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Contributor forteller on Live CD

New users tell that Ubuntu is slow (live sessions)

Written by zwyber the 8 Mar 09 at 19:55. Won't implement

I tell my friends and family about Ubuntu and most of them come back telling me that Ubuntu makes their PC run very slow. They didn't know that you had to install Ubuntu to get the true speed.

I think that many people may encounter this problem, because when you run a live session it really just looks like it is installed. Because of the speed these users don't want to use Ubuntu and tell everyone they know that it is very slow.

1318
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Solution #1: Show (extra) notification.

Written by zwyber the 8 Mar 09 at 19:55.

Very plain and simple, show a (extra) notification, telling the user that they are running in a live session and that Ubuntu runs very slow now.

Why extra? If Ubuntu developers are going to create a welcome screen where they put this information some people are not going to read this. Just a small dialogue after the welcome screen has been closed would be nice.

OR

Put the message in the default wallpaper, easier but not really the best solution.

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Solution #13: Use UnionFS to our advantage

Written by deriamis the 4 Apr 09 at 18:40.

Since the majority of load times is in late-linking the libraries, why not have the often-used libraries in a ramdisk and use UnionFS to overlay those files on a path? In combination with pre-caching (#4), this could be a significant speed boost. If we combine it with using a LiveUSB distro (#11), we could be on par with the performance of the computer itself.

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Solution #16: Instead of notification write it in the background.

Written by ll the 6 Apr 09 at 03:52.

A modified background that includes a warning can be used instead of a notification. Many computers at universities that are meant for multiple users use the background to communicate a special procedure especially in libraries for catalogue searches. This will decrease confusion and not use as many resources as a notification (I assume).

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Solution #18: Calc & disp speed-up performance on log-out based on sys's characteristics

Written by lackscr8ivity the 7 Apr 09 at 14:25.

When running the live session I would guess the memory, processor, hard disk read/write speed (maybe not this one), etc. system hardware & performance are evaluated.
As well, when running a program (game, OpenOffice, etc.) the CD read/write & load time could stored. Thus, when the user ends the live session, in the log-out window list some statistics: "These are the 5 programs you used the most:
From the live CD it took X-amount of real-time to load, but based on your system's hardware, if this were installed, we would expect it would X% faster."

58
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Solution #19: disabeling unnecessary services for the live-cd

Written by moose the 14 Apr 09 at 08:08.

So the live-cd shouldn't start services which are not neccessary for testing ubuntu (as some people use the live-cd as a secure system, services like cups are neccessary):

# anachron, atd, cron: I never used a live-cd longer than six hours - why should I create a cronjob?
# acpid, acpi-support, apmd, powernowd, powernowd.early: If I use the live-cd, I want to test if my hardware works and if the software fits my expections, not if the sleep option works.

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Solution #24: Use the new notification system

Written by aroach31291 the 22 Oct 09 at 17:19.

Firstly, I think that many of the solutions above are solving the wrong problem. People that try out Ubuntu may think that it is installed by just inserting the CD. The user may have no idea that they are using a LiveCD. After they discover that Ubuntu is "slow", they give up and reboot back into Windows. Notifying the user that they haven't installed Ubuntu yet would be the best way to solve this problem.

Utilize the new notification system. Have it simply display a message when the desktop has finished loading similar to:

Ubuntu is not installed yet! Feel free to use Ubuntu before installing it, but beware that it may be a little slow. If you like what you see click the install icon on your desktop!

2
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Solution #25: Show notification when system is waiting for CD drive

Written by mikko.rantalainen the 7 Oct 10 at 06:45.

Live session from USB/flash memory should be pretty okay even today but the real problem is accessing files from optical drive. Even there, the problem is latency, usually not the bandwidth.

The live session should run a small background service that displays a notification message when system is waiting for CD drive to access required data. The message could be along the line "Reading data from CD (installing on the hard drive would improve performance)" [however, the label should not claim to be reading CD if one is booting from e.g. usb memory stick]. The notification should be displayed if read command has waited in disk scheduler queue for more than a second.

This could be extended to deal with installed system, too. It would make sense to point out bottlenecks in the system to the user. If the system feels slow and a notification pops up that says "Waiting for disks (installing a fast SSD drive would improve performance)" would give a reasonable hint to the user which hardware upgrade would help the most. This could be even further extended and a similar notification should pop up if all CPU cores have been taken for more than 5 seconds ("Waiting for processor (upgrading the processor would improve performance)").

See the 19 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 19 Feb 12 at 03:08) >>

Redesign the CD Boot Menu

Written by anzeige the 20 Nov 09 at 17:59. Implemented

Redesign the Menu of the CD to something looking smoother and better for new Users

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Selected solution (#4): add backup options and system info to menu

Written by tommynz1975 the 5 Dec 09 at 05:46.

People we don't want to get to the stage of other OSs that require you to continuously get new hardware with every release.

But the biggest cry seems to be needing to backup your system before an install.

Have the backup, backup systems or files of your choosing including MBR and other things that made the system boot nicely before hand.

Have the backup and I guess restore utility know what to do with the backup.

System info might examine the system and give its two cents worth on how well Ubuntu will run on your system, it would also display and allow you to save the out put.

This could be useful before loading the live cd.

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Selected solution (#9): Try, Install (Clean), Install (Dirty), Upgrade, Test

Written by rrnwexec the 6 Dec 09 at 19:52.

This solution builds on #1.

There should be two additional options to cover the cases where:

1) Users are upgrading from a previous version of Ubuntu. (Upgrade)

2) Users want to contribute to solving Bug #1 "Microsoft has a majority market share"".
a) The "Clean" option: Install Ubuntu and remove Windows.
b) The "Dirty" option: Install Ubuntu and share the disk with Windows. Risk continued monopoly.

16
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Selected solution (#10): High resolution with more options

Written by DrG the 8 Dec 09 at 11:35.

( karmic )
At present the Graphic Boot Menu is handled by isolinux.
If you take the option for a live section , the splash screen appears .
It has got a high resolution . The files are situated inside initrd.lz
It can be changed to give all the options listed above , with more options ( animation ; may be sound and mouse ) . ( will be more comfortable than developing isolinux )

Disadvantage – It may take some 10 sec to reach the menu ( This can be solved by an optional entry in isolinx boot screen to go to the original one or adding an option to go to the the improved menu to the existing menu - making the improved menu optional)

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Selected solution (#14): Add "Upgrade" entry to the boot menu of the Alternate CD

Written by Monika the 10 Apr 10 at 21:03.

It looks like for many users the "intuitive" way to try to upgrade with the Alternate CD is to boot from it and then they are confused because there is no "Upgrade" option in the start-up menu. So it would be good if it were possible - if this is technically easy - to upgrade by booting from the (Alternate) CD, too, or - if this is technically impossible or hard - to add a menu entry "Upgrade note" that, when selected, tells the user they should boot into their to-be-upgraded system and then put the CD into the tray again and which commands to use in case it is not detected as an upgrade volume automatically (like here http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading#Upgrading%20Using%20the%20Alternate%2 0CD/DVD ).

See the 28 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 1 Dec 11 at 00:08) >>

Hardware support services are loaded even that hardware is not in use

Written by andremachado the 26 Mar 10 at 23:09. New

Currently, there is a huge effort to made Ubuntu boot faster, but the great issue is what, when Ubuntu - as well as other Linux distros - boots up, it loads many services to support a large variety of hardwares and configurations.

That is convenient for end user what can, for example, easily, connect a printer and work with it immediatelly. BUT, if user have not a printer, Cups, the Linux printer server, will be loaded and stay occupying system memory in vain, because it will never be used. Similarly, if user wants print only one document and save your energy, if he turns on his printer for just do it and turn it off after, Cups will continue in memory.

297
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Solution #1: Create a service what starts hardware services when they're necessary

Written by andremachado the 26 Mar 10 at 23:09.

The idea to solve all this issues is: when Ubuntu boots, it will load only the essential services to raise graphical interace and a new service what will be connected with HAL and/or DBUS. This will made boot faster. When user connect or turn on a new hardware, like a printer, a bluetooth dongle or a webcam, this new service will detect this hardware and load the appropriate service to support it. When this hardware is disconnected or turned off, the new service will remove the service previously loaded from memory.

User will can configure this resource for: create an exception list, decide if a service will not be stopped once what it was started or a time to wait what it be stopped after hardware removal, as well as enable or disable this new resource.

UPDATED: For non-related hardware services, the new service would can start they when they're necessary too. For example: if a user has Apache and MySQL installed in your machine, this two services can start stopped and when system receives a network ping or request to 127.0.0.1, from Firefox, for example, these services would be started.

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Solution #2: Postpone and select hardware services according to an intelligent algorithm

Written by mauricep the 1 Apr 10 at 20:36.

Whilst moving from Ubuntu loading all hardware services on boot to a user-configurable hardware services load configuration, the amateur user will likely not bother. As an alternative default, Ubuntu could intelligently select which hardware services to load on boot:

- Hardware services used with high frequency are loaded on boot
- Hardware services used with medium frequency are loaded after boot with a delay (e.g. one minute), or whenever system is first "idle".
- Hardware resource used rarely are loaded as needed (as proposed in other solution).

See the 6 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 22 Mar 11 at 08:16) >>

Live CD should warn at boot time about Minimum System Requirements not being met

Written by subharo the 13 Nov 08 at 16:34. New

The Ubuntu installation process could use more idiot-proofing with respect to checking that the Minimum System Requirements are being met BEFORE the end user gets into a frustrating situation that completely "turns them off" from Ubuntu (before they can even install it).

Namely: what if a novice user gets an Ubuntu Desktop install CD, but the Live CD grinds to a painful, eternal stall because there is not enough RAM, or the CPU is too slow?

These users wouldn't know what to do next if their computer froze on them: is their computer broken? Who is to be blamed? Themselves (making a wrong choice)? Their hardware? Ubuntu? Who? Most users haven't got any sort of troubleshooting skills or experience to narrow this down, and could very likely just give up, which would be a shame.

They should be warned about any basic hardware inadequacy BEFORE X windows starts, and they should be gracefully pointed towards doing the right thing if necessary: locating (on the internet), and downloading, and booting from the Alternate Installation CD instead.

A timely, simple script on the Live CD (run at boot time) that checks the current hardware, then prints a helpful text message on the console if necessary (halting further booting) would go a long way to saving these users a lot of frustration!

This relatively simple fix would go a long way towards making Ubuntu more "humane."

Most users installing Ubuntu will by default attempt to install from the Live CD (Desktop version). But for people with older computers that do not meet the Minimum System Requirements, they are currently expected to be technically knowledgeable enough to intelligently choose the right kind of installation CD first: Desktop Version or Alternate Installation CD.

This could be a huge stumbling block to A HUGE NUMBER of potentially new Ubuntu users, who are such novices that:

-they never RTFM, (namely https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements ) and know that they should instead install from the "Alternate Installer." Moreover, these novice users don't even know what RTFM means. It would be prudent to assume that must users DO NOT READ ANY DOCUMENTATION WHATSOEVER before they attempt to use the Live CD.

[....]

184
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See the 3 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 18 Jan 11 at 22:29) >>

include the ubuntu-manual into the LiveCD

Written by _sebastian_ the 7 Apr 10 at 12:51. New

the Ubuntu-Manual https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-manual is designed to be as user-friendly and easy to follow as possible, it provides the first point of reference to any Ubuntu newcomer with lots of information in one easy to access PDF file. Every six months we intend to produce a new revision -- a new release to coincide with each new release of Ubuntu.

It is intended to help Ubuntu newcomer getting Started with Ubuntu 10.04.
The Ubuntu-Manual is a complete beginner's manual for Ubuntu, featuring comprehensive guides, How Tos and information on anything you need to know after first installing Ubuntu.

With the newcomer in mind the Live CD is a excellent platform to distribute the Ubuntu-Manual.

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Solution #7: Put the manual, and other relevant information, into an Ubuntu folder in /home.

Written by k3lt01 the 8 Apr 10 at 10:05.

A folder could be created in /home (under the Places menu) titled Ubuntu (like we already have Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, & Videos) and the Ubuntu manual could be placed in the Ubuntu folder along with other relevant Ubuntu information. This has an advantage that the end user could use this folder for other relevant Ubuntu information (such as the free book already listed in the forum or packages downloaded off the net but not through Synaptic).

See the 3 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 25 Apr 10 at 20:45) >>

Respin CDs with bugfix/security updates for all stable releases after 6 months.

Written by ethana2 the 24 Apr 09 at 14:24. New

Ubuntu 9.04 is out, and I still don't have a LiveCD I can give to someone without a list of caveats longer than my own arm. Ubuntu releases are too bleeding edge.

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See the 4 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 3 Apr 10 at 11:07) >>

No intro sound on LiveCD

Written by Nunslaughter the 16 Mar 08 at 16:12. New

To me, the loud intro sound and system beep are very annoying on the LiveCD!

It happened a couple of times that I used the LiveCD in the middle of the night on my notebook, and the loud intro sound and system beep at shutdown are just very annoying if there are other people sleeping in the same room or even home.

Or even if it isn't at night, these sounds are useless and you can't adjust the volume before the intro. Maybe delete the system beep and lower the volume of the intro?

232
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See the 8 comments or propose a solution (latest comment the 16 Jul 08 at 08:32) >>

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