Ubuntu mate 18.04 raspberry pi 3b+ very slow, freezing

Support & Help Requests Raspberry Pi
#1

Hello all,
Sorry for my bad English and bad use of this forum...
I've installed Ubuntu-Mate on RPi 3B+, [ubuntu-mate-18.04.2-beta1-desktop-armhf+raspi-ext4.img], updated and upgraded without problem, installed Zram too.

All the system was directly installed on my SSD.
To read my mail in Thunderbird, no problem, but in Firefox, from 3-4 tabs, the mechanics begin to struggle and from 5 tabs, it's over, I have to stop everything hardly...
Ubuntu-Mate is in 32 bits.
The Linux kernel is the 4.15.0-1043-raspi2 armv7l
MATE 1.20.1
Memory: 923Mio
Proc: ARMv7 rev4.
Curiously, the memory used when I have 3 or four tabs open in Firefox is 750-800Mio, but the swap is almost zero!
I do not see Zram's action in the system.

If someone has any tricks to give me, I may have made a configuration error in the swappiness.

Another important question: What is the point of creating an image of Ubuntu Mate if you can not use it "normally"?
Thanks a lot form your answers, and sorry for my froggy english !
:wink:
Philippe from France

#2

Hey Philippe!

Can you explain whether you were using the ARM64 or ARMHF?

I found that ARMHF ran a lot faster on my 3B+, and that the ARM64 was a little slower.

Which compositor did you use for marco? The adaptive is a lot more demanding of resources.

And by the way, your English was fine, and as long as you can be understood, it's fine.

Au revoir!

#3

You want to be running the armhf/ARMv7 32-bit system for the Pi 3B+ while it is still technically a beta release it is a very solid release, which is what you appear to be running from your post.

What you are experience is not unusual. The Pi3B+ still only has 1gb of memory and opening multiple tabs in Firefox will result in a slow-down.

You say you installed it onto an SSD? Do you mean a Solid State Drive or to an SD Card?

What type of case are you using? As you push the Pi3B+ it can still over-heat and cause throttling issues.

I cannot help you with Zram configuration.

#4

Sorry Ben_Aubrey, I've re-installed with Rasbian latest version (Buster)... But I was using ARMHF, not ARM64 as noticed on my first post (question) when testing Ubuntu-Mate.
"Which compositor did you use for marco?" Well good question... another one ? :innocent:
@franksmcb, I've tried installing directly on SD (SanDisk High Speed Class 10) without SSD, then on SSD only (removing SD for this test) and I have experienced same problem of slow-down with more than 3 or 4 tabs in Firefox, maybe more slow with SSD because of USB2.0 interface.
I completely understand the problem with Firefox and also that the lack of memory associated with a USB2.0 interface slows the system a lot, it is - I think - normal, the RPi is very limited in memory swap and speed of response overall (because of the SD card and USB2.0 port speed).
Case "noname" very well ventilated via radiators and fan, the temperature never exceeds 52 ° C. I've checked it.
Even with ZRam correctly configured (1Go plus swap), it's slow.
Maybe at the next "'RPi 4+" which will be equipped with more RAM and USB3.0 ports?
The goal, I believe, on these machines is not the raw speed (source of heating) but the sharing and the balancing memory via a sufficient buffer. And "normal" HDMI port, not this too small (in dimension and mechanical resistance
But I must also say that I try to do with the RPi a 'desktop' while it is more a test computer and DIY.

#5

Raspian Buster. I must say, there are a few really nice desktops now with buster...

Anyway, good to know you were using armHF. This will probably help with the speed and ram usage.

Anyway, you can usually check the compositor if you go into mate tweak, then go into windows, then check the window manager.

I understand how it feels to ask a question, then no one answer for a while. I completely get why you just gave up on ubuntu MATE like that.

#6

In fact, it was a user feedback (like me) for using Ubuntu-Mate on Raspberry Pi3 B +. If we try to use the RPi and Ubuntu Mate as a 'normal' computer, logical that the memory saturates quickly especially with Internet pages more and more dense.
I realized that it was difficult to do this kind of experiment, to want to build a computer with very low consumption without having some problems. For basic use, no problem, for use more 'office' or Internet, less easy.
I reinstalled Buster since I had other software to run without problems, software oriented boat (OpenCPN) and after that, I sold it, it goes to his new owner in November.
But I will come back annoy you when the Raspberry (or equivalent) will have more memory without wanting to use processors too fast, too 'hot' and greedy with energy. :innocent:
Regards,
Philippe

#7

`I have the same problem (raspberry 3b+)! I'm coming from ubuntu 16.04, and i have much more worse performance using the armhf versione of ubuntu 18.04! (the 64 bit behave even worse)

I was hoping better performance, since the last release of ROS 2 is much more easy to install on the 18.04.

#8

Sorry for not being quick to reply...

I'm suprised. When using Ubuntu MATE on my Pi3B+, it's ran fine. Sure you didn't do something different?

Make sure the compositor is marco(No compositor) as this will help with performance. You can find the settings in MATE Tweak.

Hope this helps