How To Clean Out Unwanted/Unused Apps (SOLVED)

[KamenRiderNecro]

I am running Mint 18.1 Cinnamon and have noticed as of recently it's taking slightly longer to boot up than it used to, and I'm suspecting that it's due to apps I don't use that I thought I had to update. A lot of stuff having to do with things I just don't do on my system (such as video and photo editing, for example). What is a good safe terminal based way to clear my system of things I don't need or use on 18.1?

[revian]

I'm not a Linux expert, but I do know a fair bit about it. How would unused apps have anything to do with slowing a system over time? It seems to me that this would involve the accumulated cache of apps that you actually use rather than apps that are never opened.

[KamenRiderNecro]

I'm not a Linux expert, but I do know a fair bit about it. How would unused apps have anything to do with slowing a system over time? It seems to me that this would involve the accumulated cache of apps that you actually use rather than apps that are never opened.

Fair enough--I suppose then the question then is how to clean that cache safely?

[revian]

I'm not a Linux expert, but I do know a fair bit about it. How would unused apps have anything to do with slowing a system over time? It seems to me that this would involve the accumulated cache of apps that you actually use rather than apps that are never opened.

Fair enough--I suppose then the question then is how to clean that cache safely?

Safely? I don't know. I would love to learn how to do that and then write a nice, safe, bash script to run every 30 days or so to clean things up.

What I currently do, and this is likely the extreme end of the available options, is to do a fresh install every 6 months. Thereafter, only copy back folders in $HOME that are vital; things like .mozilla, .thunderbird, etc. I don't even bother backing up ~/.cache or ~/.thumbnails, etc.. stuff that doesn't have any bearing on backups to begin with. This will result in a clean and fast system. It's a nice one-day project, though I have been able to bring the total project time down to about an hour.

But, again, most users aren't willing to take such an invasive path every 6 months.

[Flemur]

I am running Mint 18.1 Cinnamon and have noticed as of recently it's taking slightly longer to boot up than it used to,

How much is "slightly"?

and I'm suspecting that it's due to apps I don't use that I thought I had to update. A lot of stuff having to do with things I just don't do on my system (such as video and photo editing, for example).

That shouldn't slow down your booting. Unlike many windows programs, linux programs typically don't add a bunch of junk to your boot process.

To check the boot speed try

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systemd-analyze blame

and

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dmesg

What is a good safe terminal based way to clear my system of things I don't need or use on 18.1?

Why terminal? Check your "startup" or "session and startup" programs - there's a GUI program in the menus somewhere.

Clearing cache and such is nice but it doesn't/shouldn't affect your boot speed.

[KamenRiderNecro]

I am running Mint 18.1 Cinnamon and have noticed as of recently it's taking slightly longer to boot up than it used to,

How much is "slightly"?

and I'm suspecting that it's due to apps I don't use that I thought I had to update. A lot of stuff having to do with things I just don't do on my system (such as video and photo editing, for example).

That shouldn't slow down your booting. Unlike a lot of windows programs, linux programs typically don't add a bunch of junk to your boot process.

To check the boot speed try

Code: Select all

systemd-analyze blame

and

Code: Select all

dmesg

What is a good safe terminal based way to clear my system of things I don't need or use on 18.1?

Why terminal? Check your "startup" or "session and startup" programs - there's a GUI program in the menus somewhere.

Thank you for the input--here's what I got when I ran the first command:

9.691s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
454ms apt-daily.service
343ms apt-daily-upgrade.service
324ms lvm2-monitor.service
321ms dev-sda1.device
195ms networking.service
157ms loadcpufreq.service
139ms NetworkManager.service
129ms ModemManager.service
127ms accounts-daemon.service
123ms ufw.service
117ms grub-common.service
112ms thermald.service
94ms virtualbox-guest-utils.service
94ms systemd-logind.service
91ms irqbalance.service
71ms ondemand.service
70ms speech-dispatcher.service
66ms keyboard-setup.service
57ms systemd-update-utmp.service
53ms console-setup.service
47ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
44ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
42ms iio-sensor-proxy.service

I ran the second command and got a HUGE block of script that I think I'd be better off having a person next to me reading it! Unless you maybe want me to DM it your way?

[revian]

I am running Mint 18.1 Cinnamon and have noticed as of recently it's taking slightly longer to boot up than it used to, and I'm suspecting that it's due to apps I don't use that I thought I had to update. A lot of stuff having to do with things I just don't do on my system (such as video and photo editing, for example). What is a good safe terminal based way to clear my system of things I don't need or use on 18.1?

Please accept my apologies, I must have missed the word "boot" in reading this post. I was under the impression you were referring to overall system sluggishness. My recent post in this thread would not be of any help in the boot department.

I haven't had my coffee today

[KamenRiderNecro]

I am running Mint 18.1 Cinnamon and have noticed as of recently it's taking slightly longer to boot up than it used to, and I'm suspecting that it's due to apps I don't use that I thought I had to update. A lot of stuff having to do with things I just don't do on my system (such as video and photo editing, for example). What is a good safe terminal based way to clear my system of things I don't need or use on 18.1?

Please accept my apologies, I must have missed the word "boot" in reading this post. I was under the impression you were referring to overall system sluggishness. My recent post in this thread would not be of any help in the boot department.

I haven't had my coffee today

No worries, man!

[Flemur]

9.691s NetworkManager-wait-online.service

There's your problem, everything else looks OK. And...you don't need that service, so you can disable it.

I ran the second command and got a HUGE block of script that I think I'd be better off having a person next to me reading it! Unless you maybe want me to DM it your way?

Well, do this

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dmesg | more 

and hit carriage-returns (or hold it down!) to see more. Basically you're looking for a big time gap in the left column, indicating something hanging or waiting.

Or you can

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dmesg > file.txt 

then open file.txt in a text editor.

[KamenRiderNecro]

9.691s NetworkManager-wait-online.service

There's your problem, everything else looks OK. And...you don't need that service, so you can disable it.

Hmm, OK...what do I look for to disable it? I imagine I go to System Settings, and then what, after that? I'm poking around in there and not finding anything relevant, yet. I apologize for my newb questions!

[Flemur]

Hmm, OK...what do I look for to disable it? I imagine I go to System Settings, and then what, after that? I'm poking around in there and not finding anything relevant, yet. I apologize for my newb questions!

It's not as simple as it should be.

Try this

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sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager-wait-online.service

and reboot and run the

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systemd-analyze blame

again and see if NetworkManager-wait-online is still running. (it shouldn't be).

I had one that was persistent and had to do this, so if it's still running (and taking 9 seconds!) after doing the above, run this:

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sudo systemctl mask NetworkManager-wait-online.service

[KamenRiderNecro]

Hmm, OK...what do I look for to disable it? I imagine I go to System Settings, and then what, after that? I'm poking around in there and not finding anything relevant, yet. I apologize for my newb questions!

It's not as simple as it should be.

Try this

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sudo systemctl disable NetworkManager-wait-online.service

and reboot and run the

Code: Select all

systemd-analyze blame

again and see if NetworkManager-wait-online is still running. (it shouldn't be).

I had one that was persistent and had to do this, so if it's still running (and taking 9 seconds!) after doing the above, run this:

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sudo systemctl mask NetworkManager-wait-online.service

Ran that command and it worked right away, thank you!

[Flemur]

Ran that command and it worked right away, thank you!

Cool. So is your boot time normal and fixed now?** If it slows down again run that "systemd-analyze blame" thing and if NetworkManager-wait-online service is back try the "systemctl mask". Also, updates and such might make it reappear.
IIRC, it just waits for the internet to connect.

**If so, please edit the title of your first post (click the pencil icon) and add SOLVED to it!