- This topic has 23 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated Sep 13-1:11 pm by Brian Masinick.
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kbel
Hello! This is my first time posting, although I’ve been using antiX since 2009. I use i3-wm and console apps and modify config files but am not a programmer or super-technical user.
I recently installed antiX-19.2.1-base 32-bit on a Pentium 4 desktop that was previously running antiX-16-full quite well. This new installation is noticeably more laggy and has graphic glitches/artifacts. Also, I can’t use tty[1-6] because the input signal is out of range for the monitor (“Change settings to 1280×1024 – 60Hz”). Is all this simply the cost of using such an old computer, or is there hope I can improve matters? For what it’s worth, this same computer *can* run a Bodhi live DVD without glitches.
I’ve attached the output from “inxi -zv8”.
After searching around, I’m still a bit lost where to begin troubleshooting. Install SiS drivers? Adjust the refresh rate? Try a different kernel? I’d appreciate any pointers.
Thanks!
- This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by kbel.
Brian Masinick
Over time the resource consumption of the various tools and application, and even the size of the kernel increase.
A decade ago I could run antiX with IceWM and use around 60 MB of memory, even less than that at start up time.
Now if I can stay under 100 MB or even close, I’m happy. Larger systems use 300-400 MB before even running any applications.So to me that means it is likely that the size of the system and the footprint it consumes is larger.
If it’s too taxing, try an older release and only update what you need to use and see if it helps.ystem: Host: lucrece Kernel: 4.9.212-antix.1-486-smp i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.9.212-antix.1-486-smp root=UUID=a6640781-22bf-469e-bee1-24e4492dd40f ro vga=791 quiet Desktop: IceWM 1.6.6 wm: JWM 2.3.7 dm: SLiM 1.3.6 Distro: antiX-19.2.1_386-base Hannie Schaft 29 March 2020 base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) Machine: Type: Desktop Mobo: ECS model: P4S5MG/GL+ v: 1.0 serial: <filter> BIOS: American Megatrends v: 07.00T date: 04/02/01 Memory: RAM: total: 969.1 MiB used: 186.9 MiB (19.3%) RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. PCI Slots: Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. CPU: Topology: Single Core model: Intel Pentium 4 bits: 32 type: MCP arch: Netburst Northwood family: F (15) model-id: 2 stepping: 4 microcode: 1E L2 cache: 512 KiB bogomips: 3984 Speed: 1992 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 1992 Flags: acpi bts clflush cmov cx8 de dts fpu fxsr ht mca mce mmx msr mtrr pae pat pebs pge pse pse36 sep ss sse sse2 tm tsc vme Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Vulnerable Type: l1tf status: Vulnerable Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT disabled Type: meltdown status: Vulnerable Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected Graphics: Device-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter driver: N/A bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1039:6325 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: vesa resolution: 1280x1024~N/A OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 7.0 128 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes Audio: Device-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS7012 AC97 Sound vendor: C-Media CMI9739 on ECS K7S series driver: snd_intel8x0 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.7 chip ID: 1039:7012 Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.9.212-antix.1-486-smp Network: Device-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet driver: sis900 v: kernel port: d400 bus ID: 00:04.0 chip ID: 1039:0900 IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> Device-2: 3Com 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] driver: 3c59x v: kernel port: d000 bus ID: 00:09.0 chip ID: 10b7:9055 IF: eth1 state: down mac: <filter> Device-3: Belkin F6D4050 N150 Enhanced Wireless Network Adapter v1000 [Ralink RT3070] type: USB driver: rt2800usb bus ID: 2-3:2 chip ID: 050d:935a serial: <filter> IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter> WAN IP: No WAN IP data found. Connected to the web? SSL issues? Drives: Local Storage: total: 57.27 GiB used: 2.73 GiB (4.8%) ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Maxtor model: 6Y060L0 size: 57.27 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: <unknown> serial: <filter> rev: 1VW0 scheme: MBR Floppy-1: /dev/fd0 Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: HL-DT-ST model: DVD-RAM GSA-H50N rev: 1.00 dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw Features: speed: 48 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running RAID: Message: No RAID data was found. Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 55.24 GiB size: 54.12 GiB (97.98%) used: 2.73 GiB (5.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 label: rootantiX19 uuid: a6640781-22bf-469e-bee1-24e4492dd40f ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.00 GiB used: 4 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache pressure: 50 (default 100) dev: /dev/sda2 label: swapantiX uuid: cfe19436-0a18-41df-9f37-d117675722cb Unmounted: Message: No unmounted partitions found. USB: Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0002 Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0002 Device-1: 2-3:2 info: Belkin F6D4050 N150 Enhanced Wireless Network Adapter v1000 [Ralink RT3070] type: Network driver: rt2800usb interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip ID: 050d:935a serial: <filter> Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0001 Device-2: 3-1:2 info: IBM Rapid Access IIIe Keyboard type: Keyboard,Mouse driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s chip ID: 04b3:300a Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0001 Device-3: 4-1:2 info: Holtek Optical Mouse type: Mouse driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 1.5 Mb/s chip ID: 04d9:0499 Hub: 5-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0001 Hub: 6-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0001 Hub: 7-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s chip ID: 1d6b:0001 Sensors: Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured? Repos: Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list 1: deb http: //mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/antix/buster buster main nonfree nosystemd Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/buster-backports.list 1: deb http: //deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports main contrib non-free Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 1: deb http: //ftp.ca.debian.org/debian/ buster-updates main contrib non-free Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 1: deb http: //ftp.ca.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free 2: deb http: //security.debian.org/ buster/updates main contrib non-free No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/onion.list No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list Processes: CPU top: 5 1: cpu: 26.5% command: xorg pid: 2305 mem: 53.4 MiB (5.5%) 2: cpu: 4.5% command: perl pid: 15338 mem: 14.8 MiB (1.5%) 3: cpu: 3.5% command: yad pid: 15361 mem: 9.07 MiB (0.9%) 4: cpu: 0.7% command: apt-get pid: 5778 mem: 50.8 MiB (5.2%) 5: cpu: 0.6% command: [ksoftirqd/0] pid: 3 mem: 0.00 MiB (0.0%) Memory top: 5 1: mem: 53.4 MiB (5.5%) command: xorg pid: 2305 cpu: 26.5% 2: mem: 50.8 MiB (5.2%) command: apt-get pid: 5778 cpu: 0.7% 3: mem: 33.1 MiB (3.4%) command: connman-ui-gtk pid: 4704 cpu: 0.1% 4: mem: 26.5 MiB (2.7%) command: x-terminal-emulator pid: 4978 cpu: 0.5% 5: mem: 15.6 MiB (1.6%) command: ceni started by: perl pid: 4538 cpu: 0.0% Info: Processes: 140 Uptime: 52m Init: SysVinit v: 2.93 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 Client: shell wrapper inxi: 3.0.36Edit: Pasted his full info text in the wrong post. My bad. I will leave it alone though. I meant to put it the post above yours Brian.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by rokytnji.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by rokytnji.
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Brian MasinickThanks for your thoughts.
I can’t boot the antiX-17 DVD for some reason, so that makes 16 the last version that worked well. How do I go about getting essential updates when EOL was in June and the repos no longer work?
Masinick added:
Did you try a failsafe boot option?
If it’s available from the DVD boot it may give you access to the 17 release.
17 may be somewhat smaller than 19.2.1.- This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Brian Masinick.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Brian Masinick. Reason: Masinick added comment
sybok
Just curious:
– What was the kernel used in antiX 16? Is it possible to install it in the antiX 19[.2.1] and see whether the glitches were due to some kernel/driver related changes/issues?
– Could be X-org dropping some support for your graphical card.
– One could also explore BIOS for any settings related to resolution but I would be very cautious when changing it.- This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by sybok. Reason: Added few more options to consider
Xecure
You could also try to dist-upgrade from 16 to 17.
If you have not installed anything outside the repos, then a dist-upgrade should be ok. I’d suggest doing it in a terminal with apt-get.
1. Make sure you are up to date with the default antiX-16 repos, ie jessie.
2. If all is ok with this update, edit debian.list and antix.list to stretch. Do not use mx repos.
3. If you want eudev, add it to the list in 5. (I added it)
4. apt-get update and then apt-get dist-upgrade. Check nothing important will be uninstalled.
5. You will need to install the following apps manually, since they are not on antiX-16, but are on 17. (You can choose which ones you don’t want)apt-get install adobe-flashplugin arc-theme apt-transport-https artwork17-antix bootrepair-antix broadcom-manager-antix cli-aptix conky-legacy-all console-grid-gui eudev firejail fonts-crosextra-caladea fonts-crosextra-carlito fskbsetting galculator gnome-mahjongg gnome-mpv grubcc-antix gsmartcontrol gufw-legacy libeudev1 lxkeymap mps-youtube packageinstaller qt5ct xmms-skins-antix xserver-xorg-legacy6. Remove the following (you may want to keep some)
apt-get purge browser-plugin-freshplayer-pepperflash bunsen-pepperflash gnome-icon-theme gnome-icon-theme-symbolic gnome-mplayer gnu-fdisk gufw keyboard-cc-antix install-meta-antix live-usb-cli-antix live-usb-gui-antix mplayer2 roxterm-common roxterm-gtk3 siduction-archive-keyring spacefm-extras system-antix toshset ttf-dejavu-core udev libudev1 unetbootin upower xmahjongg7. Install a new kernel. package-installer should give you some options.
antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.
caprea
You are using the vesa driver,
Graphics: Device-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter driver: N/A bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1039:6325 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: vesa resolution: 1280x1024~N/A OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 7.0 128 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: YesYou could try the xf86-video-sisimedia-antix driver for your card on antiX19.
Brian Masinick
You are using the vesa driver,
Graphics: Device-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter driver: N/A bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1039:6325 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: vesa resolution: 1280x1024~N/A OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 7.0 128 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: YesYou could try the xf86-video-sisimedia-antix driver for your card on antiX19.
Xecure had some good additional suggestions, but I missed this one.
If you have the wrong graphics card driver installed, that is definitely causing cycles to be consumed by the CPU to make adjustments every time the display is refreshing or modified. That’s more than enough to create a sluggish response.
While the VESA driver will display, I think it is less than optimal.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Brian Masinick.
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Brian MasinickBobC
This won’t help your graphics issues, but is more of a general comment on tuning low horsepower systems to run as best they can…
I’m not sure what desktop you are running, but I would suggest running as few applications needing CPU cycles as possible. For example, don’t run the conky unless you really use it.
With IceWM you can turn off or increase the “delay” values to reduce CPU usage.
I would try running htop in a terminal and investigate any apps using a lot of CPU to consider turning off or reducing CPU use of ones that are not used.
Thanks for all your responses!
Masinick added:
Did you try a failsafe boot option?
If it’s available from the DVD boot it may give you access to the 17 release.
17 may be somewhat smaller than 19.2.1.Unfortunately, I’m not able to get any response to keyboard input before the X session starts automatically, so I can’t adjust boot parameters. (This issue also prevented me from trying a Debian netinst.) Perhaps my keyboard’s USB connection is the issue? I could dig out a PS/2 keyboard.
Just curious:
– What was the kernel used in antiX 16? Is it possible to install it in the antiX 19[.2.1] and see whether the glitches were due to some kernel/driver related changes/issues?
– Could be X-org dropping some support for your graphical card.
– One could also explore BIOS for any settings related to resolution but I would be very cautious when changing it.I didn’t record details of my antiX-16 install before blowing it away, which may have been unwise. Do I need to reinstall it to find out what kernel was used, or is there another way to get that info? In any case, I’ve installed the legacy i686 kernel available in the GUI Package Installer app, but I can’t figure out how to boot to it because I can’t even *see* GRUB much less have keyboard input.
I’ll have a look at the BIOS, but as you say be cautious about it. I’ve seen some threads on these forums about console resolution, so I’ll try some of their suggestions once I’ve figured out the basic CPU and graphics issues.
You could also try to dist-upgrade from 16 to 17.
While it’s too late for me “make sure you are up to date with the default antix-16 repos, ie jessie” as anticapitalista’s instructions say, that’s a good idea I may give a go.
You are using the vesa driver,
Graphics: Device-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter driver: N/A bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1039:6325 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: vesa resolution: 1280x1024~N/A OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 7.0 128 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: YesYou could try the xf86-video-sisimedia-antix driver for your card on antiX19.
Okay, I’ve installed the package you suggested. inxi indicates the VESA driver is still in use. How do I make it switch to the SiS driver? I can’t use smxi because of my console resolution problem.
This won’t help your graphics issues, but is more of a general comment on tuning low horsepower systems to run as best they can…
I’m not sure what desktop you are running, but I would suggest running as few applications needing CPU cycles as possible. For example, don’t run the conky unless you really use it.
With IceWM you can turn off or increase the “delay” values to reduce CPU usage.
I would try running htop in a terminal and investigate any apps using a lot of CPU to consider turning off or reducing CPU use of ones that are not used.
None of my computers are newer than 2013, so I do generally monitor CPU usage using top. So far on this installation I’ve been using Minimal-JWM, no conky or roxpanel, minimal autostarts, no wallpaper. (On antiX-16, I used i3-wm.) I’m open to suggestions about what might work better. Do you think IceWM with disabled/increased “delay” values might be an improvement?
- This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by kbel.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by kbel.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by kbel.
Xecure
Okay, I’ve installed the package you suggested. inxi indicates the VESA driver is still in use.
Reboot and see if
Graphics: Device-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter driver: N/A bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1039:6325 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: vesa resolution: 1280x1024~N/Achanges and now you see extra options (in driver: or in unloaded:)
I will save this link for later in case we need to help you set up options for SIS driver
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/SiSantiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.Brian Masinick
I’m glad to see that the VESA driver actually works with SIS graphics cards. 15-20 years ago the VESA driver did not support SIS graphics very well, if at all. I did some tech support and I remember seeing issues frequently, so at least the situation is better than it used to be.
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Brian MasinickReboot and see if
Graphics: Device-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter driver: N/A bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1039:6325 Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: vesa resolution: 1280x1024~N/Achanges and now you see extra options (in driver: or in unloaded:)
I don’t see any extra options in “driver:” and “unloaded:” doesn’t appear. There’s some more resolution detail, which might be because I ran inxi as root this time.
I’ve used JWM on Puppy, and run it occasionally in antiX, but IceWM is the window manager I like best. I have used i3 as well, but prefer the flexibility of a stacking window manager of which IceWM is one of the fastest. I would suggest testing CPU usage via htop with CPU, Memory, Network and Battery monitors on, higher delays, and off, and just compare the CPU usage when idling on your old Pentium 4 or other low end machine. If I recall, on antiX 19 the default delays are already set at 1 second intervals to reduce CPU load as compared to standard IceWM defaults, but you could try doubling them to 2000 milliseconds (2 seconds) and see if it helps. What made IceWM my favorite was that I could do what I was trying to do quickly via keyboard or mouse. For example, I can use the Toolbar Icon Manager to add all the programs that I normally use, and then all I need to do is click the one I want to run it without needing to go through the menus, which on the low end machines really slows me down.
Even if you end up needing to run antiX 16, I would think it would be possible to install a newer version of IceWM on it, which has improved considerably since 16 came out.
Do you get the Grub screen when you boot? typing an e will allow you to edit the grub boot commands
Try adding these parameters after quiet
nomodeset xorg=safe
You can use forum search for Silicon Integrated Systems SiS Display Adapter to find the thread I got it from. antiX 16 used an older Xorg version and maybe it supported your graphics card better as sybok was saying.
I’ve used JWM on Puppy, and run it occasionally in antiX, but IceWM is the window manager I like best…
Thanks for your thoughts on IceWM. I’ve tried configuring both and found I preferred JWM in terms of stacking WMs, but my preferred workflow is keyboard-based so tiling suits me best. Still, I may look into IceWM’s delays adjustment to see if that helps.
* * *
Progress made:
- Dug out a CRT monitor from the basement so now I can see all console stuff outside X. (Still can’t use the keyboard while booting.) Discovered (d’oh!) that smxi only handles nvidia and ATI drivers.
- Read the Arch Wiki entry on SiS. Kernel modules and extensive editing of xorg.conf is outside the scope of my knowledge/experience, although I’m willing to try it with guidance.
- Burned new antiX-17 and antiX-16 DVDs on another machine and can boot both on the P4. Auto-loaded desktop doesn’t display for 17. I now recall why I installed 16 before, and also note while loading that xorg.conf configures with sisimedia. Going to try installing with stretch repos and see if I can dist-upgrade from that.
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