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evanescente~ondine

Member

Registered: 2025-09-12

Posts: 11  

devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

Hi,
This is not a ragebait thread I swear. I like your project a lot and overall don't complain much.
And I'm sorry if this doesn't belong to this section since I use Sway, not X.
I see a noticeable loss in speed or liveness since I installed devuan, and it might or might not be specific to wayland, I'm not sure.
What kind of message should I be looking for ?

RedGreen925

Member

Registered: 2024-12-07

Posts: 159  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

What kind of message should I be looking for ?

Well the way I read that is there is a lack of useful information. At the very least we need to know if the software installed is identical in both OSs. For that matter the OSs versions involved. The method of determining this "slowness" that you are using. Without those and many more details no one will be able to help you.

evanescente~ondine

Member

Registered: 2025-09-12

Posts: 11  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

What you ask is pretty much impossible to provide.
I verified: hardware acceleration is on (Intel Alderlake_n (Gen12).
Here's sway's complete log: https://pastebin.com/i221mjmx
I couldn't find anything strange, but I am no specialist.
Here's dmesg's output: https://pastebin.com/3DcbkzUg

ralph.ronnquist

Administrator

From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS

Registered: 2016-11-30

Posts: 1,467  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

So you are saying that sway+wayland on devuan (of some version) is or seems to be noticeable slower than something else on something else? ...???

Obviously one must ask: what on what was the baseline? And in what way do you notice that loss in speed?

Camtaf

Member

Registered: 2019-11-19

Posts: 492  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

Identical computers? Identical software? If not, that is likely your answer.

chris2be8

Member

Registered: 2018-08-11

Posts: 343  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

Assuming you have 1 computer you can dual boot to debian and devuan (or two identical systems, one running each OS) please post output from the following commands on debian and on devuan:
uname -a
cat /etc/os-release
That will give us at least something to go on.

Micronaut

Member

Registered: 2019-07-04

Posts: 246  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

This is sort of vague since it doesn't say exactly what is slower. But I can say there is a large difference in disk performance between Devuan and MX Linux, which is apparently much closer to Debian. I've got different disks that I plug in to the same machine, and when I am copying large files -- like the data files for games -- I can see the speed on my Gkrellm and it's literally twice as fast copying the files with MX Linux. Possibly something in the drivers that they had to alter in Devuan to completely remove that fake 'init' wrapper that is taking over everything. But MX Linux may have been able to leave in place since it's just trying to neutralize it without purging the system?

evanescente~ondine

Member

Registered: 2025-09-12

Posts: 11  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

everything graphical is slower. It boots quickly so it doesn't seem the system is impacted before.
But now you talk about it, file operations are slower too. Again, I can make test and measurements here and you may judge if it's normal given the hardware i have, but I can't or won't install another OS (no assurance programs would be the exact same anyway).

ralph.ronnquist

Administrator

From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS

Registered: 2016-11-30

Posts: 1,467  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

slower than what?

evanescente~ondine

Member

Registered: 2025-09-12

Posts: 11  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

Slower than before with debian ! Including uploads.

igorzwx

Member

Registered: 2024-05-06

Posts: 282  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

If your experiment cannot be reproduced it is a sort of myth.

Can you provide an exact step-by-step instruction how to reproduce your experiment?

chris2be8

Member

Registered: 2018-08-11

Posts: 343  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

Please give us a bit more info.
At least post output from the commands in my last post on the system as it is now.
Also what CPU is it (look in /proc/cpuinfo for model name, number of cores, etc).
How much RAM does it have? (Run free -ht and post output here.)
What sort of disk drive does it have?  <-- This is probably the most important thing since it's apparently been slowed down.

evanescente~ondine

Member

Registered: 2025-09-12

Posts: 11  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

total       utilisé      libre     partagé tamp/cache   disponible
Mem:            15Gi       1,6Gi        10Gi       320Mi       3,7Gi        13Gi
Échange:       976Mi          0B       976Mi
Total:          16Gi       1,6Gi        11Gi
#1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.38-1~bpo12+1 (2025-07-27) x86_64 GNU/Linux
PRETTY_NAME="Devuan GNU/Linux 5 (daedalus)"
NAME="Devuan GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="5"
VERSION="5 (daedalus)"
VERSION_CODENAME="daedalus"
ID=devuan
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.devuan.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://devuan.org/os/community"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.devuan.org/"
intel (R) N100, one processor four cores

But for some reason it accelerated today. What the hell... I swear I did not upgrade sway.

golinux

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 3,542  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

Perhaps because Ondine is whimsical and unpredictable?
Seong-Jin Cho - Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit: I. Ondine (Live from Carnegie Hall)

Sorry . . . couldn't resist . . .

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rolfie

Member

Registered: 2017-11-25

Posts: 1,296  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

That N100 is a quite weak CPU. Everything requiring CPU performance will delay the response.

zapper

Member

Registered: 2017-05-29

Posts: 1,122  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

@rolfie it still is a 13th gen processor. I bet it is faster than some medium grade gen 10 processors and definitely most older stuff.

Last edited by zapper (Today 01:04:48)

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stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn

Member

Registered: 2023-11-27

Posts: 373  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

whenever i see designations like that(n100) i recollect the old atom n270 stuff:

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/614vs5157/cpu_test_info.html

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chris2be8

Member

Registered: 2018-08-11

Posts: 343  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

@ondine, you still haven't said what sort of disk it has (mechanical or SSD) or the model.

But to work out why it sped up all I can suggest is looking in the logs and dmesg output for interesting messages.

kapqa

Member

Registered: 2019-01-02

Posts: 415  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

debian13 is quite responsive, especially when downloading packages;
but proof is in the pudding, and feeling is that devuan overall is more responsive, even when run on gen3x4 ssd over an debian on gen4x4 ssd;
the n100 is 12thn gen, and should be very good for easy task requiring single execution; certainly another league than most atom ever were, probably.
that said, i like apu more, because overall round package, although it is difficult with driver sometimes.

Last edited by kapqa (Today 16:31:46)

evanescente~ondine

Member

Registered: 2025-09-12

Posts: 11  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

Patriot P220 1024GB (SN12288). An SSD. I did the smart self-test. It's fine.

kapqa

Member

Registered: 2019-01-02

Posts: 415  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

think the netselect-apt is not yet fully compatible with devuan; it would be nice to have a easy tool via terminal to select the fastest server based on ones location.

EDIT: if you can afford, you would be better of using a pcie ssd over a sata based one; you can then still use the sata ssd for data storage or for your windows installation if you so like; basically you can find pcie ssd a cheaper prices than sata ssd sometimes nowadays. this does not explain why for you debian could be  better chose.

Last edited by kapqa (Today 18:27:31)

evanescente~ondine

Member

Registered: 2025-09-12

Posts: 11  

Re: devuan (fresh install) noticeably slow compared to debian

So I understood well, I use now a Sata disk with a U.2 form factor, and have a spare M.2 NVME disk over, I assume, PCIE lanes. Ok, M.2 or 2.5'', I can't tell the difference... Pfff, standards change wayy too quickly, and few people need or notice the difference anyway. Yeah I should partition the spare windows disk, but isn't it risky ?

Last edited by evanescente~ondine (Today 19:10:36)