How I can reduce the loading speed of Calc ?

users
#1

First time I come here -> Hello to everybody and thanks to The Document
Foundation.

I have an Asus EeePc 1005 HA - 2 Go ram (2 Go * 1) - Intel Atom N280 @
1.66GHz - Windows 7 Home Premium 32-but SP1 - HD 244 Go

My LO version is 4.0.1.2 (in french).

Number of operations : 100.
Memory for LO : 20 Mo
Memory per item : 5,2 Mo.

My (small) file : 24,6 ko (28 on the disk).

On the desk I have a link for my file. After a double click I have to wait
42 sec. Another way :

I click on LO shortcut : >= 6 sec. Then...
I choose Calc : >= 2 sec. Then...
I choose my file (in the last of the last files...) : >= 26 sec.

How I can reduce the loading speed of Calc ?

Thanks,

Jacques

#2

Hello Jacques

The only answer to your question is enabling the "quick launch" option that places some of the LO package in memory during boot of the Windows system. It appears that you have 2 Gigabyte of Ram. Are you willing to take part of it to have part of the LO package reside in RAM to speed up the process?

You can find that option at:

      Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Memory
      LibreOffice Quickstarter check box "Enable systray Quickstarter"

I have tested LibreOffice on an old Compaq 3500+ CPU system and LibreOffice took 20+ seconds to load up. That was the oldest/slowest system I have tested 3.6.x or 4.0.1 on. I know that Atom-based system can be slow, but they seem to allow for smaller size systems. The Raspberry Pi systems are the smallest "new" system I know of and are equivalent to a Pentium 4 300 MHz processor system, so we do need to find the best tricks to make it load/run quicker.

#3

Thank you krackedpress,

I checked the box - Chargement de LibreOffice au démarrage du système - (=
Load LibreOffice when the system start).

The first time I click on my file's link I have to wait 50 sec. The second
time 32 sec.

If I open LO I wait maximum 6 sec. Then I click on Calc and I wait less than
1 sec. Now I choose my file in the recent documents list and I wait around
30 sec.

Now I look at my netbook and I remember how big was this machine in 1979. I
remember how long we had to wait sometimes... The most important is : today
we have Writer, Calc... for nothing. And it works fine compare to /others/
you have to pay a lot for.

So it is ok. After somedays I will play /again/on my desktop. I am going to
bring it to the shop where they will change the CPU (a second hand Core 2
duo E 8400 instead of P 4 531), put 8 Go Ram (4 Go x 2) and I will /run/ on
W7 64 bits and Linux Mint 64 bits too. This will be the future for me...

Thanks again,

Jacques

#4

Hi :slight_smile:
LibreOffice does seem very slow to open, especially first time after a reboot.  Same on Gnu&Linux tbh.  The Quickstarter does speed it up a bit but it's the 2nd or subsequent times that it is a lot less slow.  Even then it is slow but is well worth waiting for.  Much better quality documents. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#5

To get the best results, after the checking of the box, you should restart your system. That is what I was told a year or two ago.

What you are now saying is a file/document loading issue.

How long has it been since you defragged your Atom-based system? The more fragmented the drive it the slower the load times can be. Wor my Windows systems [XP to Win7] I have been using the free "Auslogics Disk Defrag" package.

http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag

I keep a list of free security and utility package at this list page.

http://www.lungstrom.com/list/

That way I never need to remember URLs or specific names of packages. I also refer people to that list to find the free security packages that they need to replace the paid versions that they do not want to pay for any more. LO is listed there as well.

#6

I do not use the quickstarter options at all.

I think after the install, it take time to setup some things on the system, that is needed for a first time use for a new install.

LO use to be 5 or even 10 times slower on my quad Linux system, back in the 3.4 and 3.5 days. Now it is speedy to launch. 3.6.x and 4.0.1 were slower on the old AMD 3500 and 3000 32-bit systems, than the 3.4 install that was on them. It all depends on 32/64 bit and system resources. Less than 1 GB of RAM can can be really slow and dragging sometimes. I have had so many apps running sometimes, that I make my quad act like an old/slow Pentium 4 system. That is why I needed what I have. The need to have several type of graphics package, LO, Firefox, Thunderbird, and some other packages running at the same time for some of my projects.

#7

Thanks a lot krackedpress and Tom,

After the defragmentation (with Auslogics) nothing fantastic happened (the
data partition was 1% fragmented, and system 9%...).

I have a bookmark on my toolbar which is http://www.lungstrom.com/list/. So
I will have look very soon.

Jacques

#8

Thanks a lot krackedpress and Tom,

After the defragmentation (with Auslogics) nothing fantastic happened (the
data partition was 1% fragmented, and system 9%...).

I have a bookmark on my toolbar which is http://www.lungstrom.com/list/. So
I will have look very soon.

Jacques

You would not believe how many time I see systems that are 20 to 30 percent fragmented.

That is one of the causes of file opening bottleneck and slow down. Also it reduces the life of your drive.

I hope you find the solution that works for your Atom system. I do know that our developers have been working hard to remove the old coding that made the earlier version slower.

By chance, what type of spreadsheet calculations are you doing, or how complex is the cells/sheet? What was your memory settings in the Tools > Options . . . dialogs. Sometimes the number of objects and memory per objects, and the like can cause issues. It might help, or not, with you system. I have never dealt with an Atom-based system before. I heard once that MS's OSs are not too friendly with the Atom chipset on some boards. But, that was last year. I know that there are a lot of OS based tweaks that can speed up a system, but you will need someone else for that, since I use Win7 about 5% of the time and Ubuntu the 95%.

The list was created when I was a Windows-only user and needed to find free solutions, since some of the software I needed for a new system could cost more than my rent. I have not gone through all of the links in a long time. When I find one that is bad, I fix it or remove the listed item. Now I use Linux for most things since 99.99% of the needed software was free. The one item [specialty-driver] I needed to buy, no longer is since the color laser printer died.

The menu bar is a "hover and pop-down" system. You need to click on the subsection you want.

#9

Hi :slight_smile:
Superb!  I just visited that list too and looks like some good names in there that have a good reputation rather than just being big names (although sometimes things have both).

Have you tried Gnumeric?  If you need a fast, light-weight (but powerful) dedicated spreadsheet program without worrying about having all the rest of the programs then Gnumeric kinda knocks the socks off Calc (and Excel)

http://projects.gnome.org/gnumeric/

but it doesn't have such tight integration with other apps and things in the way Calc has.  So, "it just does what it says on the tin", ie it only does spreadsheet functions.  Oh, and it looks a bit Win98 for it's Gui and website which fools people into missing the power "under the bonnet".  There is a good argument for using Writer for the odd document here or there and then Gnumeric if you use spreadsheets a LOT.

If you do try Gnumeric please let us know how it compares
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#10

People can comment on my free and FOSS package list - OFF the list - or at least what package should be added or removed from it.

I just added it to the info as a "side note" to my posting.

To be honest, I have not spent much time updating, editing, etc., this list over the past few years since I started using Linux for my main/default desktop.

One of the last major add-ons to that list was for LibreOffice.

LO needs to be on list of free and FOSS packages that can, or should, be included with the installation of packages on a new Windows-based computer. I keep LO on that needed list up there with security packages, defrag, doPDF printer, Web of Trust, plus graphics and audio/video packages.

The more of these essential software/package lists that LO is placed on, the better it is for LO. We need to get on the "higher profile" lists than something I made for my community of friends, associates, and those who find out about it by "word of mouth".

#11

Hi krackedpress,

This is accounting. I try to explain in details:

Three lines and for each three columns of numeric datas and two of text .
Two colums are the sums of the expenses for each account => for one of them
I have 24 lines and three colums: one for text, one for the expenses and one
for the dates. For the two others I have three columns : one of text and
two of expenses. For one of this both account I have 25 lines and for the
last one 8 lines. I have two celles more with a sum in each. Nothing more
complicated except different colors. 18 cells with sums.

My LO version is 4.0.1.2 (in french).

Number of operations : 100.
Memory for LO : 20 Mo
Memory per item : 5,2 Mo.

My file : 24,6 ko (28 on the disk).

Thanks.

Jacques

#12

Thanks

Yes, the sheet is not complex enough for the file to be large and slow.

We must have a user out there that knows tricks for speeding up Atom systems.

#13

Hi :slight_smile:
Sadly i suspect that it's really going to take someone building it from source code in order to make much faster.  Current builds and standard downloads are built against very different architecture.  It might be worth exploring the Pi project to see if they have a usable build but that might still be not quite perfect on other Atom machines.  The Pi one is likely to be shed loads better even if not quite perfect.

Sorry, i should have thought of it before!
Apols and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#14

Thanks krackedpress but don't worry to much for me.

After a couple of days I will play on my desktop (1) and I will be happy.
Even on the EeePc I am not sad (2), I am happy, but slowlier.

I will answer to all the question about this issue if you think we can help
the others users.

Jacques

(1) Dual boot 64 bits (LinuxMint W7), 8Go ram, Core 2 duo E 8400...

(2) I have a roof, heaters when it is cold like now, plenty to eat,
exercises and entertainment for my brain, so...

#15

Thank you Tom.

Jacques

#16

I have heard that the RPi system uses a Debian based OS that was "modified/compiled" for the RPi, and that the LO version for the RPi was compiled from the Debian-based source code to work efficiently on the RPi's specific architecture. The RPi speed is similar to a P4 300 to 700 MHz depending on the OS, the model [A or B], and tweaks to the hardware.

The good news for US, LO and TDF, is the RPi is near its 1 million mark of made/sold units and its default office package is LibreOffice. Even if a quarter of those some units have had the user installed LO on them, that will give LO a set of young [or no so young] users. The user count for that could be 200,000 or more world wide. Getting the young school kids started with LO should tend to make them want to use LO on more traditional and more powerful systems.

As for the RPi/Pi system. . . . .
It was designed for the education market. They are inexpensive basic one-board systems to help teach school age kids how to program in a few languages, like Python, and by using a attachable controller to be able to create simple [and complex] electronic devices/system for robotics and controller systems. They were meant to be low costing entry level systems for those kids and schools that did not have the budgets to buy all of the needed "units" for their computer lab to have one computer per student in the lab. Actually, with the SD card having both the OS and data/programs, the student could have a RPi at home and bring in the SD card he/she was using and work on the same OS and data/program in the school's lab. No need to have a networked server with student accounts and such. The RPi was designed to work as well as it could at the lowest cost possible to the schools and the kids.

Atom based, and similar, systems were not powerful enough for my needs for home/office and mobile needs.

So I forgot all of the tricks and tweaks that could be used in the slower systems still out there for used systems and for sale in the small foot-print system that have Atom and similar speed/power CPUs.

For me, even a single core AMD 3500+ CPU with 512 - 1,024 MB RAM desktop seems too slow for my needs. My Intel dual core T3200 2.0 GHz CPU and 3 GB RAM DELL laptop seems slow to me now. My new[er] dual core Intel Pentium B950 2.1 GHz with 4 GB RAM Gateway laptop is better, but not up-to my quad desktop I bought in Feb 2010. I needed the power/speed of the quad for my home/office use.

#17

Hi :slight_smile:
So the trick would be to try to download and use the LibreOffice from the Raspberry Pi people.  Compiling yourself takes a ridiculously long time.  If the RPi one does work then it's an instant win
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#18

Thanks Tom and krackedpress,

I keep this idea and will have a look later. After four days I will be on
LinuxMint...

#19

Which version are you going to use?

I understand there are two now, one based on Ubuntu and the other based directly on Debian.

I had difficulties with installing networked printers - Canon and Epson inkjets - when I tested Linux Mint on a computer I attached to my TV for media streaming for YouTube and other Internet content. Otherwise it worked well.

Are you going to go with Cinnamon or MATE desktop, or the non-GNOME ported ones.

As for using RPi's version of LO, it was compiled fore its hardware and OS system so it might not work well at all on an Atom system.

I do wonder how hard it would be to compile LO to a specific system and its hardware. I know it would take a real long time to do the compiling on a slower systems.

#20

Hi :slight_smile:
Grrr i thought the Raspberry Pi was using an Atom chip but it's using an Arm11 :(  So, i have been talking a complete load of nonsense.

It might be worth asking on the devs list to see if anyone there is willing and able to compile/build the 4.02 on an Atom or ask them for help building it yourself.  It will take ages.  I get the impression you have to leave it running overnight (or whenever you do sleep) in order to avoid too much frustration.  Also the first time you try it it might well not pan out quite right so you might need to redo it.  Hence why i suggest asking the devs if they can do it.  However once you do get it done it should be far better as a result.  If you get help from the devs they might be more willing to accept it as an official build which might help other people.

Apols and regards from
Tom :slight_smile: