Super slow LM 18.1 xfce on old PC. [Solved]

[BeBop]

This is the output from inxi -Fxz:

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linux@linux-HP-Compaq-nx6125-PZ221UA-ABA ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: linux-HP-Compaq-nx6125-PZ221UA-ABA Kernel: 4.4.0-140-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 (Gtk 2.24.28) Distro: Linux Mint 18.1 Serena
Machine:   System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Compaq nx6125 (PZ221UA#ABA) v: F.07
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 308B v: KBC Version 45.23
           Bios: Hewlett-Packard v: 68DTT Ver. F.07 date: 07/01/2005
CPU:       Single core AMD Turion 64 Mobile ML-30 (-UP-) cache: 1024 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3) bmips: 1596 speed/max: 800/1600 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RS480M [Mobility Radeon Xpress 200]
           bus-ID: 01:05.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1024x768@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on ATI RS480
           GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 11.2.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] IXP SB400 AC'97 Audio Controller
           driver: snd_atiixp bus-ID: 00:14.5
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-140-generic
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5788 Gigabit Ethernet
           driver: tg3 v: 3.137 bus-ID: 02:01.0
           IF: enp2s1 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Broadcom BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller
           driver: b43-pci-bridge bus-ID: 02:02.0
           IF: wlan1 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 95.7GB (20.1% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: HTS541080G9AT00 size: 80.0GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: Cruzer_Dial size: 15.7GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 72G used: 7.1G (11%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
           ID-2: /boot size: 472M used: 112M (25%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 0.94GB used: 0.08GB (8%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-1
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 37.0C mobo: 37.0C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 181 Uptime: 45 min Memory: 330.3/866.1MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 

The systemd-analyze blame output (takes about 5 min to boot up):

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         43.094s dev-mapper-mint\x2d\x2dvg\x2droot.device
         19.004s apt-daily.service
         16.869s systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\x2duuid-d588b894\x2de140\x2d4173\x2da3c3\x2d9e90504b2b3e.service
         16.169s systemd-rfkill.service
         12.746s apt-daily-upgrade.service
         11.723s systemd-udevd.service
          9.573s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
          7.561s lvm2-monitor.service
          7.318s accounts-daemon.service
          6.861s loadcpufreq.service
          6.737s keyboard-setup.service
          6.503s ModemManager.service
          6.401s systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
          6.279s NetworkManager.service
          6.271s networking.service
          5.710s grub-common.service
          4.783s systemd-logind.service
          4.566s ntp.service
          4.320s irqbalance.service
          4.303s systemd-modules-load.service
          3.967s systemd-journald.service
          3.961s thermald.service
          3.535s bluetooth.service
          3.459s virtualbox-guest-utils.service
          3.388s hddtemp.service
          3.077s systemd-remount-fs.service
          3.054s sys-kernel-debug.mount
          3.037s dev-hugepages.mount
          3.027s ondemand.service
          2.963s speech-dispatcher.service
          2.864s console-setup.service
          2.748s upower.service
          2.702s console-kit-log-system-start.service
          2.421s systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
          2.310s dev-mqueue.mount
          2.280s systemd-udev-trigger.service
          2.215s polkitd.service
          2.076s systemd-sysctl.service
          1.527s boot.mount
          1.334s systemd-journal-flush.service
          1.317s lm-sensors.service
          1.234s systemd-random-seed.service
          1.184s alsa-restore.service
          1.148s user@1000.service
          1.134s kmod-static-nodes.service
          1.116s ufw.service
          1.027s systemd-user-sessions.service
          1.011s binfmt-support.service
           964ms rsyslog.service
           927ms pppd-dns.service
           804ms udisks2.service
           737ms iio-sensor-proxy.service
           669ms systemd-update-utmp.service
           649ms avahi-daemon.service
           557ms dev-mapper-mint\x2d\x2dvg\x2dswap_1.swap
           520ms console-kit-daemon.service
           507ms wpa_supplicant.service
           481ms systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service
           357ms cpufrequtils.service
           260ms proc-sys-fs-binfmt_misc.mount
           243ms rtkit-daemon.service
           229ms plymouth-read-write.service
           226ms ureadahead-stop.service
           199ms resolvconf.service
           193ms plymouth-quit-wait.service
           184ms systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service
           176ms dns-clean.service
           159ms plymouth-start.service
           144ms setvtrgb.service
           130ms openvpn.service
           127ms plymouth-quit.service
            70ms rc-local.service
            50ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount

System is Turion 64 single core, the hard drive is EIDE (not SATA).
Any suggestions to speed this machine up. It's slow with anything it does.

[Flemur]

Graphics: Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] RS480M [Mobility Radeon Xpress 200]

We had a Sony Vaio with a similar board and vintage and it only ran decently with Ubuntu 10.

16.869s systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\x2duuid-d588b894\x2de140\x2d4173\x2da3c3\x2d9e90504b2b3e.service

That sounds like dying disk - run some "smart" tests.

You don't need these if you run the 'update/upgrade' by hand every once in a while:
19.004s apt-daily.service
12.746s apt-daily-upgrade.service

You don't need this one:
9.573s NetworkManager-wait-online.service

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sudo systemctl disable apt-daily.service

...etc...

[kukamuumuka]

I have found that Exe GNU/Linux works somehow ancient laptops like Compaq nx6125
https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=exe

[sleeper12]

Puppy Linux works well on old hardware too. No need to install, just run from flash & save first session at shut down. Any future changes made will be auto saved:

https://puppylinux.org/wikka/WhatpuppyLinuxisbestforyou

[BeBop]

Flemur wrote: That sounds like dying disk - run some "smart" tests.

After running disk test, it seems that there were 4 or 5 bad sectors n this disk. I've always found that the bios automatically blocked dead sectors, but in this case it must have not done so. I swapped out the hard drive for a different one and the boot up is much quicker now. However, since I was re-installing, I decided to install LM 19.1 now that it is available, so I really don't know how to compare it, only that the initial bootup no longer takes 5 miinutes. Which brings me back to another problem. I can't activate the wifi, the drivers don't show the Broadcom BM43legacy (which I found to be appropriate for this machine). ow I need to find out how to load that driver.

[Mute Ant]

'... the BIOS automatically blocked dead sectors...' It's the IDE of the hard drive that marks sectors as Difficult-To-Read, but it leaves them alone until there's an Impossible-To-Write condition. It's a system that allows you to recover data from a drive on its last legs, but it can leave you with thousands of uncorrected Difficult-To-Read sectors. There's a SMART accumulator for Read-Retry but no warning message to the host machine that there's a problem. Exactly as you describe (good call Flemur) lots of drive-reading during boot takes much longer than the normal 30 seconds.

[BeBop]

Thanks Flemur. Part of the problem was indeed a dying hard drive (5 bad sectors, evidently the system does not block them and ignore bad sectors like this). I replaced the hard drive and upped the RAM from 1 gig to 2 (although the system info only shows 850 meg of ram), between these I now can boot in just over 2 minutes instead of the previous 5. Not perfect, but workable for an old Turion 64 with 32 bit motherboard. Not sure now why, if it's a Turion 64 that it won't load LM 18.1 64 bit, but it now works.