[SOLVED] LXDE vs XP playing youtube on old Desktop

[Nippur]

I just finished installing LXDE on my parent´s old desktop, which I no longer use for myself.
It is dual boot with XP.

I expected youtube videos to play smoothly as I thought that LXDE used less resources than XP, but it plays as bad.It is as the video was playing in frames.

I understand that miracles can´t be done.
Did I expect too much?

Tarjeta gráfica   NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro  (32 MB)
Tipo de procesador   AMD Duron, 1000 MHz
Chipset de la Placa Base   VIA VT8363(A) Apollo KT133(A)
Memoria del Sistema   640 MB

Thx  

[Neal ManBear]

Perhaps an increase in RAM would help.

[T6]

flash doesn't depend on the system in use, it depends on the video driver and the video card, sometimes also uses ram but that is basically done/handled by firefox plugin container, also uses tons of cpu power, that bad is

in your case that video card is between old and mediocre, sorry to be this cruel/rude but that particular video card never had enough power to do much and linux won't hide all its defects(it has many) and since it has more than 11 years of existence it is time to replace it

this machine, if has a agp port, i would put a new video card, it is still possible to find new nvidia card that will work on agp4x without problems(if it has agp 8x even better but probably won't matter)

i remember some nvidia 7200 and some 8000 series working on older mainboards in agp ports at reasonable prices, sometimes you can find those, used at good prices

that cpu is slow too but should hold a couple years more, flash on linux uses lots of cpu, not only the video card

this mainboard possibly could use a atlhon 1.3 ghz without much effort from your part, also a very cheap replacement

be sure to disable hardware acceleration on flash, open youtube and on one of the videos right click and in the first tab disable it if enabled

if you are using one pc133 512mb module and one pc133 128mb module, change the 128 for another 512mb module, more ram won't be harmful

if it is ddr, it will be cheaper to upgrade

[Nippur]

Thx for the replies!

Is there any other Pclos environment more suitable for an older comp as this one? I don't need any effects of any type, but flash video would be nice if possible!
Looking forward to your info.
 

[aguila]

Will it run more fluently if you let it load completely before watching?

There is Minitube in the repos in the "special" section (have to add "special" to your repo) which seems to handle things better, but I'm not sure if it will run for you.

Tex had posted the reason for Minitube not being in the official repo, but that thread is gone.

I'm not at my PCLOS machine at the moment, so I can't check if Minitube made it to the official repos.

Another option might be Miro which now also can download youtube videos.

Give it a try.

[Nippur]

Will it run more fluently if you let it load completely before watching?

There is Minitube in the repos in the "special" section (have to add "special" to your repo) which seems to handle things better, but I'm not sure if it will run for you.

Tex had posted the reason for Minitube not being in the official repo, but that thread is gone.

I'm not at my PCLOS machine at the moment, so I can't check if Minitube made it to the official repos.

Another option might be Miro which now also can download youtube videos.

Give it a try.

Thx aguila.

I will try tomorrow and post. 

[parnote]

Nippur,

T6 is correct. There is more riding on your video card, driver and video memory that responsible for decent flash playback.

However, I have had slightly better luck playing flash videos under e17 on lightweight/older systems than with any other desktop environment, and I cannot explain why. This is on my test laptop that previously had Phoenix, then PCLinuxOS-LXDE, and now PCLinuxOS-e17 Lite.

So e17 may be worth a try.

parnote

[uncleV]

Nippur,
does flash run well from the LiveCD?

[longtom]

To throw in my 2 cents - I download the flash and play it with my internal player - works a lot better for me on old hardware.

[Neal ManBear]

One thing that might cause an issue is if a lot of people connecting to youtube and playing the same video. The more that connect, the slower the buffering. In such a case, let the video complete its buffering, and when it has finished, replay it.

[Nippur]

I have decided to also try xfce as I read that it is suitable for old hardware.
I will report 

[Crow]

Thx for the replies!

Is there any other Pclos environment more suitable for an older comp as this one? I don't need any effects of any type, but flash video would be nice if possible!
Looking forward to your info.
 

Just downloaded this and will try it at some point in this week  http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,84400.0.html  maybe is what you are looking for.

Just remember the "testing" word

[Nippur]

Thx for the replies!

Is there any other Pclos environment more suitable for an older comp as this one? I don't need any effects of any type, but flash video would be nice if possible!
Looking forward to your info.
 

Just downloaded this and will try it at some point in this week  http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,84400.0.html  maybe is what you are looking for.

Just remember the "testing" word

Thx. 

I've benn checking it and it looks a bit difficult for me.I am more into GUI.
I will try the solutions above and also check Phoenix.Whatever runs best will stay 

[smurfslover]

If you want light and beatiful at the same time and a desktop that is completely modular, configurable and themable try e17, especially the e17-light version as the kde apps on the full version need much better hardware. I've installed lxde for my kids on the e17 light

Nippur,

T6 is correct. There is more riding on your video card, driver and video memory that responsible for decent flash playback.

However, I have had slightly better luck playing flash videos under e17 on lightweight/older systems than with any other desktop environment, and I cannot explain why. This is on my test laptop that previously had Phoenix, then PCLinuxOS-LXDE, and now PCLinuxOS-e17 Lite.

So e17 may be worth a try.

parnote

+1

[Nippur]

why are the ram requirements higher for e17 than xfce and lxde?
I see this on the download section of the site.