iB::Topic::Fastest dsl-version?

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Topic: Fastest dsl-version?, For 486/50, 20 RAM, 800 HDD

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Jens

Group: Members
Posts: 6
Joined: May 2005

Posted: May 14 2005,17:43

Hey,
I´ve currently installed DSL 1.0.1 on my old laptop (specs see topic description). In run this with 300 MB ext2, 300 MB swap and 200 MB for Windows 95.
My question: Although DSL is usable now (in comparison to the live-version), it´s somewhat slow anyway. Of course this is no surprise - but can I do anything about it?
Is a previous DSL-Version faster - or will they all be about the same?

And would more RAM help a lot? And how about more swap-space? (It´s all being used)

Regards
Jens

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Unregistered

Posted: May 22 2005,03:32

If all your swap space is being used, you definitely can improve you situation by simply getting more RAM if you can (486/50 you say? good luck.) In ideal situations, you should rarely see the swap space getting used at all.

cbagger01

Group: Members
Posts: 4264
Joined: Oct. 2003

Posted: May 22 2005,16:50

First step:

Get rid of the dockapps and the desktop icons. The dockapps can eat up to 1MB ram for each under certain circumstances.

Edit your lilo.conf file and add "noicons" to your append statement. Then rerun lilo to activate your changes.

Second step:

Choose the "Minimal" desktop style. It runs faster on older computers.

Third step:

If not already using framebuffer mode, try using framebuffer instead of Xvesa. An example framebuffer boot code is:

vga=788 (for 800x600x16bit)

and rerun xsetup.sh and choose xfbdev server

Why? xfbdev server is more RAM efficient than xvesa

Finally, Use the Opera.uci extension instead of Firefox. Much better performance. Dillo is still best for speed on most hardware, though.

Also, you could try some of the "failsafe" boot codes to reduce driver usage like: atapicd noscsi nosound nousb nofirewire noagp nopcmcia