What's the value of `vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs` ?, ie. $ sysctl vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs
try setting it to 0 to disable it, ie. `$ sudo sysctl -w vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs=0` I found that this helps my network transfer not stall/stop at all(for a few seconds when that is =1000 for example) while some kinda of non- async `sync`(command)-like flushing is going on periodically while transferring GiB of data files from sftp to SSD!(via Midnight Commander, on a link limited to 10MiB per second) vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs is how often the pdflush/flush/kdmflush processes wake up and check to see if work needs to be done. Coupled with the above I've been using another value: `vm.dirty_expire_centisecs=1000` for both cases (when stall and not stall), so this one remained fixed to =1000. vm.dirty_expire_centisecs is how long something can be in cache before it needs to be written. In this case it's 1 seconds. When the pdflush/flush/kdmflush processes kick in they will check to see how old a dirty page is, and if it's older than this value it'll be written asynchronously to disk. Since holding a dirty page in memory is unsafe this is also a safeguard against data loss. Well, with the above, at least I'm not experiencing network stalls when copying GiB of data via Midnight Commander's sftp to my SSD until some kernel-caused sync-ing is completed in the background. I don't know if this will work for others, but if curious about any of my other (sysctl)settings, they should be available for perusing [here](https://github.com/howaboutsynergy/q1q/tree/0a2cd4ba658067140d3f0ae89a0897af54da52a4/OSes/archlinux/etc/sysctl.d) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel Packages, which is subscribed to linux in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/336652 Title: Poor system performance under I/O load Status in Linux: Fix Released Status in linux package in Ubuntu: Incomplete Bug description: This bug seems to particularly affect the Dell Latitude D420, D430 and (from the kernel.org bug) at least the D830 laptop models; but others have been reported. Under I/O load, which need not be excessive - running usb-creator or even just checking one's email - the system performs remarkably poorly, far less than other laptop users see. It can often take minutes to open a window, and sometimes the screen isn't repainted. Certainly most applications are "dimmed" by Compiz under I/O. It also appears to massively negatively affect boot performance, with one core spending its entire time in I/O wait - something we don't see elsewhere. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/linux/+bug/336652/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages Post to : kernel-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
