SCO Unix 3.2 4.2 Running slow

[normap]

I currently have a 486 PC running SCO Unix 3.2 4.2 and it is starting to run very slow. If I am running a report, it will take about 5 minutes for another user to print out an invoice. The reports take hours to run and when they are run on another machine with the same version of Unix they only take 30 minutes. Is it the machine? or is there possibly something that has changed in the Unix system?
The disk usage is 59% and I have not found any large files. I have cleared off any old data that is not required. The turbo button is on. Any other suggestions??

 

[edfair]

There is a manual section on slow printing that suggests a polling rather than interrupt method. Or maybe it is the reverse.
I've seen this from 2 different causes. Biggest seemed to be hard disk problem. But I've also seen it from a flaky video card. I would suspect that you are having a controller or HD problem. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[normap]

Thanks for the info Ed! I think you are probably right about the hard drive having a problem. I know in the past there have been files that I have had to move to a different area of the hard drive because it wasn't writing to them properly. I think I will endeavour to get them a whole new machine.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[CliffWells]

Please don't take offense, but the real solution is to dump SCO and run Linux with the iBCS package to run your SCO software. It may take a little configuration, mostly in the form of creating symbolic links to directories and files, but it is well worth the effort. I have done this in the past and it works well. Linux is /much/ faster than SCO at almost everything, not to mention easier to install and maintain. BTW, SCO is the reason I discovered Linux in the first place (about 1994). I have to use SCO at my new job, but I am working on porting our software, so soon that will go away... I think SCO must stand for "Slow Computer Operation".

 

[dyna176]

for a slow machine, ck for errors on console, in /usr/adm/{messages & syslog} files and in /usr/spool/mail/root. you already ckd (diskspace), verify printjobs aren't piled up (lpstat -o), run (vmstat 2) and/or (sar 2 10) during slowness to get info. compare RAM to other mch too. maybe run (hwconfig) and (fixmog) to ck for problems also. Or just upgrd to bigger badder unit