UbuntuHandbook | News, Tutorials, Howtos for Ubuntu Linux

Enable Zram in Ubuntu for Better Performance on Limited RAM

Last updated: August 28, 2024 — 2 Comments

This is a step by step tutorial shows how to enable zram Kernel module and use as Swap device for better system performance in Ubuntu 24.04 PC/laptop with limited RAM.

As you may know, Ubuntu usually includes a swap space. It works like MS Windows’ “virtual memory”, that uses the hard disk for additional memory when there is not enough physical RAM for all tasks request.

Swap on disk however is slow, which will slow down the overall system performance. So, Linux introduced “zram” and “zswap” kernel modules to improve performance for computers with small amount of RAM.

In Howtos RAM, zram, zswap

How to Enable Zswap for Ubuntu 24.04 PC with Limited RAM

Last updated: September 6, 2024 — 4 Comments

This tutorial shows how to enable zswap kernel module to increase usable RAM in your Ubuntu computer or laptop.

As you know, Ubuntu Linux usually includes a swap space (either disk partition or swap file) on the disk. It can be used for hibernation, and as extended memory space. When the system needs more memory resources and the RAM is going full, then the inactive pages in memory are moved to the swap space.

Swap space can be helpful for computers with limited RAM. But, it’s slow! Too much swap in use will slow down the overall system performance.

As workarounds, Linux includes 2 kernel modules: zram and zswap. Instead of moving inactive pages from memory to disk (swap space), they do similar things by compressing the data into dynamically allocated RAM space.

As the data is compressed, it takes less physical memory space which makes your RAM even more usable. While, keeping the system running smoothly because reading from compressed data in RAM is usually faster than reading from swap on disk.

In Howtos RAM, zswap

Disable Keyboard, Mouse, or Lid from Waking up Your Ubuntu PC

Last updated: October 30, 2024 — 2 Comments

This tutorial shows how to enable/disable Keyboard, Mouse, Lid Open, and/or other devices events from waking up your Ubuntu PC or laptop from sleep.

By default, open laptop lid, press any key on keyboard, or press sleep button can wake up your computer from suspend or hibernation state. If you want, you can configure Ubuntu to ignore certain wakeup triggers that you don’t want.

image from pixabay.com

In Howtos hibernate, suspend

How to Control ThinkPad Fan Speed in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: September 2, 2024 — 6 Comments

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to control the fan speed in Lenovo ThinkPad laptop running Ubuntu 24.04.

The fan speed control solution differs depends on computer manufacturers. For my ThinkPad T480s, fan is usually not spinning when doing the basic web browsing and other light works.

But if you want, it’s easy to set a fixed fan speed, or adjust the speed automatically according to the core temperature.

In Howtos fan speed, thinkpad

Enable Wake-on-LAN to Wake up (or Boot) Ubuntu 24.04 Remotely

Last updated: August 19, 2024 — Leave a comment

This is a step by step guide shows how to enable Wake-on-LAN feature in Ubuntu, so you can wake it up from suspend, hibernation, or shutdown state remotely using another computer or mobile phone.

Wake on LAN, WoL in short, is a protocol allows computer to be turned on or waked up from sleep using network message. It’s based on AMD’s Magic Packet Technology, and also known as wake on WAN, remote wake-up, power on by LAN, and resume by LAN.

WoL uses wired network on target computer for the communication. Though, there’s also Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWLAN) allowing to wake up wirelessly.

In Howtos network, power

How to Disable IPv6 in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: August 18, 2024 — Leave a comment

This is a step by step beginner’s guide shows how to disable IPv6 in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with or without system restart.

IPv6 is the future of internet protocols. But for some reasons, such as compatibility with certain networks, testing purpose, or security concerns, or just because don’t use that thing, users may want to disable IPv6 in their machines.

Disabling IPv6 is generally safe. There may be small performance loss on some websites and services that are optimized for IPv6, though you can re-enable it at any time as you want.

In Howtos network

PyCharm 2024.2 Released! Wayland Rendering Support & New AI Features

Last updated: August 14, 2024 — Leave a comment

JetBrains announced the new 2024.2 release of its PyCharm IDE just a few days after the release of IntelliJ IDEA.

The new release introduces significant improvements to the AI Assistant. It enhances cloud-based code completion with faster and more accurate suggestions, and features better UX including syntax highlighting for suggested code, and option to accept suggestions incrementally.

The AI now uses the latest GTP-4o model, supports chat references and semantic search. It features AI integration in the Terminal tool window, and AI-assisted VCS conflict resolution.

In News PyCharm

Create Separate /home Partition (e.g., on USB) for Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: August 12, 2024 — 2 Comments

This tutorial shows how to separate /home from an existing Ubuntu file-system, to individual disk partition or even USB stick, while preserving all personal data.

Linux can have separate /home partition, which is useful for re-installing system, or even trying different Linux distributions without losing most of custom settings, configurations, downloads, etc.

While installing Linux, there’s usually an option to create separate /home. If you didn’t do that, then here’s step by step guide shows you how to do the trick afterward.

In Howtos

IntelliJ IDEA 2024.2 Released! New Default UI, Wayland Rendering Support

Last updated: August 10, 2024 — Leave a comment

JetBrains announced the new 2024.2 release of its IntelliJ IDEA integrated development environment (IDE).

The release uses new clean and modern UI as default, while classic one is available as plugin. For Linux, it auto-places window controls to left or right depends on your desktop settings. And, it switched to JetBrains Runtime 21 with enhanced security, performance, as well as Wayland rendering support.

In News IntelliJ IDEA, programming

Linux Kernel 6.10 Available to Install via Mainline Kernel PPA

Last updated: August 8, 2024 — Leave a comment

For Ubuntu 24.04 and its based systems, the Mainline Kernel PPA finally fixed building recent Kernel packages since v6.10.3.

The Mainline Kernel PPA is Ubuntu maintained package archive that keeps building the upstream Linux Kernel releases for testing purpose.

The recent builds since v6.10-rc3 were broken due to unknown reason. If you’re waiting for the fix for it, the latest build for Kernel 6.10.3 is backing for working again.

In Howtos kernel

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