CentOS - Aug 2019 - browsers slowing Centos 7 installation to a crawl

On Mon, 5 Aug 2019, Peter wrote:
> On 5/08/19 10:42 AM, Michael Hennebry wrote:
>> Mem:??????? 2020144???? 1454904?????? 76140????? 204764????? 489100 
>> 135004
>> Swap:?????? 4883724????? 978480???? 3905244
>
> free -h is generally more readable, but...
>
> It's RAM.  You basically have a total of 2G ram on the system, you have
> less than 500M available and are into swap by nearly 1G, so you're 
> swapping heavily.  2G is enough for a minimal install but browsers such 
> as firefox and chrome can easily use a lot of memory fast and trying to 
> run one on a 2G system while doing an install at the same time will get 
> you swapping and slow the system to a crawl.
To be clear, by "Centos 7 installation",
I meant a PC on which Centos 7 was installed.

In any case, Centos 7 has not always been this slow.
Presumably something has changed.
I've been living with this for several months,
but not forever.
I can run compilers and stuff without an internet connection,
so I could get some work done.

To get that output, I had free running in a loop and waited for
the freeze before copy and pasting.

I wasn't surprised by the result.
Occasionally top shows kswap0 (I think) in a D state.

-- 
Michael   hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.NoDak.edu
"Sorry but your password must contain an uppercase letter, a number,
a haiku, a gang sign, a heiroglyph, and the blood of a virgin."
                                                              --  someeecards

> Date: Monday, August 05, 2019 10:44:00 -0500
> From: Michael Hennebry <hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu>
> 
> To be clear, by "Centos 7 installation",
> I meant a PC on which Centos 7 was installed.
> 
> In any case, Centos 7 has not always been this slow.
> Presumably something has changed.
> I've been living with this for several months,
> but not forever.
> I can run compilers and stuff without an internet connection,
> so I could get some work done.
> 
> To get that output, I had free running in a loop and waited for
> the freeze before copy and pasting.
> 
> I wasn't surprised by the result.
> Occasionally top shows kswap0 (I think) in a D state.
Does the system slow down when you have your internet connection
enabled, but aren't explicitly using it (i.e., not using a browser)?
If so, look at the netstat output (as root) to see what's going on.
You may have some process that runs when the connection is enabled
that is taking up system/network resources.

Separately, turn off javascript in the browser you are using and see
if that has an effect.

   - Richard

Richard wrote:
>> Date: Monday, August 05, 2019 10:44:00 -0500
>> From: Michael Hennebry <hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu>
>>
>> To be clear, by "Centos 7 installation",
>> I meant a PC on which Centos 7 was installed.
>>
>> In any case, Centos 7 has not always been this slow.
>> Presumably something has changed.
>> I've been living with this for several months,
>> but not forever. I can run compilers and stuff without an internet
>> connection, so I could get some work done.
>>
>> To get that output, I had free running in a loop and waited for
>> the freeze before copy and pasting.
>>
>> I wasn't surprised by the result.
>> Occasionally top shows kswap0 (I think) in a D state.
>>
>
> Does the system slow down when you have your internet connection
> enabled, but aren't explicitly using it (i.e., not using a browser)? If
so,
> look at the netstat output (as root) to see what's going on. You may
have
> some process that runs when the connection is enabled that is taking up
> system/network resources.
>
> Separately, turn off javascript in the browser you are using and see
> if that has an effect.
>
Javascript - if you're using firefox, install NoScript last week.

      mark

On 6/08/19 3:44 AM, Michael Hennebry wrote:
> In any case, Centos 7 has not always been this slow.
> Presumably something has changed.
Websites have gotten more resource-intensive.  You've run "yum
updates"
and now have a newer version of Firefox and/or Chrome.  Your browsing 
habits have changed and you browse with more tabs open now.

Firefox for me has always had some amount of RAM leakage and when I used 
to run with 4G of RAM I had to restart it frequently (but I browse with 
a lot of tabs open).  I currently have my system maxed at 8G and still 
have to restart FF every couple of days or so to stop the system from 
swapping.  2G wouldn't even give me enough RAM to not run a browser on 
my system, so I can only imagine that your usage to date has been 
extremely simple.

I have two suggestions for you:

1.  Run a lightweight desktop such as XFCE instead of Gnome or KDE.

2.  Run out and buy more RAM.  Max your system out at 4G or 8G or 
whatever it will take.  You will need it and appreciate it.


Good Luck,


Peter

> In any case, Centos 7 has not always been this slow.
> Presumably something has changed.
Firefox especially, and to some extent Chrome, have both started using
much more memory recently (as in the last six months or so).  I run 50+
desktops on CentOS and I've noticed more and more of them getting low
on memory more often and almost always Firefox is the culprit. These
are systems with 8Gb that are struggling.

P.

On Mon, 5 Aug 2019, Richard wrote:
> Does the system slow down when you have your internet connection
> enabled, but aren't explicitly using it (i.e., not using a browser)?
The slowdown only happens when the browser is open,
but I do not have to be using it.
> If so, look at the netstat output (as root) to see what's going on.
> You may have some process that runs when the connection is enabled
> that is taking up system/network resources.
>
> Separately, turn off javascript in the browser you are using and see
> if that has an effect.
-- 
Michael   hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.NoDak.edu
"Sorry but your password must contain an uppercase letter, a number,
a haiku, a gang sign, a heiroglyph, and the blood of a virgin."
                                                              --  someeecards

On Tue, 6 Aug 2019, Peter wrote:
> On 6/08/19 3:44 AM, Michael Hennebry wrote:
>> In any case, Centos 7 has not always been this slow.
>> Presumably something has changed.
>
> Websites have gotten more resource-intensive.  You've run "yum
updates" and
> now have a newer version of Firefox and/or Chrome.  Your browsing habits
have
> changed and you browse with more tabs open now.
More bloated browsers are not hard to believe in.
My habits haven't change much, though. 
Mostly I use a browser for things I want
to read and things I want to download.
Maybe that is why I'd been getting along with 2GB.
> I have two suggestions for you:
>
> 1.  Run a lightweight desktop such as XFCE instead of Gnome or KDE.
I'll try it.
> 2.  Run out and buy more RAM.  Max your system out at 4G or 8G or whatever
it
> will take.  You will need it and appreciate it.
Maybe.
I open the case with fear and trepidation.
The first time I opened a PC case,
I zapped my video card installing a disk drive.
Under the impressing that memory was the most ststic-sensitive
thing in a PC, I had a friend install the DDR2 memory I'd bought.
'Twas frightening to watch: like wathing The Cat in the Hat
play with one's grandmother's favorite china.
So far as I could tell, he totally ignored the
possbility that static could do bad things.
It worked and I did not have a heart attack.

Also, what is it with DDR2 prices?
When I bought DDR2,
DDR3 was the norm and I paid hundreds of dollars for DDR2.
Do not remember for how much.
Now I suspect DDR4 is the norm and am seeing 8GB of DDR2 for less than $30.
Huh? DDR3 isn't much more.

I'll need to do some digging to discover whether my box needs DDR2 or
DDR3.DDR3
I doubt it's DDR4.


-- 
Michael   hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.NoDak.edu
"Sorry but your password must contain an uppercase letter, a number,
a haiku, a gang sign, a heiroglyph, and the blood of a virgin."
                                                              --  someeecards

On Tue, 6 Aug 2019, Peter wrote:
> 2.  Run out and buy more RAM.  Max your system out at 4G or 8G or whatever
it
> will take.  You will need it and appreciate it.
My fears and trepidations have been realized.

I finally got around to trying to install the memory I bought.
No go.
The first card seems like it's in almost ok,
but will not go far enough down to be latched.
The notches seem correct.
I cannot even replace the memory I removed.  Grrr.
The net result seem to be that I destroyed my computer.

Any thoughts on how to undestroy my computer?

-- 
Michael   hennebry at web.cs.ndsu.NoDak.edu
"Sorry but your password must contain an uppercase letter, a number,
a haiku, a gang sign, a heiroglyph, and the blood of a virgin."
                                                              --  someeecards