- This topic has 20 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated Dec 24-7:46 am by impassable-highchair93.
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PPC
“sudo zram start” seems to reduce load by about 80 MB, which is great. I’m going to try adding that line to ~/desktop-session/startup (hope that’s the right place…)
Don’t do that! Try what is explained here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/making-a-pentium-4-laptop-useful-with-antix/
Reason: any sudo command requires you to type your root password or for the password to already be in memory, if you typed it recently (ion the last 10 minutes or so). If you run a sudo command at the startup, you won’t see any terminal window asking you to enter your password, so zram (that needs elevated privileges won’t start…)Zram works by avoiding that your OS requires to use Swap that’s in the hard drive – It won’t save memory, but it will make the best use of low RAM for most use cases.
You can dig around for tips to make the best of computers with low system resources, but generally speaking you already know what to do- avoid Desktops that show desktop icons (no zzz or ice desktops). The min desktop does not load any extras in RAM – for example- no volume icon, clipboard manager, language selector… (you can launch “volumeicon” if you need to change the volume and close it again or use the alsa mixer to set the volume. Better yet: run yad-volume if you need to set the volume. You can create a toolbar entry for it, that way you do not need to always have volumeicon running).
Use lighter web browsers and tools – stay away from webmail and from most streaming sites- smtube is ideal for Youtube. For the streaming services that I tested, a dedicated app like electronplayer is better, in my opinion, than using them inside your regular browser). You can access cloud drives from your file manager, in several ways, I created a GUI script for that- but configuring any cloud service other than GDrive can be tedious, using a numbered CLI menu with countless options…). Stay way from most web office suites, if your system can’t handle them. Use LibreOffice. If your system is too slow running L.O., checkout OpenOffice (search for it here in the forum).
You can check out if JWM is lighter – some people swear by it. I tried all the Window Managers and came back to the default- icewm- it may use a couple more mb of ram but it’s the most modern and well configured W.M. available in antiX.
Think if using antiX on a very old device like using an android tablet- you can do almost everything you do in a Windows PC or Mac, but you have to use different tools… in the end you may get an even better result with those tools!P.
caprea
Hi impassable-highchair93, antiX-full comes per default with two kernels installed, one for older hardsware (4.9-kernel)and one for newer (5.10).During the live-stick sessions the 4.9 is used but after installation the 5.10 kernel is used automatically.That’s might the reason your system doesn’t boot anymore after installation.Go to the advanced options on the boot screen and choose the 4.9
We already have a member named “arp” on this forum with almost the same hardware like yours, if my tired eyes do not deceive me.
https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/xresources-for-urxvt/#post-61034
He also had the “waiting for device to be fully populated” error but unfortunately didn’t mention how he solved it.
https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/stalls-at-dev-2/
If you look at the graphic part of his inxi you’ll see it’s completely different from yours and looks much better.
The ati,radeon driver is used and the renderer for OpenGL is ATI RV530. That’s how it should be.I would guess on your system the insufficient graphics solution, which could also be a reason for the slow — almost unusable state, is related to the “failsafe” boot option.
You can also look if there’s anything helpfull in the link provided by Xecure in the thread from arp.At least arp has solved the problem somehow.I wrote him a private message.arps graphic
Graphics: Device-1: AMD RV530/M56-P [Mobility Radeon X1600] vendor: Apple MacBook Pro driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1002:71c5 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: ati,radeon unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1440x900~60Hz OpenGL: renderer: ATI RV530 v: 2.1 Mesa 18.3.6 direct render: Yesyours
Graphics: Device-1: AMD RV530/M56-P [Mobility Radeon X1600] vendor: Apple MacBook Pro driver: N/A arch: Rage 7 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:71c5 class-ID: 0300 Display: server: X.Org v: 1.20.11 driver: X: loaded: N/A unloaded: fbdev gpu: N/A display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1680x1050 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 445x278mm (17.52x10.94") s-diag: 525mm (20.66") Monitor-1: default res: 1680x1050 size: N/A modes: N/A OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 11.0.1 128 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 20.3.5 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yesimpassable-highchair93
Don’t do that! Try what is explained here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/making-a-pentium-4-laptop-useful-with-antix/
Got it, thanks. Going forward, I’ll try not to mention my Mac laptop (which is running antiX just fine) and focus on the iMac5,1, which still has some issues that we might be able to solve in this thread (and help future readers).
antiX-full comes per default with two kernels installed, one for older [hardware] (4.9-kernel)and one for newer (5.10).During the live-stick sessions the 4.9 is used but after installation the 5.10 kernel is used automatically.That’s might the reason your system doesn’t boot anymore after installation.Go to the advanced options on the boot screen and choose the 4.9
Huh, that seems not ideal if the point of the live USB is, in part, to offer users a low-cost trial of antiX’s performance. I’m realizing now that I don’t know how to choose between kernel versions when using the GUI installer. Do I need to use the CLI installer?
The ati,radeon driver is used and the renderer for OpenGL is ATI RV530. That’s how it should be.
Seems very smart to compare my inxi output to the one of that user! I’m also curious how that user got the machine to use a Radeon driver (that’s what I ultimately need/want, right?)
Just a guess, but maybe that user followed this complex solution suggested by rokytnji? At this point I am… intimidated by a process that includes steps like “Patch radeon_bios.c source to read this file and recompile kernel”, but I can give it a go if y’all think it has a chance of succeeding?
that user followed this complex solution suggested by rokytnji?
That probably is no longer needed. That post seems to be over 2 years old. The Kernels got about 2 tons of extra stuff since then…
On an antiX installed to your hard drive, when at the boot menu, read all the options. One will let you select the Kernel you want to run.
It seems that the reasoning for having antiX live use an older kernel by default and be installed using the latest kernel by default is; when testing antiX, make sure that it’s as compatible as possible with older hardware (ence, using an older kernel). Once installed, try to use the best possible kernel for your hardware (usually the more recent one).
The kernel you select at boot is only selected for that time. When you reboot, you’ll have to choose what kernel you want, or antiX will once more use the latest one available.
I think the best way to solve that is removing (try using the Package Installer) the Kernel you do not want- leaving only the one that works best for you…Edit: As far as I know, you can’t select the kernel when installing (from GUI or the CLI), but I haven’t installed antiX 22 yet… that may have changed
P.
- This reply was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by PPC.
madibi
@PPC
The kernel you select at boot is only selected for that time. When you reboot, you’ll have to choose what kernel you want, or antiX will once more use the latest one available.
Dear, may be that this can be useful:
https://www.baslerweb.com/en/sales-support/knowledge-base/frequently-asked-questions/how-to-get-the-bootloader-grub-to-remember-the-last-boot-selection/588483/In this way grub remembers last boot choice. I always use those parameters on my systems.
@impassable-highchair93
my Mac laptop
From your previous posts I had misunderstood and thought your Macbook was a desktop. In the case of the laptop, increasing the ram from 1 to 4 Gb costs very little <15 euros. From this upgrade your Mac will benefit in terms of performance and duration.
m
I ended up successfully installing MX-21.2.1_386 Fluxbox on this iMac, with GRUB parameters “nomodeset nosplash”. I don’t think it’s using the Radeon graphics card(?) but it works OK. At least it’s a GUI desktop and not a command line only!
I am still curious why MX Linux (both Xfce and Fluxbox variants) gave me a proper GUI desktop with “nomodeset” added to GRUB, while antiX (likely the better choice, given 1 GB of RAM) gave me a good amount of trouble no matter what parameters I set (see above). Maybe a kernel version difference?
[CODE]System: Kernel: 5.10.0-20-686-pae [5.10.158-2] i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-20-686-pae root=UUID=<filter> ro nomodeset quiet splash Desktop: Fluxbox 1.3.7 info: tint2 vt: 7 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: MX-21.2.1_fluxbox_386 Wildflower September 18 2022 base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) Machine: Type: Desktop System: Apple product: iMac5,1 v: 1.0 serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 13 v: Mac-F4228EC8 serial: <filter> Mobo: Apple model: Mac-F4228EC8 v: DVT serial: <filter> UEFI: Apple v: IM51.88Z.0090.B09.0706270921 date: 06/27/07 Battery: Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse serial: <filter> charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: Discharging CPU: Info: Dual Core model: Intel Core2 T7400 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Core Merom family: 6 model-id: F (15) stepping: 6 microcode: D1 cache: L2: 4 MiB flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 8655 Speed: 999 MHz min/max: 1000/2167 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 999 2: 999 Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: EPT disabled Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations Type: retbleed status: Not affected Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected Type: srbds status: Not affected Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected Graphics: Device-1: AMD RV530/M56-P [Mobility Radeon X1600] vendor: Apple MacBook Pro driver: N/A alternate: radeon bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:71c5 class-ID: 0300 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: loaded: ati,vesa unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,radeon display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1680x1050 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 445x278mm (17.5x10.9") s-diag: 525mm (20.7") Monitor-1: default res: 1680x1050 hz: 77 OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 11.0.1 128 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 20.3.5 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes Audio: Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio vendor: SigmaTel STAC9221 Codec driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:27d8 class-ID: 0403 Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.0-20-686-pae running: yes Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes Network: Device-1: Marvell 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet driver: sky2 v: 1.30 port: 1000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 11ab:4362 class-ID: 0200 IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> Device-2: Broadcom BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme driver: b43-pci-bridge v: N/A modules: ssb,wl port: 1000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4328 class-ID: 0280 IF-ID-1: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> Bluetooth: Device-1: Apple Bluetooth HCI type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 5-1:4 chip-ID: 05ac:8206 class-ID: fe01 Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 1.2 lmp-v: 2.0 sub-v: 7ad hci-v: 2.0 rev: 7ad Info: acl-mtu: 384:8 sco-mtu: 64:8 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park link-mode: slave accept Drives: Local Storage: total: 232.89 GiB used: 5.84 GiB (2.5%) SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD2500JS-40TGB0 size: 232.89 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 1.5 Gb/s type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 6C04 scheme: GPT Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 231.13 GiB size: 226.44 GiB (97.97%) used: 5.84 GiB (2.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 314 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 Swap: Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 1.5 GiB used: 1 MiB (0.1%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 26.0 C mobo: N/A Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 876 Repos: Packages: note: see --pkg apt: 1670 lib: 791 flatpak: 0 No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free 2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free Info: Processes: 175 Uptime: 1m wakeups: 3 Memory: 962.7 MiB used: 511.8 MiB (53.2%) Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: N/A alt: 10 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 Boot Mode: UEFI[/CODE]Thanks again.
- This reply was modified 4 months, 2 weeks ago by impassable-highchair93.
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