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On my desktop installation (no ssd), sometimes (sporadically) when I try to move files between drives with the Nemo file manager, the system slows to a crawl and becomes basically unusable. My guess is that the system is caching all the gigabytes of the files being transferred and that knocks all of the more useful system files out of memory so it has to refetch them from the disk to keep using the system.

  • Is there a way to tell Nemo to do file transfers directly (avoiding system cache)? Maybe something like direct flag in dd?
  • Is there a way to tell the Linux kernel to prioritize files on the system drive over files being transferred?
SurpriseDog
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  • do you get the same slowdown if you copy the files from the command line (e.g. with cp or rsync or whatever), or does it only happen in nemo? – cas Aug 01 '19 at 01:57
  • BTW, try googling for nemo file manager slow or similar - it seems that there have been numerous complaints over the years about nemo's performance, especially in directories with lots of files. – cas Aug 01 '19 at 02:00
  • @cas Most of the results seem to be complaining about nemo itself being slow, not a nemo file transfer slowing down the rest of the system. – SurpriseDog Aug 01 '19 at 02:08
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    that's why i asked if the same problem occurs when copying with other tools. it's an experiment to find out where the problem lies - i.e. is it just slow disks or lack of RAM or is it nemo? there's no point trying to optimise or fix a problem unless you know what it actually is. – cas Aug 01 '19 at 03:13
  • @cas I couldn't answer your first question until I got home and started testing. The problem is sporadic and nemo isn't wrecking anything this time. I'm wondering if it's this issue: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1208993 – SurpriseDog Aug 01 '19 at 03:53
  • Possible duplicate: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/107703/why-is-my-pc-freezing-while-im-copying-a-file-to-a-pendrive/107722#107722 -- I'll report back here after more testing. – SurpriseDog Aug 01 '19 at 04:39
  • so it only happens when writing to a USB drive? if so, you should update your question to mention that (and include details like your kernel version; motherboard model - it's not uncommon for motherboards to increase their USB port count by using sub-standard USB chips; USB drive brand+model; what type/version of USB port it's plugged into, etc) – cas Aug 01 '19 at 04:47

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