Arch on USB is super slow

Noft1337 · 2023-12-19 12:21:00

Hi, in the past, I have installed Arch-Linux on a 32GB bootable USB and it worked wondeful.
As expected I ran out of storage very quickly so I purchased a 256GB USB (3.2Gen1) and installed Arch-Linux on it, however, on this USB the system works very poorly and super slow..
It has come to the point that opening an instance of Console could take 10+ seconds, and when opening it, when I type in commands, sometimes, the input freezes for about a min and when it returns to normal it completes the input I have typed while it was frozen.
When opening chrome it gets frozen multiple times a minute and prompts Chrome is not responding. wait/force quit

I thought that maybe there's a process that stresses my system but I got the system to freeze while having htop monitoring the CPU and Memory usage and it seems just fine.
I have recently upgraded my whole system to hopefully fix this issue but to no avail.

It's important to note that it is the slowest right after boot and as the time passes, it gets gradualy better (about 10 mins after boot) but still is somewhat slow

I am using Gnome 45.2 as my desktop env,
My hardware is:

CPU: Intel i7 9700KF
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1060
Memory: 32GB@4000Mhz

smartctl on rootfs partition:

smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.6.6-arch1-1] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, [url=http://www.smartmontools.org]www.smartmontools.org[/url]

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Vendor:               USB
Product:              SanDisk 3.2Gen1
Revision:             1.00
Compliance:           SPC-4
User Capacity:        250,148,290,560 bytes [250 GB]
Logical block size:   512 bytes
Serial number:        0101a2283bfa47688ff4
Device type:          disk
Local Time is:        Tue Dec 19 14:09:45 2023 IST
SMART support is:     Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is:     Enabled
Temperature Warning:  Disabled or Not Supported

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Health Status: OK
Current Drive Temperature:     0 C
Drive Trip Temperature:        0 C

Error Counter logging not supported

Device does not support Self Test logging

systemd-analyze critical-chain:

The time when unit became active or started is printed after the "@" character.
The time the unit took to start is printed after the "+" character.

graphical.target @11.438s
└─multi-user.target @11.438s
  └─systemd-user-sessions.service @10.917s +46ms
    └─nss-user-lookup.target @11.282s

Last edited by Noft1337 (2023-12-20 11:36:18)

Scimmia · 2023-12-19 13:58:40

Just because the interface is fast (USB3.2) doesn't mean the flash is fast. It sounds like you simply got a slow drive.

seth · 2023-12-19 14:01:33

USB is super slow

ftfy.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Benchmarking#dd

Also, PSA: USB KEYS ARE NOT CHEAP SSDs - WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS STUPID.
The key will die in no time.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Instal … ble_medium
For nvidia specifically make sure to direct at least __GL_SHADER_DISK_CACHE_PATH to some tmfs location.

It's important to note that it is the slowest right after boot and as the time passes, it gets gradualy better (about 10 mins after boot) but still is somewhat slow

Because you're increasingly relying on the build-up file cache in RAM?

And how's that the entire critical chain?
Also please use [code][/code] tags, not "quote" tags. Edit your post in this regard.

Scimmia · 2023-12-19 14:08:08

There are also a LOT of counterfeit flash drives out there. Google should be able to help in identifying if that's the case here.

nichts · 2023-12-19 16:57:07

USB KEYS ARE NOT CHEAP SSDs - WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS STUPID.

Since the device seems to have smart capabilities, which cheap USB-Keys usually do not have, it might be a SSD anyway? Would be good if TO could point to the specific product.

If by any chance there is a cable involved, or a hub, I’d check that, too.

Last edited by nichts (2023-12-19 17:04:16)

seth · 2023-12-19 20:02:47

https://www.google.com/search?client=qu … 2Gen1#ip=1 spits out a lot of images of usb keys and the smart data is very sparse and the drive size small.

But I might indeed have jumped to conclusions and the OP should certainly comment on that.
We shall see.

Noft1337 · 2023-12-20 11:37:44

Scimmia wrote:

There are also a LOT of counterfeit flash drives out there. Google should be able to help in identifying if that's the case here.

Im about 99% sure it isn't a counterfit, I purchased it from a official retail sore.

Noft1337 · 2023-12-20 11:38:37

Scimmia wrote:

Just because the interface is fast (USB3.2) doesn't mean the flash is fast. It sounds like you simply got a slow drive.

Ah I see, maybe I should switch to an external SSD/M2 then.

Noft1337 · 2023-12-20 12:44:03

Also, PSA: USB KEYS ARE NOT CHEAP SSDs - WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS STUPID.
The key will die in no time.

I did not intend it to serve as a cheap alternative to an SSD, I just wanted high portability so I could take my desktop anywhere (and I do).

And how's that the entire critical chain?

I have no idea, that what it returns..

Thanks for the information though, I will try to follow these guides !

Arch Linux

#1 2023-12-19 12:21:00

Arch on USB is super slow

#2 2023-12-19 13:58:40

Re: Arch on USB is super slow

#3 2023-12-19 14:01:33

Re: Arch on USB is super slow

#4 2023-12-19 14:08:08

Re: Arch on USB is super slow

#5 2023-12-19 16:57:07

Re: Arch on USB is super slow

#6 2023-12-19 20:02:47

Re: Arch on USB is super slow

#7 2023-12-20 11:37:44

Re: Arch on USB is super slow

#8 2023-12-20 11:38:37

Re: Arch on USB is super slow

#9 2023-12-20 12:44:03

Re: Arch on USB is super slow

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