I have a desktop PC with Intel motheboard, Intel Core 2 Duo 3Ghz, 1 Gb RAM, wireless and normal network card. A 160 Gb HD where 100 its for data, 30 Gb for Win XP, and 20 for Linux. On the partition for Linux I first tried OpenSuse 11.2… some 6 mkonths ago, and everything was fine; then after some months I decided to upgrade to 11.3: system often crashed with total freeze on this version; I had to hard reset the PC in order to restore it.
I stop using openSuse for a while and now trying again. I did format the Linux partition for 11.3 with fresh install: everything went ok, yet the internet connection was veeeery slow; updating packages or downloading software its a pain… I tried some solutions on this forum, yet not worked. I then downgraded to 11.2… same problem … it did not happened 6 months ago on my first install.
The internet speed in Win XP partition is fast and normal…
I’m not a techy guy… I’m not very good at command line tricks… Kind of more end user skill here.
I’d like to use openSuse KDE intead of Win or Ubuntu… out of this network problem, I was very happy with the initial experiencie I had with 11.2
Trying to determine Internet connection speed separate from PC operation, which makes the total response may be hard to do, but lets us see your results. A fast Internet connection and sluggish Browser might indicate a local install problem. Further, up and down grading of your install is not a good thing to try as a clean install will produce the best results.
Here are my numbers from this test:
ISP = Road Runner - Austin, Texas: Ping Time 20 ms
Download Speed was: 13.62 Mb/s
Upload Speed was: 0.48 Mb/s
Server is <= 50 miles
Movie 800 MB = 8 min.
Video Clip 35 MB = 21 sec.
MP3 File 5 MB = 3 sec
I formated both root and home directories again with a fresh install of 11.3
have you tried disabling IPv6?
to see if that is the problem, boot and when the green screen comes up
hit the down arrow and then start typing
I hit the down arrow all the way through boot and no special screen or terminal window appeared so I can disable IPv6; what was supposed to happen pressing the down arrow?
SpeedTest:
On Win XP I get:
Ping: 97 ms
download: 1.7 mbps
up: 0.31 mbps
Its the normal service I have and speed is ok (in Win XP)
Tryed the same on openSuse 11.3, and first, was a nightmare to download the multimedia codecs for KDE4 (so flash can be played in the speedTest page); it was a slugish process … Then I got the same speed numbers. So, what is wrong if the speedTest is testing the same fot both Suse and Win, and the actual experience of internet downloads and browsing is soooo slow ?
are you wired or wireless? Wired
using KDE4 or Gnome? KDE4
using ifup or network manager? don’t know the answer to that; what “ifup” and “network manager” are? I’m learning here…
Its the normal service I have and speed is ok (in Win XP)
Tryed the same on openSuse 11.3, and first, was a nightmare to download the multimedia codecs for KDE4 (so flash can be played in the speedTest page); it was a slugish process … Then I got the same speed numbers. So, what is wrong if the speedTest is testing the same fot both Suse and Win, and the actual experience of internet downloads and browsing is soooo slow ?
are you wired or wireless? Wired
using KDE4 or Gnome? KDE4
using ifup or network manager? don’t know the answer to that; what “ifup” and “network manager” are? I’m learning here…
Your download speed is slow I would say, but it sounds like the problem is not your internet connection and the slow part is how your browser is working. If it takes a while to download flash, it could take even longer to fix Firefox as I would suggest you re-download the most current version from Mozilla. Here is the openSUSE 11.3 Repository:
I would add it in YaST / Software Repositories and save, then I would start YaST / Software Management, Select the view button and select Repositories. I would select the name you gave the new Mozilla repository and then elect to switch to it (a selection at the top of the window that shows the file listing for the selected repository. The will download and update all of the Firefox files from the correct location. I would restart your desktop when it was done.
As to your last statement, most everyone knows if they get their network directly from a network cable, or from a phone line and dial-up or some kind of Wireless router, that has antennas on it. How do you get your internet connection?
The ifup and networkmanager refer to how you configure your network in openSUSE. Most likely, you are using ifup which was done for you automatically and a wired connection as these work most of the time without any sort of added effort. To look at your setup, open YaST / Network Devices / Network Settings. NetworkManager is often used with a wireless connection, but does work with a wired one as well. I have never used Linux with a modem, so don’t know much about that setup.
I just disabled IPv6 through YaST -> Network Settings -> Global Options -> ] Disable IPv6.
I restarted and the problem remains
Thank you jdmcdaniel3, yet I’m not sure the problem is the browser (FF), since part of the installation of codecs I performed, was through Yast and the download speed was tremendously slow as well. So, it’s a general internet access problem, whether is in the browser, repositories retrieval, etc.
Your download speed is slow I would say, but it sounds like the problem is not your internet connection
I do agree with you; 1.7mbps is slow compared with 13.62 Mb/s; unfortunately where I live, ISP speeds are not good. Yet, even with 1.7 mbps, the experience in Win XP is far superior that in the current Suse 11.3 situation I have, which is simply impractical.
alquimista wrote:
> I hit the down arrow all the way through boot and no special screen or
> terminal window appeared so I can disable IPv6; what was supposed to
> happen pressing the down arrow?
nothing is supposed to happen except it stops the clock from running
out and automatically booting whatever is at the top of the list…
just hit the down arrow (to stop the clock) and start typing (like i
said earlier) and you will see the line appear as you type…then it
enter (which will cause the boot) and THEN see if the problem is
solved…if it is, then someone can tell you how to add that line to
your system so it will boot up automatically with IPv6
disabled…ACTUALLY, if it does solve the problem, then use the
search function in the forum to find “ipv6.disable=1” and you will
find it dozens and dozens of times, and most of them will tell you how
to make it happen every time (without typing it every time=!
1.- Open Mozilla FF, and type “about:config” in the URL field, then ENTER
2.- Will ask if you are sure, press Ok.
3.- Write in the filter field: IPv6
4.- One of the parameters is boolean: switch it to true.
and done…
Not sure if its related just to EchoLife HG520c ADSL modem… I found this solution on a mexican Ubuntu forum.
Thank you all !
I am happy to hear you found your problem without reloading Firefox. I see that the default for the setting:
network.dns.disableIPv6;false
Is false and you have changed it to true so that IPv6 is no longer in operation. Something about your ISP might be at fault there and perhaps on Windows, true is the default. This thread may indeed help someone else and so thank you for taking the time to post this solution here.
Unfortunately I had to go back to openSuse 11.2; since with 11.3 I have the issue posted here for which there was no answer. With 11.2 my Desktop PC used to work fine.
Yet now I have the problem of internet slow again in 11.2: browsing speed its ok and normal with the solution of the previous post on this thread. Yet when I run Yast and packages are downloaded, its again veeeery slow. I tryed both, switching on and off IPv6 protocol and the problem is not solved, which worked fine for 11.3.
In this case, you need to follow DenverDs advice to disable IPv6 using boot parameters (btw: this solution, as far as I know, is not needed in 11.3, but only in 11.2 [where you can not disable IPv6 via YaST]). For more information, look →here.
This might not help you either, but I notice you obviously have not run a systemwide update yet. This is pretty much the first thing one should do right after the initial install (remember you will have to redo the boot parameter referring to IPv6 after the update because the kernel will be updated too).
Can you tell me how can I run a systemwide update ? Yesterday I saw the update applet automatically updating stuff… And now using Yast, I see an option to perform and “online Update”… now I’m executing it; is that the one you meant by systemwide ?
Start YaST, then enter the root user password. Then Select Software / Software Management and allow your repositories to be updated. Then select Package / All Packages / Update if newer Version Available. If the number of packages are greater than 16 or so, you will be told the number to be updated and if you are sure. Say OK. If this creates any conflicts, you must settle the problems manually. Normally You NEVER break any requirements, never ignore any problems. It is OK to change vendor, but I normally to not downgrade anything. A file or two, might need to be deleted. If you have any questions, you can always abort, after taking notes on the question and come online and ask for advice.
I updated packages as instructed; only packages to be updated were libxine and OpenOffice.
The original problem of very slow package / software downloads in Yast, remains. If there could be additional alternatives on DenverDs advice, will be very welcome; If I can solve this IPv6 problem, everything would be then finally stable in my desktop with oss 11.2
For some reason the boot parameters to disable ipv6 were not initially stored in my grub file; now I have changed, stored it, reboot and… problem solved !!! lol!
I’ll try to explain this: obviously openOffice and Xine were not the only packages that were updated, maybe the update applet did that (I’m not using the applet, so I’m not sure). I am sure the output of ‘uname -a’ will show you a different Kernel-version now, and as I wrote above:
… it did not happened 6 months ago on my first install.