Mageia forum

Low speed copying files from "/home" partition to ntfs (6MiB/s). The tool panel flashes during copying. CPU loaded 87%

You should probably read through https://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g-faq/#slow and the bullet point below it https://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g-faq/#highcpu

Also some more details on your setup would be appreciated. /home is using what filesystem, and it's located on what type of harddisk and how is that attached to your box.
Same for the NTFS filesystem. Also, what application do you use for the copying?

Hello. Old Laptop A3F,

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ATA device, with non-removable media
        Model Number:       WDC WD3200BEVE-00A0HT0                 
        Serial Number:      WD-W---------------
        Firmware Revision:  11.01A11
        Transport:          Serial, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5
Standards:
        Supported: 8 7 6 5
        Likely used: 8
Configuration:
        Logical         max     current
        cylinders       16383   16383
        heads           16      16
        sectors/track   63      63
        --
        CHS current addressable sectors:    16514064
        LBA    user addressable sectors:   268435455
        LBA48  user addressable sectors:   625142448
        Logical/Physical Sector size:           512 bytes
        device size with M = 1024*1024:      305245 MBytes
        device size with M = 1000*1000:      320072 MBytes (320 GB)
        cache/buffer size  = 8192 KBytes
        Nominal Media Rotation Rate: 5400
Capabilities:
        LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
        Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, with device specific minimum
        R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16  Current = 16
        Advanced power management level: 128
        Recommended acoustic management value: 128, current value: 254
        DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5
             Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
        PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
             Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
        Enabled Supported:
           *    SMART feature set
                Security Mode feature set
           *    Power Management feature set
           *    Write cache
           *    Look-ahead
           *    Host Protected Area feature set
           *    WRITE_BUFFER command
           *    READ_BUFFER command
           *    NOP cmd
           *    DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
           *    Advanced Power Management feature set
                SET_MAX security extension
                Automatic Acoustic Management feature set
           *    48-bit Address feature set
           *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
           *    Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
           *    FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
           *    SMART error logging
           *    SMART self-test
           *    General Purpose Logging feature set
           *    64-bit World wide name
           *    IDLE_IMMEDIATE with UNLOAD
           *    Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
           *    SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
           *    SCT Read/Write Long (AC1), obsolete
           *    SCT Write Same (AC2)
           *    SCT Features Control (AC4)
           *    SCT Data Tables (AC5)
                unknown 206[13] (vendor specific)


test

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hdparm -T /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
 Timing cached reads:   2318 MB in  2.00 seconds = 1160.50 MB/sec

hdparm -t /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
 Timing buffered disk reads: 172 MB in  3.03 seconds =  56.74 MB/sec

(partitions sda3 ext3, mageia-7; sda4 ext3, /home; sda2 ntfs win).
5.3.7-desktop-4.mga7; ntfs-3g 2017.3.23-7.mga7.
Dolphin or Krusader copy program.

Also, what are you copying? Is there a difference between a few big files vs. a large number of rather small files?
If it's slow in both cases, then usually the NTFS filesystem is either rather fragmented or it could be running low on free space, check the two links above - they also hint at some mount options that could be beneficial.
And FWIW you're copying from sda to sda so at best you'll probably get like 20 MB/s write speed for larger files, because it's the same physical disk.

Comparative tests. 5GB small files 10KB - 200MB. Mageia-7 average 6MB / s Win7 13MB / s.
Single 2GB file Mageia-7 12MB / s. Win7 16MB / s. Copying works correctly, that's the most important thing.
It seems like I have too high expectations for an old laptop.
Best regards.
MiReJ