631   LISTEN  0.0.0.0:*   tcp
0.0.0.0:3000    LISTEN  0.0.0.0:*   tcp
127.0.0.1:5432  ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:49925 tcp
0.0.0.0:17500       0.0.0.0:*   udp
127.0.0.1:5984  LISTEN  0.0.0.0:*   tcp
0.0.0.0:59396       0.0.0.0:*   udp
127.0.0.1:49923 ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:5432  tcp
192.168.10.11:58455 ESTABLISHED 213.199.179.142:40019   tcp
127.0.0.1:5432  ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:49925 tcp
192.168.10.11:50182 ESTABLISHED 54.216.68.238:80    tcp
192.168.10.11:53368 ESTABLISHED 75.126.166.165:443  tcp
127.0.0.1:58744 ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:5432  tcp
192.168.10.11:49359 ESTABLISHED 54.82.95.91:443 tcp
127.0.0.1:5432  ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:49925 tcp
192.168.10.11:43315 ESTABLISHED 198.252.206.25:443  tcp
192.168.10.11:57247 ESTABLISHED 173.194.40.117:443  tcp
127.0.0.1:49924 ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:5432  tcp
127.0.0.1:49925 ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:5432  tcp
192.168.10.11:57446 ESTABLISHED 157.56.116.210:12350    tcp
192.168.10.11:49708 CLOSE_WAIT  54.216.68.238:80    tcp
192.168.10.11:53765 ESTABLISHED 74.125.132.125:5222 tcp
192.168.10.11:39499 ESTABLISHED 54.246.129.89:443   tcp
192.168.10.11:41080 ESTABLISHED 198.252.206.25:443  tcp
192.168.10.11:58682 ESTABLISHED 173.194.34.50:443   tcp
192.168.10.11:53568 ESTABLISHED 93.184.221.96:443   tcp
192.168.10.11:43023 ESTABLISHED 157.56.126.41:443   tcp
192.168.10.11:38379 ESTABLISHED 198.252.206.24:80   tcp
192.168.10.11:59728 ESTABLISHED 108.160.162.38:80   tcp
127.0.0.1:5432  ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:49925 tcp
192.168.10.11:60463 ESTABLISHED 178.79.152.100:80   tcp
192.168.10.11:60650 ESTABLISHED 173.194.66.189:443  tcp
127.0.0.1:5432  ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:49925 tcp
192.168.10.11:35203 ESTABLISHED 54.228.93.133:80    tcp
192.168.10.11:37797 ESTABLISHED 192.168.10.127:17500    tcp
192.168.10.11:49219 ESTABLISHED 54.216.68.238:80    tcp
192.168.10.11:50752 ESTABLISHED 107.20.135.171:443  tcp
:::80   LISTEN  :::*    tcp6
::1:631 LISTEN  :::*    tcp6
127.0.0.1:41823     0.0.0.0:*   udp
127.0.0.1:11211     0.0.0.0:*   udp
0.0.0.0:17500       0.0.0.0:*   udp
0.0.0.0:5353        0.0.0.0:*   udp
127.0.0.1:50440 ESTABLISHED 127.0.0.1:50440 udp
0.0.0.0:53203       0.0.0.0:*   udp
0.0.0.0:59396       0.0.0.0:*   udp
127.0.1.1:53        0.0.0.0:*   udp
0.0.0.0:68      0.0.0.0:*   udp
192.168.10.11:123       0.0.0.0:*   udp
127.0.0.1:123       0.0.0.0:*   udp
0.0.0.0:123     0.0.0.0:*   udp
0.0.0.0:43419       0.0.0.0:*   udp
:::50401        :::*    udp6
:::5353     :::*    udp6
fe80::208:caff:fe87:123     :::*    udp6
::1:123     :::*    udp6
:::123      :::*    udp6
:::57680        :::*    udp6
Routing Table
IP routing table
0.0.0.0 / 192.168.10.254    0.0.0.0 UG  wlan0
192.168.10.0 / 0.0.0.0  255.255.255.0   U   wlan0
ARP Table
ARP Table
192.168.10.164  78:e4:00:1a:82:49   wlan0
192.168.10.158  24:0a:64:f8:9a:a6   wlan0
192.168.10.127  58:b0:35:63:39:28   wlan0
192.168.10.254  00:90:0b:23:76:36   wlan0
192.168.10.197  b8:e8:56:31:2a:06   wlan0
192.168.10.45   e0:f8:47:19:dc:de   wlan0
192.168.10.250  00:11:32:20:e5:e1   wlan0
DNS Servers
Name servers
127.0.1.1   
Statistics
IP
2157697 Paquets reçus au total
0   Paquets arrivant rejetés
3   Avec un protocole inconnu
0   Paquets arrivant rejetés
2147649 Paquets entrants délivrés
1223555 Requêtes envoyées
244 Paquets sortants rejetés
234 Dropped because of missing route
ICMP
3539    Messages ICMP reçus
95  Messages ICMP entrant échoués
810 Messages ICMP envoyés
0   Messages ICMP échoués
ICMPMSG
TCP
15407   Ouvertures de connexions actives
5356    Connexions passives ouvertes
409 Tentatives de connexion échouées
856 Reinitialisation de la connection détéctée
28  Connexions établies
1816595 Segments reçus
1006545 Segments envoyés
10728   Segments retransmis
79  Mauvais segments reçus
2861    Réinitailisations envoyées
UDP
358456  Packets reçus
719 Paquets reçus sur un port inconnu
2914    Erreurs de réception de paquet
278795  Paquets envoyés
UDPLITE
TCPEXT
325 Cookies SYN invalides reçus
24  Resets received for embryonic SYN_RECV sockets
14  Packets pruned from receive queue because of socket buffer overrun
19  Paquets ICMP rejetés par ce qu'ils étaient en dehors de la fenêtre d'acquittement
6994    TCP sockets finished time wait in fast timer
12  DSACKs sent for out of order packets
25961   Accusés de réception envoyés en retard
16  Delayed acks further delayed because of locked socket
16290   Paquets directement mis en attente dans la file d'attente recvmsg.
1   Congestion windows fully recovered without slow start
70095   Bytes directly received in process context from prequeue
1342959 En-têtes de paquets prédits
6   Packets header predicted and directly queued to user
62560   Acknowledgments not containing data payload received
51749   Accusés de réception prédits
1079    Times recovered from packet loss by selective acknowledgements
1   Congestion windows fully recovered without slow start
5   Congestion windows recovered without slow start by DSACK
248 Congestion windows recovered without slow start after partial ack
88  Timeouts after SACK recovery
18  Timeouts in loss state
1422    Fast retransmits
74  SACK retransmits failed
73  Retransmits in slow start
1898    Other TCP timeouts
74  SACK retransmits failed
44  Packets collapsed in receive queue due to low socket buffer
1860    DSACKs sent for old packets
12  DSACKs sent for out of order packets
470 Connections reset due to unexpected data
470 Connections reset due to unexpected data
765 Connections reset due to early user close
314 Connections aborted due to timeout
IPEXT
Shared Directories
SAMBA
NFS
Benchmarks
CPU Blowfish
CPU Blowfish
This Machine    1701 MHz    4,882
Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor 1.50GHz (null)  26.1876862
PowerPC 740/750 (280.00MHz) (null)  172.816713
CPU CryptoHash
CPU CryptoHash
This Machine    1701 MHz    268,035
CPU Fibonacci
CPU Fibonacci
This Machine    1701 MHz    2,111
Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor 1.50GHz (null)  8.1375674
PowerPC 740/750 (280.00MHz) (null)  58.07682
CPU N-Queens
CPU N-Queens
This Machine    1701 MHz    4,818
FPU FFT
FPU FFT
This Machine    1701 MHz    1,255
FPU Raytracing
FPU Raytracing
This Machine    1701 MHz    6,594
Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor 1.50GHz (null)  40.8816714
PowerPC 740/750 (280.00MHz) (null)  161.312647

Thanks a lot for support, I would be really sad to have to change my laptop after less than a year

EDIT: Here's a screenshot of my task manager too. No process goes higher than 6%, but processor can easily reach 100%:

And here are two screenshots taken consecutively:

1."cache memory considered free" unchecked 2."cache memory considered free" checked

1. cache memory considered free unchecked

2. cache memory considered free checked

Pavel about 10 years

Start by checking in System Monitor if any process using abnormally much CPU/RAM.
joe about 10 years

Is that memory usage including cache? If not, see if something is taking up too much RAM. Running out of RAM can cause some serious slowdowns.
Augustin Riedinger about 10 years

I took two screenshots consecutively with and without including cache.
Augustin Riedinger about 10 years

How can I avoid using too much memory? What could have changed that was not creating those problems before?
joe about 10 years

Can you do a screenshot/observation when you are experiencing the problem, and see if anything is using too much CPU or memory?
Augustin Riedinger about 10 years

Sure. Basically the processor rate is at 100% but all the processuses are at decent rate ~10% max. I think the memory explanation is pretty strong at the moment as each time it happens, my laptop gets really blocked for between 10s and 1 minute, and then it comes back to life pretty smoothly (as if memory management was done ...)
qubex almost 10 years

I am experiencing exactly the same problem. I have tracked the issue down to power management (simply because the issue disappears when I plug into a wall socket and doesn't reappear even after I disconnect). Now I have figured this out I recall that the issue arose after in some obscure dialogue box I nonchalantly chose "laptop" rather than "desktop" usage, but I cannot for the world of me recall in which context that dialogue box arose. Does plugging into the power fix your problem? Did you choose a similar option in a configuration box? Can you remember what box it was?

Augustin Riedinger over 9 years

Thanks for help. I actually ended up reinstalling a new distribution and my laptop became super smooth again. But after 6 months using it, it becomes slow again... I'm more looking for tools to identify processes that slow down my laptop than considering buying more RAM...
Elder Geek over 9 years

top leaps to mind.