Parallella Speed Up Ubuntu

This is a how to guide to speed up the official Ubuntu for Parallella, this is only for ubuntu-lxde-14.03.06-p16g1.img. Do not apply these tips to another version.

Demo Video

By applying these tips, you will get,


 * Better desktop performance
 * Boot up stability
 * Sound output from HDMI
 * USB devices (e.g. webcam, USB stick)

Apply all the tips at once.

Fix the permission of .gconf
sudo chown -R linaro:linaro ~/.gconf

ALSA configuration
nano ~/.asoundrc

(copy, paste and save)

pcm.!default { type rate slave { pcm "hw:0" rate 48000 } converter "samplerate" }

Disable PCManFM Desktop mode
rm -f ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart

sudo nano /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/autostart

Delete the line "@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE".

Append this line to the bottom of the file.

@feh --bg-fill /usr/share/lxde/wallpapers/parallella.png

Select from Menu -> Preferences -> Desktop Session Settings, uncheck "GNOME Settings Daemon", [OK]

Speed up Firefox
Launch Firefox, Type "about:config" in the URL bar, Type "browser.cache.disk.enable" in the "Search:" bar, Change the value true->false by double-clicking.

Type "mousewheel.acceleration.start" in the "Search:" bar, Double click, set [2].

Speed up SSH login
Disable sshd hostname look-up.

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Append this line to the bottom of the file.

UseDNS no

Disable Screensaver
Menu->Preferences->Screensaver->Display Modes->Mode: Disable Screen Saver

Make Leafpad the default editor
Right-click a text file on PCManFM, select Properties->General->Open with: Select Leafpad

Install fake-hwclock
sudo apt-get install fake-hwclock

Clear persistent-net.rules
sudo rm /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules

Force screen resolution to 1280x720 and enable devtmpfs
sudo mknod -m 660 /dev/mmcblk0 b 179 0

sudo mknod -m 660 /dev/mmcblk0p1 b 179 1

sudo mknod -m 660 /dev/mmcblk0p2 b 179 2

sudo apt-get install device-tree-compiler

sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt

cd /mnt

sudo cp devicetree.dtb devicetree.dtb.bak

sudo dtc -I dtb -O dts -o devicetree.dts devicetree.dtb

sudo nano devicetree.dts

(Search(Ctrl-W) and Edit the "bootargs" line then save)

bootargs = "root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rw rootfstype=ext4 rootwait devtmpfs.mount=1 video=HDMI-A-1:1280x720@60";

sudo dtc -I dts devicetree.dts -O dtb -o devicetree.dtb

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

(copy & paste and save)

Section "Device" Identifier "Card0" Driver "modesetting" Option "ShadowFB" "True" Option "SWCursor" "True" Option "HWCursor" "False" EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Card0" SubSection "Display" #Modes "1920x1200" #Modes "1920x1080" Modes "1280x720" #Modes "640x480" EndSubSection EndSection
 * 1) Uncomment your preferred mode

The preferred resolution is 1280x720, however you can set another resolution.

To check the available resolutions, type this command.

cat /sys/class/drm/card0-HDMI-A-1/modes

Or, type this command on a terminal on the native X Window.

xrandr -q

I strongly recommend 1280x720, not 1920x1080, because too high resolution makes everything slow.

Reboot
sync

sudo reboot

Do not touch the mouse till the Parallella logo appears.