1

I bought an HP 15-1009. I rebuilt it with Ubuntu 14.04, 64 bit. It works, but it so slow. Looking at the system monitor, I don't see any excessive CPU or Memory usage. I have tried live boot Xubuntu and Lubuntu, same outcome. Based on what I have read, it appears that it might be video problem. Any idea what I can do? I don't want Windows 8 back on it.

Product Identifiers

  • Brand HP
  • Model 15-1009wm
  • MPN J2V78UA
  • UPC 888793178164
  • Color Black
  • Laptop Type Notebook

Processor

  • Processor AMD E Series Dual-Core 2100 (1 GHz)
  • Memory Cache 1024 KB

Memory

  • Installed Memory 4 GB

Hard Drive

  • Hard Drive 500 GB 5400 RPM

Display

  • Display Size 15.6"
  • Video Card AMD Radeon HD 8210
2
  • Do you see any extraordinary disk usage in iotop? May 14, 2015 at 21:44
  • No, that is what is quite strange. The system just lags, it takes awhile for it to respond. Mouse movements a delayed 2 to 3 seconds. May 15, 2015 at 2:02

4 Answers 4

1

The problem

This is most likely a video card driver problem. Looking at the computer's specs you have an AMD video card, so you may be able to work around the problem by installing AMD's video drivers. Pilot6 said you just need to type sudo apt-get install fglrx into your console, but it is not entirely correct, as the last LTS release -14.04.2 LTS- is not able to install this package at all, because of the LTS Enablement Stack. I had this very problem not long ago and the solution may be a little obscure.

The solution

  • Open up the Software and Updates dialog, either by searching in the dash or by looking for it in the settings manager. You can also type software-properties-gtk in a terminal to obtain the same effect.
  • Navigate to the Updates tab and activate Pre-released updates (trusty-proposed).
  • Wait for apt to syncronize, then close the Software and Updates dialog.
  • To successfully install the drivers either run:

    sudo apt-get install fglrx/trusty-proposed fglrx-amdcccle/trusty-proposed
    

    or:

    sudo apt-get install fglrx-updates/trusty-proposed fglrx-amdcccle-updates/trusty-proposed
    
  • Reboot and check if the driver works by typing fglrxinfo. The expected output should look like this:

    display: :0.0  screen: 0
    OpenGL vendor string: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon HD 7400 Series
    OpenGL version string: 4.4.13374 Compatibility Profile Context 15.20.1013
    

I hope this helps, let us know of any changes in your situation. :)

Source

2
  • 1
    This bug with failure to install fglrx must be fixed soon. The installer package will be moved from proposed to main repository. But a very good note.
    – Pilot6
    May 17, 2015 at 12:35
  • Thanks, sorry i put the wrong name in there. Those are exactly my thoughts: a problem like this strikes a whole class of LTS Ubuntu users and for over a year a fix stayed in trusty-proposed.
    – Glitched
    May 17, 2015 at 12:38
0

If writing "slow" you mean the interface, then try to install propritary video drivers. It can be done by

sudo apt-get install fglrx

and reboot.

0

Most likely its a video problem as person above me said, in any case after you get new drivers you can make your system a bit faster by installing preload, disabling some start ups if dont need them, and by reducing swapness to 10%.

0

The HP 15-1009 is a nice little notebook computer, the only disadvantage being that it has a very slow processor. It's got more than enough RAM to support the integrated Radeon HD 8210 GPU, so your challenge is to do whatever you can to take the processing load off the CPU. For this purpose you need to choose the Ubuntu edition with the most lightweight desktop environment, which is any currently supported version of Lubuntu. 64-bit is faster than 32-bit in most cases. The biggest difference between different releases of Lubuntu is that Lubuntu 14.04 is a Long Term Support release which is supported by updates for three years until April, 2017 and the other releases are regular releases which are only supported for 9 months after the official launch date.

Installing the proprietary graphics drivers for the Radeon HD 8210 GPU shouldn't be a problem. Open the terminal and run ubuntu-drivers devices to show the Recommended proprietary graphics driver, and then install that one.

The HP 15-1009 is a good notebook with a lot of character. If you conform to the conditions that its hardware dictates, it should perform acceptably. Try QupZilla instead of Firefox. QupZilla is the only lightweight web browser that I have ever used that I consider to be usable on a daily basis. If you also have Firefox installed, you can import your Firefox bookmarks into QupZilla.

QupZilla has renamed itself as Falkon and be installed by the following command in all currently supported versions of Ubuntu:

sudo snap install falkon  

Another lightweight application that I recommend is Exaile music player.

2
  • This laptop has more that enough CPU power to work well on Ubuntu with unity. There is no need to install Lubuntu on a dual core computer with 4 GB of RAM. But it is still an option, if OP likes it.
    – Pilot6
    May 17, 2015 at 12:06
  • @Pilot6 The Radeon HD 8210 GPU is sucking its processing power out of the CPU which has only two cores having 1 GHz per core. This charming notebook will never run properly unless the excess processing load is taken off the processor. This notebook has a very strange design. It has an elegant little 28-nanometer SoC inside an otherwise normal low-end laptop.
    – karel
    May 17, 2015 at 12:19

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .