Ubuntu 14.04 performance

Ecco

Ecco

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Hi all,

I have an Asus EEE1000H netbook. Stock standard, 1 Gb ram, Intel Atom N270 processor.

I installed Ubuntu alongside windows xp, in a 30 Gb partition.

I am finding the system really sluggish - more so then windows - which i thought it would outperform. Is this to be expected?

Any advise on what i could possible change to the configuration to really perk up the performance?

Please keep in mind i am a complete ubuntu noob.

Thanks
 
I would recommend you use a window manager other than Unity (the one that comes with ubuntu) or gnome3.
Xfce is very light and fast. You can install it by opening a terminal and running the following :
sudo apt-get install xfce4
Click to expand...
Restart and select XFCE at the login screen.
If you don't like it, you can always use unity again, so no risks.
 
EviLMasH said:
I would recommend you use a window manager other than Unity (the one that comes with ubuntu) or gnome3.
Xfce is very light and fast. You can install it by opening a terminal and running the following :

Restart and select XFCE at the login screen.
If you don't like it, you can always use unity again, so no risks.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that. Will definitely try it :)
 
I notice the CPU is always being hogged, even fresh after a reboot, and if I haven't run any programmes.

Any way I can see what's hogging the CPU?
 
Get rid of ubuntu and rather install xubuntu. ubuntu is too much for that hardware.
 
ponder said:
Get rid of ubuntu and rather install xubuntu. ubuntu is too much for that hardware.
Click to expand...

I am a noob so bear with me. Aren't these the same with different UI's? If so can I just change the UI, without having to do a fresh installation?
 
Another vote for Xubuntu. Even cinnamon (mint) will be a bit heavy on that hardware.
 
Ecco said:
I am a noob so bear with me. Aren't these the same with different UI's? If so can I just change the UI, without having to do a fresh installation?
Click to expand...

Yes you can but you end up with all the underlying crud you don't need and it will be updated every time you update your system so you will have bigger updates as well. A clean install is better imho.

You can install the xubuntu de environment with sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop for example which adds everything that comes with xubuntu, same can be done with lubuntu, kubuntu etc instead of just installing the DE ie. sudo apt-get install xfce. Try these to test (not kde) but I suggest you rather do a clean install of the one you end up choosing.

As suggested also have a look at Linux Mint, they do some nice stuff as well and it's based on Ubuntu. They have mate, cinnamon & xfce versions.
 
Last edited:
Oh by DE you mean Desktop environment - ie Gnome, Unity etc.
 
Nuro said:
Another vote for Xubuntu. Even cinnamon (mint) will be a bit heavy on that hardware.
Click to expand...

+1 Cinnamon would not be ideal, Mate should be OK while I would personally go for their xfce edition.
 
Have a look at Elementary OS.

Runs very well on my similarly specced machine.
 
Ancalagon said:
Oh by DE you mean Desktop environment - ie Gnome, Unity etc.
Click to expand...

I've seen mention of the terms UI, Window Manager and DE being incorrectly used here and they are not the same thing. Bit confusing.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Have a look at Elementary OS.

Runs very well on my similarly specced machine.
Click to expand...

Is Isis out yet (based on Ubuntu 14.04)? If not I would rather wait for Isis than use Luna. Must say Isis looks gorgeous!
 
I don't think it's out in final stable build.

Then again their Betas have always been pretty solid.

Besides it's just an upgrade away and Luna is great.
 
ponder said:
Yes you can but you end up with all the underlying crud you don't need and it will be updated every time you update your system so you will have bigger updates as well. A clean install is better imho.

You can install the xubuntu de environment with sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop for example which adds everything that comes with xubuntu, same can be done with lubuntu, kubuntu etc instead of just installing the DE ie. sudo apt-get install xfce. Try these to test (not kde) but I suggest you rather do a clean install of the one you end up choosing.
Click to expand...
So if you want to try Xubuntu (XFCE):
Code: 
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
Similarly, if you want to try Lubuntu (LXDE)
Code: 
sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop
Once you are happy that you no longer want the Unity desktop:
Code: 
sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get autoremove
This should get rid of all the Unity packages you no longer need.
 
ginggs said:
This should get rid of all the Unity packages you no longer need.
Click to expand...

As far as I know that does not completely clean things like it did in the old days. Using tasksel might be a better option.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the help here guys. I installed Xubuntu last night and the performance is much better. I actually like the UI more then Unity.

I have one issue still, there is no wifi or volume indicate on the panel in Xubuntu - any suggestions?

Otherwise so far so good.
 
The first (i.e. easiest) thing to try is right clicking on the panel across the top of the screen. Select "Add New Items". Look through the list and select "Indicator Plugin".
 
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