[SOLVED] Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

[Fintan]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

Your welcome

Do yuo know how it compares with the previous install?

I can't give you benchmarks comparisons but subjectively it seems a lot snappier.

I will check its size later, have to get some office stuff done first

It will definitely be "lighter".

I did notice while browsing through synaptic that you can also install kde-netbook.
So that may be an option when kde-netbook goes "stable".

enjoy

[lmilano]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

Yes, kde-netbook is closely related to kubuntu-netbook, which is what I am testing now (minute and a half to login to a full desktop, but it is certainly a very slow usb key). The netbook plasma shell will be stable by January or so. I can't put it in the family netbook for now. I will test what you did when the rc is out.

What laptop is that? (I am interested in the CPU speed and HD/SSD specs)
Also, do the basic things work? (wifi, hot-keys for volume/brighness, sound). For the life of me I still can't get sound on my mini with the netbook edition.

I think 45 seconds is not bad for a KDE distro, Kubuntu-64bit is taking about that time in my home desktop from fresh boot, and this is a 3 core Phenom with lots of L3 cache running at 2.7 Ghz, the memory @DDR2 900, and a really fast Sata 2 HD 7200 RPM. If yo have an average laptop, just in comparison your install would boot in about 20 seconds or so on that rig. 8)

[Fintan]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

kde-netbook is closely related to kubuntu-netbook

Sorry my bad. I meant kubuntu-netbook.

What laptop is that? (I am interested in the CPU speed and HD/SSD specs)

Acer Travelmate 4021
1'500mb ram

sound, yes, wifi I don't know (I can try with an access point), lan, mobile broadband does.

all i can say is almost or even faster than my desktop.

And definitely faster that the default KK install.

Try and find out.

KK server install= 25-30 min.

the rest depending on your host

[lmilano]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

Thanks! I am actually thinking of doing the minimal network install (12Mb download). Anyone reason to prefer the server install that anyone knows of?

[Fintan]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

I have a feeling that the server barebones version is lighter and I am sure the kernel is faster.

[lmilano]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

I went ahead with the net install plus kde-minimal, still testing on teh USB stick. It is a lot faster to start up than the netbook remix. I am almost certain it is akonadi, because other things are installed and not an issue (KPackageKit, networkManager widget). I am mearsuring boot time with a script, so it is accurate. I will post the details when I am done with testing. Cheers!

[lmilano]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

Ok, some more details. I will post a how as a result of all this, and credit this thread. I will also try to see if we can so something in 10.04:

• The Kubuntu-netbook install shouuld be lighter and faster.
• The regular Kubuntu could offer an easy way to make a light installation (just a checkbos in the installer).

Here is the main observation: kde-minimal + network-manager-kde + KPackageKit is a lot faster to load than a full kubuntu. I couldn;t compare the two in a clean way because I didn;t have enough room in my usb key. I will later on.

I use a simple sh script to keep track of boot time to a full desktop. I add it to Autostart for a user, with KDM in autologin for that user.

Some notes:

• Akonadi (to my surprise) did not add any noticeable delays. It is added by the basic packages I listed above
• The base install is booting to a full desktop in under 60 seconds, with the extra speed up I mention next. For comparison, the optimized Dell-GNOME in the Dell Mini loads in 40 seconds from the (much faster) ssd.
• Using noatime for the ext4 filesystems, and using tmpfs for some of the temporary and volatile filesystems helped a lot (10 to 20% speedup in a usb drive, it may be less dramatic on a fast drive)
• In another netbook (eeepc 701) with a full kubuntu, I removed akonadi, which prompted a massive uninstall of most KDE. Then I reinstalled the basic packages I mentioned above. The login time was reduced by more than 20 seconds, from around 100 to around 80.
• Wicd does not make it boot faster than KNM
• The net install is nice in that it is a very small initial download. Unetbootin lets you dump it into a usb drive (the default usb writer fails with it). The big PRO: all the packages are the most recent. No need to update after install, and any fixes since the release are taken right away. The big CON: it takes a few more clicks than usual, at least in the defualt boot. I will try the live boot next time.

So, if anyone is interested in testing this, I'll post the script to record boot times tonight. The testing is simple:

• Make a base install (command line), with a wired connection, and reboot.
• sudo apt-get install kde-minimal kdm kmix plasma-widget-networkmanagement kpackagekit
• (optional, modify /etc/fstab to use tmpfs and noatime)
• Configure KDM to autologin. Measure a boot time to a full desktop. I will post it later, or bootchart can be used (never tried, but it should be better, though i am not sure how to use it, hoe to measure boot time until you finished your login, etc).
• sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
• reboot and measure the boot time again.
• Firefox, in a clean KDE/Qt system, would have meant 150 Mb in gtk/gnome libs, which I didn't want to see. Konqueror works for most, but thing like Hulu wouldn't. I installed Opera, which worked wonders!
• I added a Folder view widget with no noticeable impact on login time. Hurray!

Needless to say I am going the extra mile hoping to do something that can be reused for the next release, 10.04, for all kubuntu users. I'll try to put on a blueprint. My claim is that the KDE light will boot much faster, but we would need to test in different machines.

As for my original post, I am more than happy with kde4-light karmic on the dell mini-9, it all worked, and it was snappy, even from the USB drive. I'll install it as soon as I have some time.

[Falc7]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

Hi,
Interesting thread, how do i do a command line install? There dosen't seem to be an option in the first menu of the live cd.

[lmilano]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

Hi Falc7,

The simplest way is from the Server Edition. I didn't do this, but Fintan did and can probably give more details of what exactly to do.

I used this:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...tion/MinimalCD

You need to be on a wired network. Everything is installed from the net. You just follow the prompts, choose all the defaults, what can I say. It takes a lot of interaction and a bit of know-how, not nearly as simple as the Kubuntu live install. By default, this will install, in the target you choose, a minimal (command line) install. It gives you the choice to install additional software, but I'll rather reboot and complete the installation as I outlined above.

I'd love to hear how it goes for you. If you have a running full Kubuntu system, it would be nice to benchmark things before and after.

Thanks!

[Falc7]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

I get the message: couldn't find kde-minimal, i'm going to use kde-core instead, atm i'm trying this in a virtual machine, if it comes to it later i'll make a separate partition, alongside my fully fledged kubuntu partition, and i can compare the times

[lmilano]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

I get the message: couldn't find kde-minimal, i'm going to use kde-core instead, atm i'm trying this in a virtual machine, if it comes to it later i'll make a separate partition, alongside my fully fledged kubuntu partition, and i can compare the times

Ah, is this in Jaunty? kde-minimal is a new metapackage in Karmic

[lmilano]

Measuring boot time with boot_time.sh

As promised. This is how I test login time:

• In System Settings :: Advanced ::Session, I select "Start with an empty session". This allows to compare differnet boots, and also makes the initial login faster.
• In System Settings :: Advanced :: Session, I allow autologin of myself.
• In System Settings :: Advanced :: Autostart, I add the boot_time.sh script.

The script has these contents:

#!/bin/bash
#
# Measures the time it takes, from a boot, to a responsive desktop.
# 2009, Leo Milano
#
# Credits: [url]http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=11582[/url]
#     [url]http://www.linuxscrew.com/2007/09/04/two-way-conversion-of-unix-time-seconds-since-1970-and-regular-time/[/url]
#

# Customize this if needed
log_file=~/boot_time.log

# A trick to make sure the script doesn't run this xterm in the background,
# we want the window to popup before we go on with the script (i.e., is the desktop responsive?)
dummy=`xterm -e echo hi`

boot_time=`perl -ne 'print scalar $1 if /^btime (\d+)/' /proc/stat`
this_time=`date +%s`
let elapsed_time=this_time-boot_time

echo `date`. Boot Time : ${elapsed_time} >> ${log_file}

This appends the file /home/yourname/boot_time.log each time you boot (or login, hey, nothing is perfect).

[Fintan]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

@Lmilano:
Looking good

I have similar boot times on my little old lappy

@Falc7 I got the 9.10 server daily from here:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-server/daily/current/

The installation goes just like the install from the alternate cd:
http://www.informit.com/articles/art...86096&seqNum=4

except for the end where you can choose which server you wish to install.

For a barebones system do not choose anything!!!!

Now you have a lean, mean machine.

At reboot you fill find a cli login.
login with your username and password.

Now at the prompt just do:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

then

sudo apt-get install kde-minimal

and let rip.

At reboot you will have a KDM and kde4.3.x.

Now you can install whatever you need like kate, synaptic (iI don't like kpackagekit), and whatever else you want.

Enjoy

[lmilano]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

Wow, just completed the install:

• Use this network install image (Unetbootin dumps it to usb just fine) http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...mages/netboot/
• Do a vanilla net-install (no additional software installation besides the base system and kernel, just skip the "additional software" step)
• Reboot to a terminal
• Run: "sudo apt-get install kde-minimal plasma-widget-networkmanagement kpackagekit kmix update-notifier-kde"

It is booting in amazing 24 seconds. And this is on a Dell Mini 9, where the SSD is not particularly fast!

The install size is 1.3 GB!

[skunk]

Re: Building a light KDE4 desktop for a netbook, off of Karmic

Have you installed bootchart from the repos yet? The generated charts sometimes contain some very helpful info