TP-Link USB Wireless

[Georgetoon]

Okay, this is a bit weird.  i have a mouse which is plugged into USB.  TP-Link is also USB.  it appears when the TP-Link is accessing the internet, my mouse slows and other activity slows.  I even see System Activity window report "disk sleeping" at some points for certain apps like Chrome, Clementine, and an overall lag.  not too snappy.  I installed the PAE kernel.

Turning off TP-Link appears to resolve the issue but I'm not entirely convinced.   perjhaps if i get a mouse adapter?  instead of plugging my mouse into USSB, get an adapter and plug into the mouse control port (next to the keyboard port)

Update -- i ofund this information at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=787553

Ok finally fixed my issue, I tried installing new nvidia drivers but that didn't help. It turned out to be the driver for my USB Wifi Dongle, I was using a TPLink WN321G. Instead of using the default ubuntu drivers, I used the windows driver thru ndiswrapper... no more lag now

Not sure how this fix applies to PCLinuxOS.  Maybe change the drivers?

[DeBaas]

Try your mouse (or WiFi) on the other USB ports.
I think the mouse is the easyest way

[Georgetoon]

Try your mouse (or WiFi) on the other USB ports.
I think the mouse is the easyest way

I tired it on another port with not much improvement.  I'l keep switching it around and get a USB to PS2 adapter.

[Georgetoon]

I'm beginning to think that e en though the TP-Link is a nice slution, the USB on this system is to slow and ad to many devices and drives hooked in.

Probably would be better to get a wireless card.  Still going to try the mouse adapter first.

[Georgetoon]

Okay, I just checked the system again.  Chromium launches and opens about five tabs. this has never been a problem before. but, now, when I look at system activity, it tells me that various processes are going into "disk sleep."  I'm thinking it may be a memory issue.

So, in PCC i checked hardware and found for memory:

Installed size: ‎8192 MB (Double-bank Connection)

Enabled Size: ‎8192 MB (Double-bank Connection)

I also issued free -m

free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          1004        911         92          0         40        356
-/+ buffers/cache:        515        489
Swap:         8973        356       8617

The copmmand Free -g givdes me 0.

I'm confused.  It says I have 8 gigs of memory...so, if this is so, is my swap is too small?

[Just17]

That shows you have 1GB memory in use ......

free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          1004        911         92          0         40        356

[Georgetoon]

That shows you have 1GB memory in use ......

free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          1004        911         92          0         40        356

Yes, physically opened the box and sure enough.  I have 1 gig.  (good thing, too.   Dusty in there...cleaned it out a bit.)

So, I snapped a few pics with my tablet and off to MicroCenter I'll go tomorrow.  Will 4 gigs do the job you think with 8 gigs for swap?

[Georgetoon]

I'm looking at the memory module and doing some research.  From what I can see, it's DDR2-400.  Can I go with DDR2-800?  Or will that make things slower due a compatibility issue?  Seems to me onboad speed of mmory might help things along.  Not sure. 

[Georgetoon]

Wel, Google is pretty amazing.  I'm ding some research on Dimms, etc and decidd to look at he specs on the motherboard inside this machine. 

i found this:
http://www.memorystock.com/memory/JetwayK8M8MSR2VC.html

Memory Upgrade for Jetway K8M8MSR2-VC Motherboard, the Jetway K8M8MSR2-VC Motherboard takes the PC3200 DDR SDRAM DIMMs Memory Type, and comes installed with 0 MB (removable) of Memory. You can upgrade your Jetway K8M8MSR2-VC Motherboard to up to a maximum of 2.0 GB Memory, the system has 2 sockets to install Memory, already with 0 MB (removable) standard Memory installed. For best Motherboard performance use the maximum amount of allowed Memory per slot for your  Motherboard.
Choose the following Memory Upgrade for Jetway K8M8MSR2-VC Motherboard.

So, that's it.  I can't go above 2 gigs.  I'll buy an extra 1 gig of the DDR2-400.  If the memory is no longer available, I may have to use DDR2-800, although my research tells me it may clock at 667 max since I'm running a Sempron processor.

Based on all this, I'll make a go of it as best I can and see how performance improves or not.  (Then again, I did install LXDE.) 

But, I may end up giving linpc.us a call. I like KDE.

[Just17]

The reason for the slowness of response with mouse etc is likely the specs of the machine ....  slow processor, slow motherboard, slow memory etc

BTW .....  most wireless dongles these days require USB v2 ports to operate correctly.
I would try that dongle in a powered hub to see if things improved.


Also something you were doing caused the Swap space to be used, although you have 1GB installed memory and the OS is LXDE.

I think you should look to see what is eating up resources.

IIRC, using a memory stick that is capable of running faster than required usually means the memory stick gets throttled back. Just make sure it is compatible memory.

I often use   crucial.com    to verify memory type etc ....  even if I buy elsewhere  

[Georgetoon]

The reason for the slowness of response with mouse etc is likely the specs of the machine ....  slow processor, slow motherboard, slow memory etc

BTW .....  most wireless dongles these days require USB v2 ports to operate correctly.
I would try that dongle in a powered hub to see if things improved.


Also something you were doing caused the Swap space to be used, although you have 1GB installed memory and the OS is LXDE.

I think you should look to see what is eating up resources.

IIRC, using a memory stick that is capable of running faster than required usually means the memory stick gets throttled back. Just make sure it is compatible memory.

I often use   crucial.com    to verify memory type etc ....  even if I buy elsewhere  

Thanks for this.

Also something you were doing caused the Swap space to be used, although you have 1GB installed memory and the OS is LXDE.

Just to clarify, I'm running KDE. But I agree, something may be eating up swap. 

I don't have the system in front  of me, but it's An AMD Sempron processor running at about 2.2 or 2.4. 

The last version of PCLinuxOS running on that system was 2009.  And that was with KDE 3.5.  Ran fine.  No problems.  Then again, no desktop effects and no Chromium running half dozen tabbed pages

I just checked my records and it appears I purchased this system back in 2006. It also booted and ran WinXP on a separate drive.  Again, no problems.

I'm going to plug in the additional gig of RAM and see what happens.  Although I'm running KDE, I do have LXDE installed. Maybe the additional memory and/or running LXDE will clear the problem.

Will report when I get it back up and running.

[Just17]

I would expect LXDE to be happy with the 1GB

KDE will do better with 2GB

[Georgetoon]

I would expect LXDE to be happy with the 1GB

KDE will do better with 2GB

Well, I'm picking up extra memory today. Again, limited to 2 gigs due to motherboard specs.  Hoping 2 gigs smooths things out in KDE. LXDE is waiting in the wings.

[DeBaas]

Because you love KDE
Advice:
Install PCLinuxOS 2012.12 KDE
after full update install
lxde-common

Now you can switch between both to check speed and behaviour.

If LXDE is your final choice reinstall with the PCLinuxOS 2012.12 LXDE

2 LXDE tips for missing search and doubleclick maximize on the top window bar:
install catfish as search program
open obconf and change the mouse doubleclick time from 200 to 500

[Georgetoon]

Because you love KDE
Advice:
Install PCLinuxOS 2012.12 KDE
after full update install
lxde-common

Now you can switch between both to check speed and behaviour.

If LXDE is your final choice reinstall with the PCLinuxOS 2012.12 LXDE

2 LXDE tips for missing search and doubleclick maximize on the top window bar:
install catfish as search program
open obconf and change the mouse doubleclick time from 200 to 500

Tanks!:) I've got those in place. And thanks for the LXDE tips.