On 01:15 Sat 05 Aug     , Hemmann, Volker Armin wrote:
> On Friday 04 August 2006 19:23, jai kumar wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >   I am new to Gentoo. I have installed gentoo firstly in may (but was not
> > succeded to get my X working ). So that time I gave up gentoo and turned to
> > Ubuntu.  Yesterday I have successfully installed gentoo Amd64 2006.0 on my
> > comp with X working successfully but problem is that whenever when i do a 
> > "emerge programname" my system get very slow (Even mouse didn't react). I
> > am unable to figure out the problem. Waiting for your help.
> >
> 
> usually, compiling itself does not make your mouse hang.
> 
> But: if you don't have lots of memory (more than 1gig with AMD64), and you are 
> emerging with MAKEOPTS="j2", memory becomes a problem.
> 
> If your comp is in a swap-storm, your mouse will hang, that easy. Solution:
> MAKEOPTS="-j1"
> or
> 2gb of ram
> 
> oh, and check that 'umaskirq' is set for your ata devices (ide harddisks. 
> check with hdparm).
> -- 
> gentoo-amd64@g.o mailing list

also, setting PORTAGE_NICENESS in make.conf to something like 3 or 5 *really* helps.
i also noticed that my pc becomes a bit sluggish during certain compiles if i don't set it. 
(defaults to 0). more info on this option in manual for nice command.

-- 
gentoo-amd64@g.o mailing list