Making DSL faster

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: Making DSL faster
started by: ivangrozny

Posted by ivangrozny on Jan. 15 2006,19:46

I did a hd install of dsl 2.1 onto my crappy dell computer.
Everything works pretty well, but the problem is, its a horirbly old k6 processor on a dell mobo, and 32 mb of ram =( i cant
run much very fast at all and im new to linux, what programs
should i try to run? Im thinking all i can use this comp is web surfing and mabey a little typing for something or another.
For some reason there isnt any swap space
set up either, how would i go about doing this, and is there
any other tips anyone can offer for speeding it up?

Posted by larkl on Jan. 15 2006,23:08

Well,

You need to set up a partition as swap and use mkswap (instead of mke2fs) on it. I found the opera browser to be the best trade-off between speed and functionality on my 32M PC. Some like Dillo, Firefox is going to be like molasses.

Posted by ivangrozny on Jan. 16 2006,02:48

Alright I've set my swap up, any
other tips/tricks?

Posted by mikshaw on Jan. 16 2006,03:32

Use a light fluxbox theme with no background image, or use jwm (i believe it's lighter than flux).
Use console applications when you can...nano or vim for text editing instead of Beaver or Ted, mc or shell commands instead of emelfm for file management, mpg321 instead of xmms for mp3s.
Shut off the apps that run automatically...fluxter, torsmo, dockapps.
Set up another partition for a persistent home and/or opt to free up a little memory.
If it's still slow, consider installing a "standard" HD system which will not put the system in ram.
If it's still slow, think about getting comfortable running without a graphical system. Unlike Windows, Linux can do everything in text mode that it can do in X (might need some extra apps).

Posted by ivangrozny on Jan. 16 2006,19:34

How do i edit the xinit to put on fluxbox, right now im in some weird kind of theme, not sure what it is but it seems fairly light. It wont let me edit the xinit, it comes up wiht all these weird characters. And im pretty sure im in root mode when trying to open it. AlsoI coudlnt find anywheres to download JWM.

Posted by mikshaw on Jan. 16 2006,20:43

I think you're trying to edit the "xinit" executable...that would be bad, especially if you're root. It will break x completely. The rc file is /home/dsl/.xinitrc (which should be edited as dsl, not root), but it doesn't have anything to do with themes. Fluxbox themes (styles) are chosen through the fluxbox menu.

JWM is already in DSL 2.x. You can get to it two ways:
1) Use the "Switch to jwm" fluxbox menu item
2) Edit /home/dsl/.desktop

Posted by ivangrozny on Jan. 16 2006,20:48

K, im in JWM now, how do i shut off apps that run automatically?

Posted by mikshaw on Jan. 16 2006,21:06

Ah...that's where /home/dsl/.xinitrc comes into play. If you're in emelfm, you'll need to press the "H" button, or press Ctrl+h, to show hidden files.

Add a # to the beginning of any line you want to disable.

In the DSL 2.1 .xinitrc file (an unmodified one), the lines below start various applications....

Lines 14-18 loads the desktop icons.
Line 19 starts Dillo (the web browser displaying "Getting started").
Line 20 starts Torsmo (the system monitor in the top right of the desktop).
Line 23 starts Fluxter (the desktop pager), if you are using Fluxbox.
Lines 24-25 starts the mixer/mount apps, if you are using Fluxbox.