Slow Toshiba Satellite C855D w/ LM21 cinnamon

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pronto

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TOSHIBA Satellite C855D with
dual core processor AMD E-300 APU with
Radeon HD Graphics AMD Wrestler [Radeon HD 6310]
16 GB RAM, 240GB SSD
Linux Mint 21.1 Vera, Cinnamon

I have installed Linux Mint on many dual core machines and always obtained pretty good results but this one is a different case. Just started up and idling both cores are like at 50 - 60% in System monitor. The instant I try to do anything they shoot to 100% and the machine slows down to a crawl making it unusable.

Looking in htop it seems lightdm is taking up resources. I wonder if it might be a video issue which could be corrected somehow.

I also notice the machines that worked well were Intel and this one is AMD. I wonder if that might have something to do with it and if it can be corrected.

If I cannot find a solution I might try XFCE instead of Cinnamon or maybe some older version of LM.

If none of this will help then the laptop is of no use and we wasted our money buying the SSD and RAM.

Any ideas?
 


Your AMD drivers are in your kernel, and that Radeon HD 6310 is certainly old enough to be supported (that APU was released in 2010, so it's 13 years old). Point being that you're still going to have the same kernel on XFCE. It might work better with XFCE, just don't count on that being the solutiuon.
If it were my machine, I'd try installing this first before doing a total re-install of the OS with XFCE.
It'll take all of five minutes including a reboot, and if it doesn't, then no harm, no foul. Once again, I'm not tell you to do this, it's just what I'd do if it were mine ;)
 
So, the AMD E300 was never very fast , it was an entry level CPU running at 1.3gh max
you may need legacy drivers for the GPU and different drivers for the RTL Wi-Fi
please install inxi and run inxi -G and inxi -Nn and copy/paste back both results
 
Just found this post about that particular APU. Seems that it's extremely slow in windoze as well, not just linux.
I have a friend who has a lower end-system using the AMD E-300 CPU (which is soldered to the motherboard) and the graphics card integrated in this CPU (which is a Radeon HD 6310). The performance on his system is quite bad; mundane tasks take a long time to complete, and even video playback from Youtube (something that my friend would like to do a lot of), is choppy. During all these times, the system is cpu-bound, so most likely that's where the problem lies.
Click to expand...
In short, if what I recommended in my first post didn't work, XFCE will be one of your only last ditch options.
 
Last edited:
xlbooyahlx said:
Your AMD drivers are in your kernel, and that Radeon HD 6310 is certainly old enough to be supported (that APU was released in 2010, so it's 13 years old). Point being that you're still going to have the same kernel on XFCE. It might work better with XFCE, just don't count on that being the solutiuon.
If it were my machine, I'd try installing this first before doing a total re-install of the OS with XFCE.
It'll take all of five minutes including a reboot, and if it doesn't, then no harm, no foul. Once again, I'm not tell you to do this, it's just what I'd do if it were mine ;)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. This is a machine to which we are trying to give a second life but it is not urgent so I can take my time messing and experimenting with it.

I followed your advice to try installing the liquorice kernel and it doe not seem to improve much if anything. But, interestingly, after
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

it produces a long log/report which ends with lots of "missing firmware amdgpu" error messages.

update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.2.0-25-generic
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/ip_discovery.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/vega10_cap.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/sienna_cichlid_cap.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/navi12_cap.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/psp_13_0_10_ta.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/psp_13_0_10_sos.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/aldebaran_cap.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/aldebaran_sjt_mec2.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/aldebaran_sjt_mec.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/gc_11_0_3_imu.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/gc_11_0_3_rlc.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/gc_11_0_3_mec.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/gc_11_0_3_me.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/gc_11_0_3_pfp.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/gc_11_0_0_toc.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/sdma_6_0_3.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/sienna_cichlid_mes1.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/sienna_cichlid_mes.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/navi10_mes.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/gc_11_0_3_mes1.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/gc_11_0_3_mes.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/smu_13_0_10.bin for module amdgpu
Processing triggers for linux-image-5.15.0-78-generic (5.15.0-78.85) ...
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms:
* dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 5.15.0-78-generic
...done.
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-78-generic
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/yellow_carp_gpu_info.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/vangogh_gpu_info.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/cyan_skillfish_rlc.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/cyan_skillfish_mec2.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/cyan_skillfish_mec.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/cyan_skillfish_me.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/cyan_skillfish_pfp.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/cyan_skillfish_ce.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/cyan_skillfish_sdma1.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/cyan_skillfish_sdma.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/sienna_cichlid_mes.bin for module amdgpu
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/amdgpu/navi10_mes.bin for module amdgpu
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub:
Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub'
Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub.d/50_linuxmint.cfg'
Sourcing file `/etc/default/grub.d/init-select.cfg'
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.2.0-25-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-6.2.0-25-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.15.0-78-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-78-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.15.0-76-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-76-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.15.0-56-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-56-generic
Warning: os-prober will be executed to detect other bootable partitions.
Its output will be used to detect bootable binaries on them and create new boot entries.
done

All this list is repeated again later when installing the kernel.
Searching for the key words I found this page
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1124253/missing-firmware-for-amdgpu
which is a bit complicated for me.
Do you think it is worth trying to figure it out and try it?

Is it easy to remove the liquorice kernel? In the worst o cases I can just reinstall Mint and start over again.

Thanks again.
 
Brickwizard said:
So, the AMD E300 was never very fast , it was an entry level CPU running at 1.3gh max
you may need legacy drivers for the GPU and different drivers for the RTL Wi-Fi
please install inxi and run inxi -G and inxi -Nn and copy/paste back both results
Click to expand...
inxi -G
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Wrestler [Radeon HD 6310] driver: radeon v: kernel
Device-2: Importek TOSHIBA Web Camera - HD type: USB driver: uvcvideo
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: ati,radeon
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa gpu: radeon resolution: 1366x768~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: AMD PALM (DRM 2.50.0 / 6.2.0-26-generic LLVM 15.0.7)
v: 3.3 Mesa 22.2.5-0ubuntu0.1~22.04.3

inxi -Nn
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter driver: rtl8192ce
IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: 24:ec:99:ad:51:dc
Device-2: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet driver: r8169
IF: enp6s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:26:6c:1e:1a:75
 
pronto said:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-6.2.0-25-generic
pronto said:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-78-generic
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-6.2.0-25-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-6.2.0-25-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.15.0-78-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-78-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.15.0-76-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-76-generic
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-5.15.0-56-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-5.15.0-56-generic
Click to expand...
How you got that, from this:
6.4.7-1-liquorix-amd64
Is beyond me.
5.15.0-78-generic is the kernel that 21.2 came with.
And no idea where this one came from 6.2.0-25-generic ?
The link I sent had explicit instructions for 6.4.7-1-liquorix-amd64 which is NO WHERE to be found in those comments?!?
How many kernels have you installed? SMH
 
Last edited:
xlbooyahlx said:
How you got that, from this:
6.4.7-1-liquorix-amd64
Is beyond me.
5.15.0-78-generic is the kernel that 21.2 came with.
And no idea where this one came from 6.2.0-25-generic ?
The link I sent had explicit instructions for 6.4.7-1-liquorix-amd64 which is NO WHERE to be found in those comments?!?
How many kernels have you installed? SMH
Click to expand...
Well, I don't know but it does not matter now. I did try the liquorix kernel for a while which I installed following the instructions on that page. If there was any difference in performance with the Mint kernel it was minimal. Maybe a tiny bit. After playing with it for a while I removed it following the instructions on that same page and now it's back to the regular Mint kernel.

I am going to give this a rest for a while but I think my next steps will be trying a lighter Mint. It's too bad because I bought SSD and 16GB RAM. The SSD I can always use elsewhere but the two SODIMM modules are totally useless to me. Oh well...

Thanks anyway.
 
pronto said:
Well, I don't know but it does not matter now. I did try the liquorix kernel for a while which I installed following the instructions on that page. If there was any difference in performance with the Mint kernel it was minimal. Maybe a tiny bit. After playing with it for a while I removed it following the instructions on that same page and now it's back to the regular Mint kernel.

I am going to give this a rest for a while but I think my next steps will be trying a lighter Mint. It's too bad because I bought SSD and 16GB RAM. The SSD I can always use elsewhere but the two SODIMM modules are totally useless to me. Oh well...

Thanks anyway.
Click to expand...
Your post made it sound like you got the errors after installing the liquorix kernel, which it was not.
You then installed the 6.2.0-25-generic and got into problems on update.
You might want to do a search on "AMD E-300 slow", and see just how many people struggled with this APU in windoze as well as linux.
Go XFCE, and if it still is slow then you did indeed waste your money on that old ram.
 
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