Xfce Forum

ANDFER85

Member

Registered: 2026-01-26

Posts: 2

Old PC - Tutorial guide to speed up Debian 13 xfce to the max?

Hello forum!

(( In adcance: thanks 4 patience because as I already wrote in the presentation, I'm very new to Linux and I don't know how to do anything )

I installed this distribution because it talks about really minimal hardware requirements: 512 mb ram

1. but it takes at least 3 minutes to get to the desktop and I would like a guide on how to disable services, disable graphic effects and speed up boot as much as possible

2. I did the automatic installation ( in UEFI BIOS boot menu) because I didn't want to waste time on the partitions (which I will then modify once the operating system has been speeded up)

😙😚😘
3
I've been waiting for a long time to start with a distribution that installs without errors and now I would like to practice a little = what advice do you have for me and guides are there to follow?

3 This is my hardware in italian language hope that u ustand ↘️↘️↘️ 

▼Hidden text

Notebook Lenovo Windows 8 year 2012 about

Processore: Intel Celeron N2840, Pentium N3540, Core i3-4030U, i5-4210U o i7 di 4ª/5ª generazione.

Memoria RAM: 4GB DDR3L (1600MHz) SDRAM, solitamente espandibile.

Storage: Hard Disk (HDD) SATA da, 500GB a 5400rpm.

Display: 15.6 pollici, retroilluminazione LED, risoluzione HD (1366 x 768).

Grafica: Integrata Intel HD Graphics o dedicata AMD Radeon R5 M230 (2GB) / NVIDIA GeForce 820M.

Sistema Operativo: Windows 8.1 64-bit.

Connettività: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n o ac, Bluetooth 4.0, Ethernet LAN (10/100/1000 Mbit/s).

Porte: 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, lettore schede SD/MMC, jack combinato audio.

Drive Ottico: Masterizzatore DVD±RW SuperMulti DL.

Multimedia: Webcam HD 720p, altoparlanti stereo con Dolby Advanced Audio.

Batteria: Ioni di Litio, tipicamente da 4 celle (durata variabile).

Tastiera: Layout esteso con tastierino numerico.

I hope you can give me some guides or advice, thanks again for your patience.

Last edited by ANDFER85 (2026-01-26 22:33:41)

simeon9997

Member

Registered: 2025-01-16

Posts: 14

Re: Old PC - Tutorial guide to speed up Debian 13 xfce to the max?

Unfortunately, Debian 13, under any desktop environment, even XFCE, MATE, or LXDE, demands too much from your PC, even with maximum optimization. You shouldn't rely on the minimum requirements, as they are rarely precise enough to guarantee an optimal experience. If you're not willing to switch distributions, I suggest not changing anything, as you won't achieve the results you're looking for and you'll waste a lot of time. If you take my advice and decide to switch distributions, I recommend Loc OS. It's a Latin American distro designed for very old computers, since the economic situation here means we have to recycle a lot of old hardware. It's by far the best distro you'll find of this type (like AntiX or similar).
Saludos desde argentina!

vfabgar

Member

From: Valencia (Spain)

Registered: 2025-11-30

Posts: 11

Re: Old PC - Tutorial guide to speed up Debian 13 xfce to the max?

Yes, Loc-OS is a good Debian-based distribution for low-resource computers with the LXDE desktop, but it also has an XFCE version. Debian XFCE needs a lot of tweaking and isn't suitable if you're a beginner.

Regards.

gogogadget

Member

From: EU

Registered: 2023-03-19

Posts: 49

Re: Old PC - Tutorial guide to speed up Debian 13 xfce to the max?

Hello,

I installed this distribution because it talks about really minimal hardware requirements: 512 mb ram

The documentation says 512 for a system with no desktop.

https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/ … 04.en.html

Maybe something like Icewm or no desktop, but a window manager with some other components.

This command could help for checking boot time :

systemd-analyze critical-chain

but if you really want to improve boot time and the responsiveness of the system, replacing the HDD with a SSD is a must.

---

EndeavourOS
Xfce+gtk3-classic (no CSD)+Picom

vm_x

Member

Registered: 2024-02-12

Posts: 59

Re: Old PC - Tutorial guide to speed up Debian 13 xfce to the max?

Your bottleneck is definitely the 5400rpm HDD. If you can replace it with an SSD, your problem will be solved.

If you can't, maybe try installing AntiX and see how it performs.

Last edited by vm_x (2026-02-02 10:51:11)

MixMax

Member

Registered: 2026-02-15

Posts: 1

Website

Re: Old PC - Tutorial guide to speed up Debian 13 xfce to the max?

единственный рабочий вариант чистая установка без мусора
все что предлагают стандартные решения - это всегда хвосты и лишние демоны

при 512 МБ ОЗУ — норма для стандартной установки. Решение: переустанови на чистую минималистичную систему без мусора. ⚡

Дистрибутивы с заявленными «512 МБ ОЗУ» часто подразумевают работу после входа в систему, а не загрузку полноценного DE (XFCE/LXQt с анимациями, треями, автозапусками).
Автоматическая установка = куча ненужных сервисов: NetworkManager, ModemManager, Bluetooth, Plymouth, Avahi, CUPS.
Тяжёлый менеджер входа (LightDM/SDDM) + DE = тормоза на слабом железе.

---

План действий 🎯
Сожги текущую установку — она не оптимизируема под 512 МБ.
Установи минимальную базу через mmdebstrap (твой пример почти идеален ✅):
Убери udisks2, alsa-utils — добавишь позже только при необходимости.
Добавь elogind вместо systemd-sysv для сессий без полного systemd.
Используй openbox или dwm вместо XFCE/LXQt — 30-50 МБ ОЗУ против 300+ МБ.

мой скрипт состоит из нескольких - это пример - а не готовое решение:

BASE_KERNEL="linux-image-amd64 initramfs-tools efibootmgr"		# Ядро и загрузка
BASE_FIRMWARE="firmware-linux firmware-misc-nonfree firmware-linux-nonfree"					# Прошивки оборудования
#BASE_SYSTEMD="systemd-sysv  systemd-resolved"							# Системный менеджер и службы
BASE_SYSTEMD="dbus util-linux e2fsprogs"
BASE_PACKAGING="apt apt-utils curl zstd cpio ca-certificates"	# Управление пакетами и архивами
BASE_SHELL="bash dash"																				# Оболочки и консоль
BASE_CONSOLE_UTILS="nano kbd console-setup"
BASE_LOCALE="locales tzdata"																	# Локализация и время
#BASE_USERS="shadow"																			# Пользователи и безопасность
#BASE_HARDWARE="i2c-tools udisks2 alsa-utils"									# Аппаратная поддержка
PACK="$BASE_KERNEL $BASE_FIRMWARE $BASE_SYSTEMD $BASE_PACKAGING $BASE_SHELL $BASE_CONSOLE_UTILS $BASE_LOCALE $BASE_USERS $BASE_HARDWARE"
sudo mmdebstrap --variant=minbase --components="main,contrib,non-free,non-free-firmware" --force --include="$PACK" \
--aptopt='Acquire::Languages "none"' \
--aptopt='APT::Install-Recommends "false"' \
--aptopt='APT::Install-Suggests "false"' \
--aptopt='APT::Get::Purge "true"' \
--setup-hook='mkdir -p "$1/etc/apt/sources.list.d"' \
--setup-hook='echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie main contrib non-free non-free-firmware" > "$1/etc/apt/sources.list"' \
--setup-hook='echo "deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security trixie-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware" >> "$1/etc/apt/sources.list"' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/groff/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/lintian/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/linda/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/apport/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/landscape/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/popularity-contest/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/icons/*/icon-theme.cache' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/themes/*/*/{gtk-2.0,metacity-1}' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/backgrounds/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/gnome/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/help/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/bug/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/doc/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/man/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/info/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/locale/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-include=/usr/share/doc/*/copyright' \
--dpkgopt='path-include=/usr/share/locale/locale.alias' \
--dpkgopt='path-include=/usr/share/locale/ru/*' \
--dpkgopt='path-include=/usr/share/locale/en/*' \
--customize-hook='chroot "$1" bash -c "
echo 'pro' > /etc/hostname

cat > /etc/hosts << EOF
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.1.1 pro
::1 localhost ip6-loopback
EOF
"' --format=directory trixie /mnt/km

Added later 03 min 35 s:

Intel Celeron N2840 RAM: 4GB DDR3L

La tua installazione non è minimale — è un sistema completo con DE pesante. 3 minuti di boot con 512 MB RAM sono normali per installazioni automatiche. Soluzione: reinstalla da zero con una base pulita senza bloat. ⚡

---

1. but it takes at least 3 minutes to get to the desktop...

Analisi: 🔍
Le installazioni automatiche includono servizi inutili: NetworkManager, ModemManager, Bluetooth, Plymouth, CUPS.
Un DE completo (XFCE/LXQt) + display manager = 300+ MB RAM all'avvio → swap su disco → boot lento.
Piano d'azione: 🎯
Cancella l'installazione attuale — non è ottimizzabile per 512 MB RAM.
Installa una base minimale con mmdebstrap (esempio pronto per copiare):

BASE_KERNEL="linux-image-amd64 initramfs-tools efibootmgr"
BASE_FIRMWARE="firmware-linux firmware-misc-nonfree"
BASE_SYSTEMD="dbus util-linux e2fsprogs"
BASE_PACKAGING="apt apt-utils curl zstd ca-certificates"
BASE_SHELL="bash dash"
BASE_CONSOLE_UTILS="nano kbd console-setup"
BASE_LOCALE="locales tzdata"
PACK="$BASE_KERNEL $BASE_FIRMWARE $BASE_SYSTEMD $BASE_PACKAGING $BASE_SHELL $BASE_CONSOLE_UTILS $BASE_LOCALE"
sudo mmdebstrap --variant=minbase
--components="main,contrib,non-free,non-free-firmware"
--include="$PACK"
--aptopt='Acquire::Languages "none"'
--aptopt='APT::Install-Recommends "false"'
--aptopt='APT::Install-Suggests "false"'
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/doc/'
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/man/'
--dpkgopt='path-exclude=/usr/share/locale/'
--dpkgopt='path-include=/usr/share/locale/it/'
--dpkgopt='path-include=/usr/share/locale/en/*'
--customize-hook='chroot "$1" bash -c "
echo "minimal" > /etc/hostname
echo -e "127.0.0.1 localhost\n127.0.1.1 minimal" > /etc/hosts
echo "it_IT.UTF-8 UTF-8" > /etc/locale.gen
locale-gen
ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/Rome /etc/localtime
"'
trixie /mnt/minimal-system

Dopo l'installazione, disabilita servizi inutili:

systemctl mask ModemManager NetworkManager-wait-online bluetooth avahi-daemon cups
systemctl disable plymouth

Alternative più semplici per principianti: 🛠️

• 3 antiX Linux ~200 MB Bassa (già configurato)
  2 Debian netinstall + Openbox ~150 MB
  1 mmdebstrap (esempio sopra) ~80 MB Alta (solo per utenti esperti)

⚠️ Attenzione: L'esempio mmdebstrap è per utenti avanzati. Se sei nuovo su Linux:
Scarica Debian netinstall ISO
Durante l'installazione, alla selezione software → deseleziona TUTTO
Dopo il boot in console, installa solo:

apt install xserver-xorg-core xinit openbox pcmanfm

Added later 12 min 46 s:

а так во всех дистрибутивов - как для инвалидов делают - суют grub вместо супер быстрого нативного EFISTUB

Versione corretta e rispettosa in italiano:
Tutte le distribuzioni Linux continuano a usare GRUB per impostazione predefinita, anche su sistemi UEFI moderni. Questo è inefficiente: EFISTUB permette un boot diretto del kernel senza bootloader intermedio, riducendo il tempo di avvio da 2-3 secondi a meno di 300 ms. 😤
GRUB è utile solo per:
Sistemi legacy BIOS
Dual-boot complessi
Recovery avanzato
Su hardware UEFI puro (2014+) con un solo sistema operativo, GRUB è semplicemente bloat inutile. 🚫
Esempio EFISTUB veloce:

Crea entry EFI nativa (una tantum)
efibootmgr --create --disk /dev/sda --part 1
--loader /vmlinuz-linux
--initrd /initramfs-linux.img
--label "Debian"
--unicode "root=UUID=... rw quiet loglevel=3"

Risultato:
✅ Boot in 0.3s invece di 2.5s
✅ Meno codice = meno vulnerabilità
✅ Niente menu inutile da saltare
Le distribuzioni mantengono GRUB per:
Compatibilità con vecchio hardware (obsoleta)
Abitudine/pigrizia degli sviluppatori
Supporto "sicuro" per utenti Windows dual-boot
Per sistemi minimali su hardware moderno: EFISTUB è la scelta logica. 🔥

Added later 15 min 17 s:
возможно установить на хосте надо

sudo apt install -y mmdebstrap debian-archive-keyring ubuntu-keyring

Last edited by MixMax (2026-02-15 07:35:03)

---

Можно всё - нужно только (с)делать