My Raspberry Pi 5 had been performing very sluggishly ever since I installed Docker a few weeks ago. Between Docker and running Visual Studio Code, it was simply becoming too much to expect from a microSD card alone. At one point, it was taking 10-15 minutes just to boot up.
After discussing the issue with ChatGPT, I decided it may be time to invest in a USB 3 SSD (Solid State Drive).
This was one of the key points that stood out to me:
“A USB 3 SSD can make a dramatic difference in boot time, browser responsiveness, Docker performance, VS Code, package installs, and overall system responsiveness.”
And this observation really caught my attention:
“Many Raspberry Pi 5 users eventually say the SSD upgrade mattered more than the 16GB RAM.”
For now, I went ahead and re-flashed and re-imaged the microSD card from scratch. The Pi is performing reasonably well again, which tells me the hardware itself is probably still fine.
I really enjoy my Raspberry Pi and learning Linux. There is always something new to discover, and I hope to continue learning and experimenting for a long time to come.