Complete Linux Novice needs help.

[ceedy]

Please be gentle with me as being a long time windoze user ,am finding this linux stuff is completely alien to me ..

But Currently trying to resurrect an old ACER ES1 with a bit more zip..

I've created a number of differing Bootable USB's with multiple Mint versions to trid to get the Acer going.

All the USB's work perfectly, and I can run direct from USB in quite acceptable boot times or install on the Acer and it works really well ( mostly ) ..

Problem 1 ... using most later versions the Acer boots and runs really well from the USB, it installs perfectly too, but on reboot it takes an age to get to
the desktop,probably in the order of approaching 5 minutes.

But once there the machine runs perfectly.

Been searching about, is this a Kernel issue ? .. mind you i've no idea how to make changes here

problem 2...whilst trying all these versions, I got down to around Vers 18, , again this installs and boots ok , BUT...during the install I select boot automatically and set a password. and when it reboots it asks for a password then will not accept the one I set ?

Mind you if I can sort out the later versions this won't matter anyhow .

Any Gently assistance would be greatly appreciated .

ta Chris

[gittiest personITW]

Hi,
Welcome to the forums.

For your Acer, I would use Mint 19.3 Xfce. It should run quite nicely.

If you install that and let us know how you get on, then we can go from there.
https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=274

Here is an excellent page that is indispensible.
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... t.html#ID8

[ceedy]

v19.3 64bit all installed ,everything works well .

The only area where it needs a tweak is the Start up time , its around 3.5 mins from the bios screen.

Quite a bit longer than runnning from the live USB .

Shutdown is only 4-5 seconds so no problem in that area

Chris ..

[lsemmens]

Open a terminal window (DOS prompt in Windwoes speak) and enter this command: systemd-analyze blame

Copy and paste the results back here and someone will be able to assist you in what is causing your slowdown and what can be done about it.

[ceedy]

systemd-analyze blame...

3.191s dev-mmcblk1p1.device
1.374s udisks2.service
1.136s ModemManager.service
1.112s networkd-dispatcher.service
941ms apparmor.service
928ms ubuntu-system-adjustments.service
926ms accounts-daemon.service
856ms NetworkManager.service
840ms lightdm.service
816ms plymouth-quit-wait.service
816ms avahi-daemon.service
751ms thermald.service
719ms systemd-rfkill.service
668ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
659ms hddtemp.service
641ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
610ms networking.service
587ms dns-clean.service
568ms kerneloops.service
564ms speech-dispatcher.service
558ms keyboard-setup.service
540ms systemd-logind.service
492ms grub-common.service
373ms wpa_supplicant.service
359ms systemd-journald.service
308ms lvm2-monitor.service
305ms upower.service
270ms gpu-manager.service
254ms swapfile.swap
218ms plymouth-read-write.service
202ms systemd-udevd.service
190ms lm-sensors.service
180ms pppd-dns.service
174ms systemd-modules-load.service
172ms console-setup.service
155ms plymouth-start.service
149ms systemd-journal-flush.service
144ms user@1000.service
140ms systemd-sysctl.service
114ms systemd-resolved.service
107ms polkit.service
96ms sys-kernel-debug.mount
96ms dev-mqueue.mount
95ms ntp.service
92ms blk-availability.service
92ms ufw.service
87ms dev-hugepages.mount
82ms kmod-static-nodes.service
75ms rsyslog.service
73ms systemd-remount-fs.service
67ms finalrd.service
58ms flatpak-system-helper.service
53ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
45ms sys-kernel-config.mount
40ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount
39ms bluetooth.service
35ms systemd-user-sessions.service
31ms systemd-backlight@backlight:intel_backlight.service
28ms systemd-random-seed.service
24ms openvpn.service
20ms setvtrgb.service
20ms systemd-update-utmp.service
18ms systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service
15ms ureadahead-stop.service
15ms rtkit-daemon.service

Chris

[bc1x]

Did you verify the .iso's before installing?

[Pierre]

he wouldn't have been able to complete the Installation, if the ISO was bad ..


it may also be, that the HDD is a bit slow, but that's also hard to tell, from those figures.

so, type this into Terminal:

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inxi -Fxz

and copy the result, back here, on your reply.

[trytip]

it may also be, that the HDD is a bit slow, but that's also hard to tell, from those figures.

3.191s dev-mmcblk1p1.device i believe this should be his drive but that's an unfamiliar dev- to me
@ceedy
boot a few times and keep count of this dev- time. BTW when you do the systemd-analyze blame keep hitting ENTER until the WHOLE output shows

[DAMIEN1307]

"dev-mmcblk1p1.device", this is usually the mounting process of an SD card...curious...DAMIEN

[DAMIEN1307]

This is a List of Items to Disable from Start-Up: just copy and paste commands one at a time into your terminal and follow the prompts that are given:

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sudo systemctl disable ModemManager.service

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sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager-wait-online.service

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sudo systemctl disable pppd-dns.service

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sudo systemctl disable lvm2-monitor

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sudo systemctl stop avahi-daemon.service

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sudo systemctl disable avahi-daemon.service

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sudo systemctl mask avahi-daemon.service

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sudo systemctl mask plymouth-quit-wait.service

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sudo systemctl mask postfix.service

Then re-boot for changes to take effect"

then re-test boot time...

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systemd-analyze

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systemd-analyze critical-chain

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systemd-analyze blame

in order to see if any other culprits appear and copy and paste the results to post back here.

You may not have all of these listed in your particular start-up but these are usually the main culprits in a slow booting system...DAMIEN

[ceedy]

inxi -Fxz


System:
Host: john-Aspire-ES1-111M Kernel: 5.3.0-51-generic x86_64 bits: 64
compiler: gcc v: 7.5.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.1 Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia
base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Acer product: Aspire ES1-111M v: V1.03
serial: <filter>
Mobo: Acer model: R2 v: Type2 - A01 Board Version serial: <filter>
UEFI [Legacy]: Insyde v: 1.03 date: 07/22/2014
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 26.7 Wh condition: 26.7/36.7 Wh (73%)
model: LGC AC14B18J status: Full
CPU:
Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Celeron N2840 bits: 64 type: MCP
arch: Silvermont rev: 8 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 8663
Speed: 500 MHz min/max: 500/2582 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 507 2: 524
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.5 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
resolution: 1366x768~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Bay Trail v: 4.2 Mesa 19.2.8
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series High Definition Audio
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.3.0-51-generic
Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Foxconn driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 02:00.0
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 1000
bus ID: 03:00.0
IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 29.12 GiB used: 8.14 GiB (28.0%)
ID-1: /dev/mmcblk1 model: HBG4e size: 29.12 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 28.54 GiB used: 8.14 GiB (28.5%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/mmcblk1p1
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 34.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 163 Uptime: 2h 16m Memory: 1.83 GiB used: 679.7 MiB (36.3%)
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.5.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.20
inxi: 3.0.32
john@john-Aspire-ES1-111M:~$



Chris

[DAMIEN1307]

Hi chris...I see that you have provided your inxi -Fxz, Did you see my list of things to disable at boot time??? If you have done so, can you provide the systemd readout instructions i asked for at the end of that post?...then we can see where we are and where we need to go from there...DAMIEN

[ceedy]

working through your list at the moment,

C

[AndyMH]

Looks like you are booting from an SD card. They are very slow. While some of the changes suggested will improve matters somewhat, I don't think you will see a huge improvement.

EDIT - quick look on the web, looks like that model has a 500GB HDD?

[DAMIEN1307]

Hi andy...

"dev-mmcblk1p1.device", this is usually the mounting process of an SD card...curious...DAMIEN

Yea...i pretty much thought the same as i had previously posted that idea of the SD card a couple of posts before but wanted to see him disable the other startups before tackling that issue since i see he using an intel atom processor thats is a dual core etc. and he will need all the advantage he can get...its good that the OP installed XFCE though since cinnamon desktop would not be able to get out of its own way with those specs...DAMIEN

EDIT...

Drives:
Local Storage: total: 29.12 GiB used: 8.14 GiB (28.0%)
ID-1: /dev/mmcblk1 model: HBG4e size: 29.12 GiB
Partition:

I really do not know what to make of this SD boot instead of an actual HDD or SDD Andy, first i have seen things done this way...maybe you can help with this particular issue.

[AndyMH]

My bad. Looked up the laptop again, this time correctly. It's one of those low end laptops with eMMC storage and an SD card slot. I don't know if the OP has installed mint to the internal storage or to an SD card - mint might be reading the eMMC as an SD? They might still have win on the eMMC, only they can say.

[Koning Mint]

there should be a setting in your bios that is called :

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AHCI

.

Do you see that?

[bc1x]

he wouldn't have been able to complete the Installation, if the ISO was bad ..

The first time I installed 17.1, after login; the corrupted .iso caused my home folder to open in 6-7 windows simultaneously & the Desktop to be pixelated. Since then I've learned to verify the .iso.

The system information command was a good idea, however.

Found this old webpage about fixing slow startups by changing kernels, which would not solve the OP's problem.

If indeed 19.3 Xfce exists only on the SD card & the OP needs to install it to his 32 GB SSD (eMMC), here is a guide. The folks at that website generally offer good advice, but the tutorial is not for the faint-hearted.

[Pierre]

Yeah, well I've also got an Lenovo 100s notebook, with similar specifications,
& that also has an 32Gb eMMC hard-card & an SD card reader, too.
- - so I've inserted another 32Gb sd card into that reader as the D: drive ..
YEP - - it still does run win-10 on it, as it's my PlayTime machine.

the OP needs to install it to his 32 GB SSD (eMMC) - - as suggested,
& if that is still possible, to redo.

[BG405]

I have an ES1 with one of those eMMC things. They didn't even bother to fit a SATA connector on the board (there is provision for one). I'd forgotten how slow the boot-up is as it's left on all the time, although it performs OK once it's up and running. That has LM18.2 KDE 64-Bit & I'm running F@H on it.