thinkpad 760c speed

[cph@martigny.ai.mit.edu (Chris Hanson)]

   Date: Thu, 15 Feb 96 14:47:57 EST
   From: Lee Hetherington <ilh@goldilocks.lcs.mit.edu>

   Still, I'm wondering if there is a problem with my machine.  So, if any
   of you out there have a 760c, I'd really appreciate it if you could run
   my benchmark.

When I configured Linux on a 760c for a colleague, I noticed some
severe performance problems.  I initially installed Debian 0.93, which
uses kernel 1.2.13.  The machine had a lot of trouble talking to the
network and the serial line; it was practically unusable.  On a tip
from another 760 user, I tried kernel 1.3.52, and magically, most of
the problems went away.  (Of course, 1.3.52 added some problems of its
own, all of which have been fixed in more recent kernels.)

When I upgraded the machine to the 1.3 kernel, I also noticed that it
seemed considerably faster.  Not only did it boot faster, which is to
be expected with the 1.3 kernels, but everything felt faster.  Whereas
with 1.2.13 the machine didn't feel any different from my 755c, after
the upgrade it really felt like a fast Pentium machine.

Anyway, I recommend that you try out a 1.3 kernel and see if that
makes any difference.  Try 1.3.62, the current kernel as of a couple
of days ago, which seems quite good (I'm running it right now).
Installing a new kernel takes only an hour or so and is time well
spent.  Based on my experience with that machine, I wouldn't consider
running a 1.2 kernel on it.

(I don't know how familiar you are with Linux; if you need help
building the kernel, call me or drop by.)