New user, i like Antix, i ask for setting for better performances

[Member giuzeta]

Hi, im Giuzeta a new user of Antix 22 32bit. Thank you for this beautiful linux distro, very smooth and nice.
I installed this in an old laptop whit windows xp 32bit, an old Asus A7CC-7005M, that mount an INTEL CENTRINO 2 DUO T5600 processor (one of the first 64bit supported processor), 2GB RAM, and the VIDEO CARD ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1450.

In general i have not many problem with ANTIX, and i test performances of it comparing with windows xp 32bit, whatching a youtube video and whatching a streaming film on the websites.
I noticed that is smoother and faster in this kind of heavy actions (for this old pc) using windows xp, probably because it can manage better the graphic card and his driver.. i dont know.
Can you help to me to improve those performances with ANTIX?
THANK YOU.

(additional question: its an old computer with 2gb ram, its better for me 32bit or 64bit version of ANTIX ?)

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Trying for the first time linux on an old laptop.
I think working to improve performances on old machines is the best way to learn something new, and improve ourself.

[Member punranger]

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It’s not clear if you did already, but if you didn’t, make sure to use on of the two included apps to watch YouTube. You may find some tips in the video in my signature, although I think the standard setup is pretty optimal for an old 32-bit computer.

antiX linux: The best way to revive an old computer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCTaUAP6sSg

[Member sybok]

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1) Since you mentioned drivers, installing some firmware-related packages (i.e. packages more suitable to your HW/system, such as ‘linux-firmware-nonfree’ etc) may help.
E.g. you can open terminal and run the following command:
apt-cache search firmware > FIRMWARE.txt
‘apt’ is a packaging utility in Debian-based systems (antiX is based on Debian), you search the cache (database) for ‘firmware’ and ‘>’ redirects the (standard) output to a file named ‘FIRMWARE.txt’.
You may open the file with editor of your preference and examine its content.
Similarly, you may search for ‘radeon’.
Beware: installing drivers may sometimes lead to undesired effects.

Search for intel suggests ‘intel-microcode’ might be worth a try if not already installed.
apt-cache search intel | grep -i intel > INTEL.txt

2) Streaming videos in modern browsers simply is CPU heavy; you can do the following to reduce the load:
2.A) Use add-ons to block some scripts, adds etc. which should reduce the clutter that would normally be eating up both CPU and RAM.
2.B) Try other browsers; e.g. some sites may be optimised for chromium-based browsers since Microsoft [MS Edge] and Google [Chrome], two big players, use those.
2.C) Tweak the browser settings.

Also, some people state that using another program/app, such as ‘mpv’ to stream from youtube, improves performance and their experience as @punranger has indicated by his advice.

3) You could consider upgrading CPU and/or RAM by buying a compatible second hand CPU/RAM-modules on some online outlets for a reasonable price.
Not sure what requirements and max. supported RAM is in case of your motherboard.
Unfortunately, it seems that 2GB RAM is max. you can get.
https://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?t=1336090
https://www.datamemorysystems.com/dms-memory/asustek-computer/a7cc-7005m.htm

4) I have never done the below and I mention this for the sake of completeness only.
If you are willing to dive deep into Linux and invest a *lot* of time, you can — at least in theory — re-compile some of the resource-heavy programs specifically on your HW. This could lead to a performance improvement since you compile on your specific 32-bit HW instead of on a more general 32-bit architecture (for which the packages you installed were built) where less optimisations can be made for the compiled program to work on all the target 32-bit systems.
The downsides are that you would have to do that whenever a package is upgraded, some packages are re-packed or built specifically for antiX without systemd and I have no idea what modifications were necessary.

[Member punranger]

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Just noticed this: “(additional question: its an old computer with 2gb ram, its better for me 32bit or 64bit version of ANTIX ?)

If you have a 64-bit processor, use the 64-bit version. In my experience, there are no practical differences in speed and efficiency between 32 or 64 bit antiX. But many developers no longer offer 32-bit versions of their software, so you may run into problems finding updated versions of your favorite apps. Also, DRM protected streaming sites like Netflix won’t work on 32-bit systems.

antiX linux: The best way to revive an old computer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCTaUAP6sSg

[Member marcelocripe]

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Hello Giuzeta.

Welcome to Antix Linux and the Forum.

I don’t know how to write in English and send my texts translated by the internet translator. I hope you can understand everything. If your native language is not English, please translate my original Portuguese language text in Brazil directly into your language with the help of internet translators that you will get a much better result.

Regardless of your level of knowledge about GNU/Linux, I recommend you read these excellent tutorials created by @PPC:

What is antiX and how to try it out or install it.
Short essential how-to list for the complete Linux newbie.
How-to install applications – 2020 version.
How to: correctly use antiX forum.

When I started using Antix, I read the tutorials that the PPC created, these readings spared me a lot of my time and I think it saves the time of any new Antix user. Your time will not be lost with these readings, it will seem to be much easier than you could imagine. You will not waste your time with internet searches or even create new topics, on the contrary, you will earn a lot of time from these readings. I recommend you try the work areas that have “ZZZ” in your name. I usually use the “ZZZ-Icewm” or “ZZZ-JWM” or “ZZZ-Fluxbox” (each of these work areas have their own characteristics and consume more or less resources). ZZZFM will be the default file manager in your desktop, it is very similar to other file managers from other GNU/Linux distributions and Windows XP. To access the other Antix work areas, click the Antix menu (or right -click), desktop, switch between desktops and click on the work area name, instantly to desktop will be loaded.

Whenever you need to request technical help or support in this forum, explain in detail what is happening, do not save the words, be thorough when writing, enter the characteristics of your computer, such as the brand and the model. If possible, post the result of the command $ Inxi -zv7 of the terminal, copy and paste here in the message of the topic you create in this forum.

When you start a topic or participate with a post, remember to check the option “Notify Me of Follow-Up Replies via email”, marking this option, you will receive a message in your email box whenever there are answers from topic in question.

(additional question: its an old computer with 2gb ram, its better for me 32bit or 64bit version of ANTIX ?)

Always give preference to the 64-bit operating system, you will only have to use the 32-bit operating system if your processor is 32-bit. The punranger already explained why.

I maintain computers older than yours with antiX.

marcelocripe
(Original text in Brazilian Portuguese language)

– – – – –

Olá Giuzeta.

Seja bem-vindo(a) ao antiX Linux e ao fórum.

Eu não sei escrever em idioma Inglês e envio os meus textos traduzidos pelo tradutor da internet. Eu espero que você consiga compreender tudo. Caso o seu idioma nativo não seja o Inglês, por favor, traduza o meu texto original em idioma Português do Brasil diretamente para o seu idioma com a ajuda dos tradutores da internet que você obterá um resultado muito melhor.

Independentemente do seu nível de conhecimento sobre o GNU/Linux, eu recomendo você ler estes excelentes tutoriais criados pelo @PPC:

What is antiX and how to try it out or install it.
Short essential how-to list for the complete Linux newbie.
How-to install applications – 2020 version.
How to: correctly use antiX forum.

Quando eu comecei a utilizar o antiX, eu li os tutoriais que o PPC criou, estas leituras me pouparam muito do meu tempo e acho que poupa o tempo de qualquer novo usuário do antiX. O seu tempo não será perdido com estas leituras, tudo parecerá ser muito mais fácil do que você poderia imaginar. Você não perderá o seu tempo com pesquisas na internet ou até mesmo em criar novos tópicos, ao contrário, você ganhará muito tempo com estas leituras. Eu recomendo você experimentar as áreas de trabalho que possuem “zzz” em seu nome. Eu costumo utilizar o “zzz-IceWM” ou “zzz-JWM” ou “zzz-Fluxbox” (cada uma destas áreas de trabalho possuem características próprias e consomem mais ou menos recursos). O zzzFM será o gerenciador de arquivos padrão da sua área de trabalho, ele é muito semelhante aos outros gerenciadores de arquivos das outras distribuições GNU/Linux e do Windows XP. Para acessar as outras áreas de trabalho do antiX, clique no menu do antiX (ou clique com o botão direito na área de trabalho), Área de Trabalho, Alternar Entre as Áreas de Trabalho e clique sobre o nome da área de trabalho, instantaneamente a área de trabalho será carregada.

Sempre que você precisar solicitar ajuda ou suporte técnico neste fórum, explique com detalhes o que está acontecendo, não economize as palavras, seja minucioso ao escrever, informe as características do seu computador, como a marca e o modelo. Se for possível, poste o resultado do comando $ inxi -zv7 do terminal, copie e cole aqui na mensagem do tópico que você for criar neste fórum.

Quando você iniciar algum tópico ou participar com alguma postagem, lembre-se de marcar a opção “Notify me of follow-up replies via email”, marcando esta opção, você receberá uma mensagem na sua caixa de e-mail sempre que houver respostas do tópico em questão.

(additional question: its an old computer with 2gb ram, its better for me 32bit or 64bit version of ANTIX ?)

Sempre dê preferência ao sistema operacional de 64 bits, você só terá que utilizar o sistema operacional de 32 bits se o seu processador for de 32 bits. O punranger já explicou o motivo.

Eu mantenho computadores mais antigos do que o seu com o antiX.

marcelocripe
(Texto original em idioma Português do Brasil)

[Member PPC]

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giuzeta wrote:

Antix 22 32bit

If your computer has a 32bits CPU, you can’t install a 64bits OS, and you can’t probably use any chromium derived browser (at least not an up to date one). In my experience, Youtube is optimized to be streamed in Chromium or it’s derived browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, etc).
To play youtube videos, try Smtube and select a video resolution that plays well on your device – 360p should look good and play well on most existing computers.
You can try also using SeaMonkey browser – it sometimes gives better results on low powered computers than firefox-esr…

To improved performance, you can try, like stated in previous posts, install drivers for your hardware or even different kernels. From experience, since I still have a 32bits laptop- it works great, I use Seamonkey and an old version of Min Browser (it’s chromium derived) for browsing and Smtube to stream youtube. A very well configured mpv or vlc will probably allow you to watch even HD videos, but Xine media player, if it runs well on your device will probably provide the best results to play video files.

P.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by PPC.
• This reply was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by PPC.

[Member RJP]

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Sometimes the easiest way to get computer more powerful, is to clean all ventilation channels. If command sensors brings over 70 decrees Celsius, computer runs too hot.

[Member blur13]

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And change the thermal paste.

[Member Bernd]

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At the beginning please show us your hardware
inxi -Fz
The easiest way to improve such a system is to install a SSD

[Member giuzeta]

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THANK YOU very much to ALL users of this forum, for your reply and for your kindness. A lot of replies, you are really a community 🙂 I appreciate the time you give to me, interesting in my first linux experience.
SORRY FOR THE DOUBLE POST, it was my error, i will continue in THIS POST, so please reply me here. I want to say thank you also to @Xunzi_23 and the moderator @Brian Masinick but i don’t know how to tag theese peoples in this post from the other.

In the past days i had read yours messages and your advices, i am replying late caused for my work and home’s problems and i was very busy.
Now i had read some guide’s parts and i am understanding some news notions about this kind of OS, new for me. I tried also using the TERMINAL linux shell and tried some basic commands, also downloading a file from the terminal.. like test.. i tried install updates and apps from the apposite app from the control centre, i tested some times the speed and performances of this old pc (comparing to performances with Windows XP) in whatching streaming movies and using the browsers, they aren’t very good, but aceptables, i need to try some improvements and adjust with your help, like you can read after.
Now i installed the 64 BIT VERSION, like yours very precious advices, and it works, so i will use the 64 for more compatibility and for all theese reasons. But some graphics visual bugs persist, sometimes, when use the system, can read in the following quotes to understand better.
I want to continue use this antix OS to improve my skills and i will try to improve laptops performances with your help, because i think when you have old or bad hardware, you will learn more trying to adjust it.

marcelocripe wrote:

Hello Giuzeta.

Welcome to Antix Linux and the Forum.

I don’t know how to write in English and send my texts translated by the internet translator. I hope you can understand everything. If your native language is not English, please translate my original Portuguese language text in Brazil directly into your language with the help of internet translators that you will get a much better result.

Regardless of your level of knowledge about GNU/Linux, I recommend you read these excellent tutorials created by @PPC:

What is antiX and how to try it out or install it.
Short essential how-to list for the complete Linux newbie.
How-to install applications – 2020 version.
How to: correctly use antiX forum.

When I started using Antix, I read the tutorials that the PPC created, these readings spared me a lot of my time and I think it saves the time of any new Antix user. Your time will not be lost with these readings, it will seem to be much easier than you could imagine. You will not waste your time with internet searches or even create new topics, on the contrary, you will earn a lot of time from these readings. I recommend you try the work areas that have “ZZZ” in your name. I usually use the “ZZZ-Icewm” or “ZZZ-JWM” or “ZZZ-Fluxbox” (each of these work areas have their own characteristics and consume more or less resources). ZZZFM will be the default file manager in your desktop, it is very similar to other file managers from other GNU/Linux distributions and Windows XP. To access the other Antix work areas, click the Antix menu (or right -click), desktop, switch between desktops and click on the work area name, instantly to desktop will be loaded.

Whenever you need to request technical help or support in this forum, explain in detail what is happening, do not save the words, be thorough when writing, enter the characteristics of your computer, such as the brand and the model. If possible, post the result of the command $ Inxi -zv7 of the terminal, copy and paste here in the message of the topic you create in this forum.

When you start a topic or participate with a post, remember to check the option “Notify Me of Follow-Up Replies via email”, marking this option, you will receive a message in your email box whenever there are answers from topic in question.

(additional question: its an old computer with 2gb ram, its better for me 32bit or 64bit version of ANTIX ?)

Always give preference to the 64-bit operating system, you will only have to use the 32-bit operating system if your processor is 32-bit. The punranger already explained why.

I maintain computers older than yours with antiX.

marcelocripe
(Original text in Brazilian Portuguese language)

thank you, i tried your advices, read come guide’s parts and tried some desktops, had a tour in this wonderful OS 🙂 i will try to adjust theese software problem with your help, if you can. look at the end of the post in $ inxi -Fz infos. 😉

punranger wrote:

Just noticed this: “(additional question: its an old computer with 2gb ram, its better for me 32bit or 64bit version of ANTIX ?)

If you have a 64-bit processor, use the 64-bit version. In my experience, there are no practical differences in speed and efficiency between 32 or 64 bit antiX. But many developers no longer offer 32-bit versions of their software, so you may run into problems finding updated versions of your favorite apps. Also, DRM protected streaming sites like Netflix won’t work on 32-bit systems.

and

PPC wrote:

giuzeta wrote:

Antix 22 32bit

If your computer has a 32bits CPU, you can’t install a 64bits OS, and you can’t probably use any chromium derived browser (at least not an up to date one). In my experience, Youtube is optimized to be streamed in Chromium or it’s derived browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, etc).
To play youtube videos, try Smtube and select a video resolution that plays well on your device – 360p should look good and play well on most existing computers.
You can try also using SeaMonkey browser – it sometimes gives better results on low powered computers than firefox-esr…

To improved performance, you can try, like stated in previous posts, install drivers for your hardware or even different kernels. From experience, since I still have a 32bits laptop- it works great, I use Seamonkey and an old version of Min Browser (it’s chromium derived) for browsing and Smtube to stream youtube. A very well configured mpv or vlc will probably allow you to watch even HD videos, but Xine media player, if it runs well on your device will probably provide the best results to play video files.

P.

thank you very much both, for it now i installed the 64gb version and its work, i have the impression (but can be only a impression) that it was smoother whit the 32bit version, but its ok, i will use the 64 for now… i will test the 32bit version only in the future for a test to compare eventually. I tried video players whit the direct web link, and they works good. I tried and installed Cromium and Mozilla, boths works but, in the entire system and in theese browser i notice a PROBLEM with graphics, in some moment the text become confused, bugged and pixeled when you pass on it with mouse, in some cases when change windows in the sistem you noticed a strange graphic effect, it’s difficult to explain, it’s like when in MS Windows you have problems with graphics drivers.

RJP wrote:

Sometimes the easiest way to get computer more powerful, is to clean all ventilation channels. If command sensors brings over 70 decrees Celsius, computer runs too hot.

thank you i cleaned a little, its ok 🙂

blur13 wrote:

And change the thermal paste.

thank you, for the moment i think is not necessary. i had to adjust many other things in software settings, with your team help, if you can 🙂

Bernd wrote:

At the beginning please show us your hardware
inxi -Fz
The easiest way to improve such a system is to install a SSD

thank you, at the end i will insert system information. for it in theese days i was buying something in Aliexpress and i had the idea to add the SSD for this old notebook, in this chinese shop they sell cheaps SSD (obviously and probably not quality items for this cheap price), and i think i want to try it, on of this for 10-15euros, 64gb is good the same for me, but i dont know what the model or the connection for this specific laptop… how to understand witch model to buy?
EXTRA QUESTION you think installing an ssd in a very old laptop (referred to the reduced maximum speed of somes mainboard features) will improve performances like for example buffering of a streaming whatching movies from the browser, speed opening web pages in the browser? or it will improve only the read writing speed ?? (obviously it will improve startup speed and trasfer files speed, but the general processor/ram power will improve in some ways? or it will suffer the bad limits of an old motherboards? Thank you

sybok wrote:

1) Since you mentioned drivers, installing some firmware-related packages (i.e. packages more suitable to your HW/system, such as ‘linux-firmware-nonfree’ etc) may help.
E.g. you can open terminal and run the following command:
apt-cache search firmware > FIRMWARE.txt
‘apt’ is a packaging utility in Debian-based systems (antiX is based on Debian), you search the cache (database) for ‘firmware’ and ‘>’ redirects the (standard) output to a file named ‘FIRMWARE.txt’.
You may open the file with editor of your preference and examine its content.
Similarly, you may search for ‘radeon’.
Beware: installing drivers may sometimes lead to undesired effects.

Search for intel suggests ‘intel-microcode’ might be worth a try if not already installed.
apt-cache search intel | grep -i intel > INTEL.txt

2) Streaming videos in modern browsers simply is CPU heavy; you can do the following to reduce the load:
2.A) Use add-ons to block some scripts, adds etc. which should reduce the clutter that would normally be eating up both CPU and RAM.
2.B) Try other browsers; e.g. some sites may be optimised for chromium-based browsers since Microsoft [MS Edge] and Google [Chrome], two big players, use those.
2.C) Tweak the browser settings.

Also, some people state that using another program/app, such as ‘mpv’ to stream from youtube, improves performance and their experience as @punranger has indicated by his advice.

3) You could consider upgrading CPU and/or RAM by buying a compatible second hand CPU/RAM-modules on some online outlets for a reasonable price.
Not sure what requirements and max. supported RAM is in case of your motherboard.
Unfortunately, it seems that 2GB RAM is max. you can get.
https://www.hwupgrade.it/forum/showthread.php?t=1336090
https://www.datamemorysystems.com/dms-memory/asustek-computer/a7cc-7005m.htm

4) I have never done the below and I mention this for the sake of completeness only.
If you are willing to dive deep into Linux and invest a *lot* of time, you can — at least in theory — re-compile some of the resource-heavy programs specifically on your HW. This could lead to a performance improvement since you compile on your specific 32-bit HW instead of on a more general 32-bit architecture (for which the packages you installed were built) where less optimisations can be made for the compiled program to work on all the target 32-bit systems.
The downsides are that you would have to do that whenever a package is upgraded, some packages are re-packed or built specifically for antiX without systemd and I have no idea what modifications were necessary.

tank you very much, i tried this way, whit terminal i created like output these 2 files FIRMWARE.txt and INTEL.txt with its list of drivers/software inside, but HOW TO INSTALL the one i choice?????
for example i think i can test some i found in that list, like for example in FIRMWARE.txt i am giving attention like yours advices, to “firmware-linux-nonfree”, “intel-microcode”, “firmware-amd-graphics” (that should be the driver to try for my video card ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1450, no?); and from the INTEL.txt file i see probably many kernels or software for kernels, i dont understand very well, “intel-microcode”, and many others… please can you give me a support in that? thank you 🙂
EDIT: now i searched for that, i did apt update, so i controlled in the synaptic pack panel and intel microcode and firmware amd graphic are already installed.. so i dont know what pack exactly i can try to install…

$ inxi -Fz
System:
  Kernel: 5.10.142-antix.2-amd64-smp arch: x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: IceWM
    v: 3.0.1 Distro: antiX-22_x64-full Grup Yorum 18 October 2022
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: A7C v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: A7C v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    BIOS: American Megatrends v: 205 date: 02/13/2007
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 36.6 Wh (81.5%) condition: 44.9/69.9 Wh (64.2%)
    volts: 14.9 min: 14.8
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Intel Core2 T5600 bits: 64 type: MCP cache:
    L2: 2 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1434 min/max: 996/1826 cores: 1: 1815 2: 1053
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD RV516/M64 [Mobility Radeon X1450] driver: radeon v: kernel
  Display: server: X.Org v: 1.20.11 driver: X: loaded: radeon
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa gpu: radeon resolution: 1440x900~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: ATI RV515 v: 2.1 Mesa 20.3.5
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  Device-2: Philips s SAA7131/SAA7133/SAA7135 Video Broadcast Decoder
    driver: saa7134
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.142-antix.2-amd64-smp running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network driver: iwl3945
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    driver: r8169
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: ASUSTek BT-183 Bluetooth 2.0+EDR adapter type: USB driver: btusb
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: down bt-service: running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 93.16 GiB used: 5.4 GiB (5.8%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HTS541610J9SA00 size: 93.16 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 29.36 GiB used: 5.4 GiB (18.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 1000 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    dev: /dev/sda4
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 141 Uptime: 9m Memory: 1.94 GiB used: 771.4 MiB (38.9%)
  Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.19

• This reply was modified 1 month ago by giuzeta.
• This reply was modified 1 month ago by giuzeta.

Trying for the first time linux on an old laptop.
I think working to improve performances on old machines is the best way to learn something new, and improve ourself.

[Member sybok]

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please can you give me a support in that?

Sorry, I know how to find the obvious candidates but since you mention (some of) these are already installed, I do not know.
Hopefully, the inxi-output will inspire others to provide some suggestions.

[Member madibi]

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Ciao e benvenuto sul forum.
Come hai gia potuto apprezzare quà c’è molta gente preparata, e soprattutto gentile.

Se il tuo pc ha 2 slot per la ram, io la aumenterei a 4 Gb (=2+2). A quel punto il tuo pc può durare agevolmente molti altri anni, e soprattutto evitare di usare la swap, cosa che a me capitava con un pc molto simile al tuo, prima del ram upgrade.

La SSD sicuramente migliora le prestazioni.

Meglio il 64 bit, così puoi usare Skype e vedere anche Netflix e non solo youtube.

Buona fortuma!
m
———————————–
Hi and welcome to the forum.
As you have already been able to appreciate, there are many well-prepared and above all kind people here.

If your pc has 2 ram slots, I would increase it up to 4 Gb (=2+2). At that point your pc can easily last many more years, and above all avoid using swap, which happened to me with a pc very similar to yours, before the ram upgrade.

The SSD definitely improves performance.

64 bit is better, so you can use Skype and also watch Netflix and not just youtube.

Good Luck! 🙂
m

[Member Xunzi_23]

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Hi Giuzeta,
Your harddisk, Hitachi model: HTS541610J9SA00 size: 93.16 GiB is one of the slowest SATA drives on
the planet.
You can get a big performance boost by replacing with a decent SSD.

Please do be careful buying SSD, Fitting a 64 GB disk is a real waste of money,
Slower, much slower than a 256 disk.
Not much storage, not much reserve space. Do not forget, Nand cells do not last forever.
Likely to forget data very quickly. Some tested very cheap chinese disks lost data in two weeks !.
And often NO Warranty.

My first choice would be
Silicon Power Model Ace A55 Improved.
Silicon Power SSD 256GB 3D NAND A55 SLC Cache Performance Boost 2,5 Zoll SATA III 7mm (0,28″) Interne SSD
16 Euro and warranty 3 years. Has a very good reputation.

I use an older disk of that size in my EEPC which has similar hardware specification to your device, it gives
a huge speed boost.

OK drives Warranty only as required by law.
Intenso 3813440 240GB SATA III High Performance Internal 2.5′ SSD
is 17 Euro. Warranty only as required by law.

Kingston A400 SSD Interne SSD 2.5″ SATA Rev 3.0, 240GB – SA400S37/240G
19 Euro 3 Year warranty.

In general: The longer the warranty the more confidence the manufacturer has in the product quality and endurance.

Browsers, I recommend LibreWolf and UngoogledChromium, both with uBlock. How to install has been described here
in the forum many times. Both are lighter than Google Chrome, Edge, (worst spyware, advertizement pushing) browser
and Firefox.

[Member giuzeta]

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thank you very much for your interest, i didn’t know that they have normal low prices like 18€… i thought it was moore expensive. i can pay to 20 euro whitout problem.
how to know what model is compatible whit my notebook, i mean the size, the connection to the motherboard, the kind of trasmission like IDE SATA I II III, how to know if my computer is compatible whit sata III like you adviced… sorry for that newbies question but i never changed an SSD in a notebook, and this notebook is veeery old so i have fear is not compatible whit modern SSD or connections.
i wait for your reply, thank you.

Trying for the first time linux on an old laptop.
I think working to improve performances on old machines is the best way to learn something new, and improve ourself.

[Member giuzeta]

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Hi, today i tested the notebook whit Google Chrome Browser, and it goes better with that, in general performance is better and faster, like charging and changing pages etc…

To confirm the persistence of my problem, that Antix os (and ubuntu in general i think) NOT MANAGE MY GRAPHIC CARD VERY WELL, i did continue doing some tests streaming film from the web, and resulted that in the case when chrome is standard setted to use the graphic card acceleration the video moves slow and jerky, and the cpu is more relaxed and fans go slowly; in the case i disable the graphic card acceleration in chrome, and only the cpu will work, the video goes better, smoother, but the processor work very hard all the time and fans work hard to cool it.

So the problem, i think, is that the graphic card can’t work good, can’t work like it can in windows, I DON’T know how to set his driver to work powerfully like in windows.

Graphics:
Device-1: AMD RV516/M64 [Mobility Radeon X1450] driver: radeon v: kernel
Display: server: X.Org v: 1.20.11 driver: X: loaded: radeon
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa gpu: radeon resolution: 1440×900~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: ATI RV515 v: 2.1 Mesa 20.3.5

Someone can help me finding the correct driver, or explaining to me if its necessary to change the kernel, or what can i do?
Thank you to the community.

Trying for the first time linux on an old laptop.
I think working to improve performances on old machines is the best way to learn something new, and improve ourself.

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