More info!
I was using a Zotac ZboxSD-ID13 for my thin client which has "Intel
Graphics Media Accelerator 3150" graphics.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173036
I added 4GB of RAM when I was troubleshooting.
I also had Firefox and Google Chrome running as local apps. Although the
desktop environment ran smoothy with MATE and Xfce, the browsers were
still unbearable.
I switched now to a Dell Optiplex 7010 as my thin client with "Intel HD
2500 Integrated Graphics" and it works great. So, apparently there is a
huge difference between those integrated graphics sets that was giving
me terrible performance with my browsers, in addition to Unity. Keep in
mind my LTSP server is running 12.04 LTS now.
The problem now is upgrading the desks around the department that are
using the junky Intel GMA 3150.
On 11/17/2014 10:21 AM, John Hupp wrote:
You have to see the right source reading, which is hard to find, but I
was aware that Alkis G and other prime movers don't much like LTSP
with Ubuntu 14.04.
Alkis' summary is (in Greek) at
http://alkisg.mysch.gr/steki/index.php?topic=5857.msg66678#msg66678
Google translates this roughly as (and I think 4.12 should be
translated as 12.04):
/
//Disadvantages of 4.14 compared to 4.12://
//- It does not support some ancient graphics cards as S3Virge, Trident,//
//Rage etc., whose drivers based on an architecture called XAA, which//
//repealed. At 14.04 they play with the driver VESA, which is much
slower//
//and does not support all resolutions.//
//- It has various issues with the Greek. For example, I think it is
difficult to//
//write in Greek fullscreen SDL apps like tuxtype, should make the
nonfullscreen.//
//- It has some thematakia the panel (panel), icons (applets) and the//
//menu, but OK are not particularly serious.//
//
//Advantages of 14.04 compared to 4.12://
//Upon ... you tell me anything to write here. Okay, newer versions of//
//programs, but I did not need a specific feature of these ... The
kernel of//
//14.04 to 12.04 is available with the name linux-image-generic-lts-
trusty,//
//so new hardware is supported.//
//
//So I would suggest anyone who is not totally specific reason to do
update, can//
//not press upgrade.//
//If you find along the way so why do it.//
//A few days will get renewed and live CD installation 12.04.5 for
those who//
//make new facilities.//
//We live CD 14.04 and available, but for the above reasons probably
best not//
//to use those who do not have a specific reason ... At some point it
would be//
//written and wiki page for the action to make those who choose to
upgrade./
In general I think they recommend staying with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS at
this point, and if you need more current hardware support, installing
the LTS Enablement Stack. See
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack
------------------------------------------------------------------------
That said, I'm trying to work with Lubuntu 14.04 (LXDE) and LTSP, and
I have been trying to verify what can or cannot be done with video
streaming to thin clients. Especially Flash, but secondarily HTML5.
This is because I am hard-headed (and because I have a bunch of old
thin clients).
Because the brief advice I have seen here or there is that (in
addition to the 12.04 recommendation), if you want to run Flash on
LTSP, use fat clients. Video streaming in general would probably net
the same advice.
And I think that I have pretty much proven that to be good advice
(with perhaps one exception, which I'll get to). I'm finding that to
run Flash, the thin client has to be very nearly at the same hardware
spec as one would need to run the machine standalone or as a fat client.
That is, a Pentium 4 at around 2.4 GHz is the approximate point at
which Flash runs decently in a default window size at 360p quality as
a thin client. But with that processor, you could also run the
machine standalone with a hard drive and get nearly the same
performance. (Though you might need more memory to run the machine
standalone than as a thin client.)
YouTube set to HTML5 mode performs a little better than Flash on the
same hardware.
I do wonder this -- which may be the exception I referred to -- would
a thin client graphics card with a bona fide GPU support a low-spec
CPU such that Flash would work well? (Granted, this would not scale
well in any case due to network bandwidth usage. I wonder nonetheless.)
But unless one could buy a bunch of graphics cards like that at
fire-sale prices, it may be an academic issue only.
On 11/17/2014 10:24 AM, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I'm definitely seeing
better performance when trying different desktops. I guess I'm just
surprised that LTSP documentation doesn't emphasize how useless an
out-of-the-box install is with Ubuntu. Unity would be the default for
anyone installing LTSP and it appears to be quite useless.
I started with Gnome Classic No Effects which is better and comes with
the default install of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. I have also tried Xfce. I will
try MATE next since it has been recommended by many.
I would be curious to see a poll that shows what desktop most LTSP users
are using and which exhibits the best performance for multiple users. As
it stands, if I don't block YouTube streaming, one stream can cause
jumps up to 70mb/s through a gigabit connection which can slow down
traffic for everyone. This is has now become my main concern even with
these lighter weight desktops.
Thanks guys,
mike
On 11/17/2014 02:53 AM, Harry Lavender wrote:
Hi,
You will need to install a different window manager, for example MATE,
or LXDE, and then use it when logging in via LightDM, you can then set
this as the default. MATE and LXDE do not use Compiz as their backend,
so will not have the issues you are facing.
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/08/install-mate-desktop-ubuntu-14-04-lts
The above link explains how to install MATE onto a vanilla install of 14.04.
Good luck!
On 17/11/14 01:30, James Linder wrote:
On 17 Nov 2014, at 7:09 am,ltsp-discuss-requ...@lists.sourceforge.net wrote:
I have tried setting up an LTSP server as a VM and I have the same
problems. So perhaps it is my thin-client.
A couple things regarding Harry's suggestions as well....
How does one get rid of compiz or disable it? If I apt-get remove compiz
it will also remove ubuntu-desktop. I think I need ubuntu-desktop, so
not sure how to get rid of compiz. I did have to install gconf-editor
and disable apps->metacity->general compositing_manager and
compositor_effects so that the gnome terminal wouldn't always be on top.
Are there other post-installation steps that should be done after
setting up an out-of-the-box LTSP server that is not really documented?
I'm using Intel GMA 3150 onboard intel graphics -- doesn't Ubuntu
already contain all Intel drivers? According to their site: "Most
versions of the Linux* operating system include Intel? graphics drivers.
Intel recommends checking with your Linux distribution vendor or
computer manufacturer for precompiled driver packages."
It all depends on what you are trying to achieve.
I use xfce or lxde and never have the problem, but as an old fart I think
bendy-streachy-flashy desktops are APITA.
James
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from Actuate! Instantly Supercharge Your Business Reports and Dashboards
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Get technology previously reserved for billion-dollar corporations, FREE
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