Single Core AMD... SMP PREEMPT BFS ...yes? no? maybe?

[OmagicQ]

Hi,
I'm running this now "Linux localhost 2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs #1 SMP PREEMPT Sun May 30 02:37:14 CDT 2010 i686 AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2200+ GNU/Linux"

1) I'm not sure what SMP or PREEMPT is, 2) if they are speeding or slowing my system, and 3) whether the kernel with the BFS scheduler makes any difference since I'm using an old single core AMD system.

I'm trying to tweak my system for the best performance and I would appreciate some guidance. I have the KDE, GNOME and LXDE flavors of PCLOS ready to go if I need to reinstall.

Thanks.

[T6]

you don't need to reinstall to have all that 4 desktops, i have them on one install, all you need is synaptic and task-gnome, kde, lxde between others

there is the basic kernel, bfs, pae and a64, apart from the basic one those add extra settings that most users won't find useful, as a example the pae will need a pae compatible cpu and your athlon with almost 10 years(or less maybe?) won't work with it

the a64 is for cpus with 64 bit extensions but won't make your installation 64 bit, only will use some specific features of 64 bit cpus, i am using one of those but just testing, i had kernel panics with a older version

the bfs as you can read in synaptic has some features added but is very specific, very few people mention that uses it and to be honest this is all i could find explaining 

http://ck.kolivas.org/patches/bfs/bfs-faq.txt

in general terms, if you have older kernel and not much ram the basic kernel, usually called vanilla is your best option

if you have time you can install all 4 kernels and boot from each one a couple of times(first time it installs some modules, 3 or 5 minutes first time for each new kernel, only the first time), if one doesn't work restart machine and select another to see how system behaves and if you see improvements on boot speed and other details

in general, the best you can do to improve performance is add more ram, use a fast hard disk and disable the services you don't need in pcc but this won't help you alot in most circumstances, just will speed up boot time

[uncleV]

I'm on a similar like OPs HW at one of my machines and installed PCLOS with .bfs kernel.

if you have time you can install all 4 kernels and boot from each one a couple of times(first time it installs some modules, 3 or 5 minutes first time for each new kernel, only the first time), if one doesn't work restart machine and select another to see how system behaves and if you see improvements on boot speed and other details

How do I install/boot different kernels?

[Was_Just19]

I'm on a similar like OPs HW at one of my machines and installed PCLOS with .bfs kernel.

if you have time you can install all 4 kernels and boot from each one a couple of times(first time it installs some modules, 3 or 5 minutes first time for each new kernel, only the first time), if one doesn't work restart machine and select another to see how system behaves and if you see improvements on boot speed and other details

How do I install/boot different kernels?

Like all other packages ........  Make the selection in Synaptic   

[uncleV]

So there's no difference for installing kernel.

Well, on boot...
You said

if one doesn't work restart machine and select another

Does it mean I'll have a choice of different kernels to boot on the splash screen?

[Was_Just19]

So there's no difference for installing kernel.

Well, on boot...
You said

if one doesn't work restart machine and select another

Does it mean I'll have a choice of different kernels to boot on the splash screen?

Yes until you select to uninstall a kernel you no longer wish to have installed .....  again using Synaptic.
Do NOT attempt to uninstall a kernel you are presently using.

[T6]

yes, they will be listed with the older one, windows if you have it and if you haven't removed failsafe or the name it has now(can't remember)

[uncleV]

Thank both you very much, will try it