[gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
Hey, all, Sorry that this will not be an extremely clear question, but I really have no idea where to start, or what the problem is. Basically, my system is running fine (no overt problems), but about every 30 seconds or so, it 'pauses' to do something, and I have to wait for 5-10 seconds while it does it before I can go further. Or the display pauses, and I have to wait for the redraw , I can't tell which. The system is still running during these pauses, but if I'm typing this mail, for example, the letters I typed during the pause will not appear until the system resumes (or resumes displaying). If I then backspace to remove the typos I made when I couldn't see what I was typing, if a pause occurs during the repeated backspace hitting, I have to stop and wait, since I can't know where the cursor actually is until it again active. Gkrellm's animated displays pause during the pauses as well (which is a bit useful, so that I know when they're happening). Changing desktops is delayed, Page down in word processors is delayed, activities in the console are delayed. Heck, even dragging cards around in AisleRiot is delayed by these stupid unattributable pauses. Memory and CPU use are not bizarre, I have a lot of processes going, but nothing weird or unexpected seems to be running if I can trust top and gnome-system-monitor. Since all the problems seem to be related to the X server, maybe it's an X problem; I'm currently using the VESA driver, as I wanted to get a clean install of the new ATI drivers when I compile the next kernel (2.13-r5, I'm using 2.13-r4 atm). I'm not using anything but 2D applications atm, though (of course, since I have no 3D-capable drivers available). But maybe it's a kernel scheduling problem. Or maybe gamin sucks, halting the whole system while it updates the file tree. I really have no idea, and if it wasn't so very annoying, I wouldn't post such a formless plea for help, but if this rings a bell with anyone, I'd appreciate a nudge/push/shove in the right direction. Thanks, Holly -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
On Monday 31 October 2005 18:24, Holly Bostick wrote: Hey, all, Sorry that this will not be an extremely clear question, but I really have no idea where to start, or what the problem is. Basically, my system is running fine (no overt problems), but about every 30 seconds or so, it 'pauses' to do something, and I have to wait for 5-10 seconds while it does it before I can go further. Or the display pauses, and I have to wait for the redraw , I can't tell which. The system is still running during these pauses, but if I'm typing this mail, for example, the letters I typed during the pause will not appear until the system resumes (or resumes displaying). If I then backspace to remove the typos I made when I couldn't see what I was typing, if a pause occurs during the repeated backspace hitting, I have to stop and wait, since I can't know where the cursor actually is until it again active. Gkrellm's animated displays pause during the pauses as well (which is a bit useful, so that I know when they're happening). Changing desktops is delayed, Page down in word processors is delayed, activities in the console are delayed. Heck, even dragging cards around in AisleRiot is delayed by these stupid unattributable pauses. Memory and CPU use are not bizarre, I have a lot of processes going, but nothing weird or unexpected seems to be running if I can trust top and gnome-system-monitor. Since all the problems seem to be related to the X server, maybe it's an X problem; I'm currently using the VESA driver, as I wanted to get a clean install of the new ATI drivers when I compile the next kernel (2.13-r5, I'm using 2.13-r4 atm). I'm not using anything but 2D applications atm, though (of course, since I have no 3D-capable drivers available). But maybe it's a kernel scheduling problem. Or maybe gamin sucks, halting the whole system while it updates the file tree. I really have no idea, and if it wasn't so very annoying, I wouldn't post such a formless plea for help, but if this rings a bell with anyone, I'd appreciate a nudge/push/shove in the right direction. Thanks, Holly sounds like no DMA enabled mar bin # hdparm /dev/hdb /dev/hdb: multcount= 16 (on) IO_support = 1 (32-bit) unmaskirq= 1 (on) --using_dma= 1 (on) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead= 256 (on) geometry = 19929/255/63, sectors = 320173056, start = 0 martins -- Linux 2.6.13 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ 18:47:06 up 3:55, 5 users, load average: 0.10, 0.22, 0.51 -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
Martins Steinbergs schreef: On Monday 31 October 2005 18:24, Holly Bostick wrote: Basically, my system is running fine (no overt problems), but about every 30 seconds or so, it 'pauses' to do something, and I have to wait for 5-10 seconds while it does it before I can go further. Or the display pauses, and I have to wait for the redraw , I can't tell which. snip Memory and CPU use are not bizarre, I have a lot of processes going, but nothing weird or unexpected seems to be running if I can trust top and gnome-system-monitor. Since all the problems seem to be related to the X server, maybe it's an X problem; I'm currently using the VESA driver, as I wanted to get a clean install of the new ATI drivers when I compile the next kernel (2.13-r5, I'm using 2.13-r4 atm). I'm not using anything but 2D applications atm, though (of course, since I have no 3D-capable drivers available). But maybe it's a kernel scheduling problem. Or maybe gamin sucks, halting the whole system while it updates the file tree. sounds like no DMA enabled mar bin # hdparm /dev/hdb /dev/hdb: multcount= 16 (on) IO_support = 1 (32-bit) unmaskirq= 1 (on) --using_dma= 1 (on) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead= 256 (on) geometry = 19929/255/63, sectors = 320173056, start = 0 Would that it was so simple: hdparm /dev/hda /dev/hda: multcount= 16 (on) IO_support = 1 (32-bit) unmaskirq= 1 (on) using_dma= 1 (on) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead= 256 (on) geometry = 65535/16/63, sectors = 80060424192, start = 0 hdparm /dev/hdb /dev/hdb: multcount= 16 (on) IO_support = 1 (32-bit) unmaskirq= 1 (on) using_dma= 1 (on) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead= 256 (on) geometry = 16383/255/63, sectors = 82348277760, start = 0 hdparm /dev/hdc /dev/hdc: IO_support = 1 (32-bit) unmaskirq= 1 (on) using_dma= 1 (on) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead= 256 (on) HDIO_GETGEO failed: Invalid argument hdparm /dev/hdd /dev/hdd: multcount= 16 (on) IO_support = 1 (32-bit) unmaskirq= 1 (on) using_dma= 1 (on) keepsettings = 0 (off) readonly = 0 (off) readahead= 256 (on) geometry = 65535/16/63, sectors = 40027029504, start = 0 But thanks; I wouldn't have thought to check/confirm that DMA was (still) on. Holly -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
Hi, On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 17:24:26 +0100 Holly Bostick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Basically, my system is running fine (no overt problems), but about every 30 seconds or so, it 'pauses' to do something, and I have to wait for 5-10 seconds while it does it before I can go further. Or the display pauses, and I have to wait for the redraw , I can't tell which. It all gets down to the question whether it stays in Userland or in Kernel context in such a situation. If this happens in Userland, CPU utilization will probably be high in such a situation and it must be due to a high priority process when X is that much slowed down - which itself is already running at high prio. So I very much guess it's a kernel issue. Compiling a fresh new one would be my first advice. BTW, are you using any kernel based network filesystems (NFS, Samba, ncpfs), FUSE, or PPP? The trick here would be to simply selectively disable each one of these and watch if it keeps happening. -hwh -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
* Holly Bostick [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2005-10-31 18:50]: Hey, all, Hi, [...] Since all the problems seem to be related to the X server, maybe it's an X problem; So have you tried it without X running? Robert -- Robert Svoboda [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
Robert Svoboda schreef: * Holly Bostick [EMAIL PROTECTED] [2005-10-31 18:50]: Hey, all, Hi, [...] Since all the problems seem to be related to the X server, maybe it's an X problem; So have you tried it without X running? Not yet; can't kill X without killing a couple of high-priority jobs (both in computer terms and in RL terms), otherwise I would have tried that. But it's a fair question. On that note, though; what the heck could I do to test, without X? I can't think of much else than running a movie under command-line mPlayer, and while that sounds like a pretty valid test as far as it goes, I'm not sure it goes far enough to be adequate. What else could I do alongside it, other than running an emerge or something? Holly -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 21:31:33 +0100 Holly Bostick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What else could I do alongside it, other than running an emerge or something? You could switch to a non-proprietary gfx driver, and try that, though it might not work with the ATI card you have. Try emerging app-benchmarks/stress and running that. That runs everything but X. And it tunable to see what's taking resources. The other thing to try is stoppping everything, with X still running and starting up one of the rss-glx screensavers. It it runs with no issue, start a second instance or a second one, then another - as many as the system will handle until it starts showing the problem. Have top running in a term to see if you can find out what taking all the resources. Last time it happened to me, it was Xorg itself causing the issue. Bob - -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
Holly Bostick wrote: Hey, all, Sorry that this will not be an extremely clear question, but I really have no idea where to start, or what the problem is. Basically, my system is running fine (no overt problems), but about every 30 seconds or so, it 'pauses' to do something, and I have to wait for 5-10 seconds while it does it before I can go further. Or the display pauses, and I have to wait for the redraw , I can't tell which. The only time I have similar state with my system is when VMware (which runs at niceness -10 (!!)) writes out a suspended session file...basically a high priority process writing a massive amount of data to a relatively slow device. So a couple of things come to mind 1. Check your dmesg and /var/log/messages files and make sure your disk controller isn't going through resets. Disk controller resets will clog up the whole system, IME. 2. Similarly, run smartctl -a and check if you are getting fresh errors reported by the hard drive. 3. Try fiddling with process priorities. Memory and CPU use are not bizarre, I have a lot of processes going, but nothing weird or unexpected seems to be running if I can trust top and gnome-system-monitor. Since all the problems seem to be related to the X server, maybe it's an X problem; I'm currently using the VESA driver, as I wanted to get a clean install of the new ATI drivers when I compile Ugh, the VESA driver is horribly slow, IME. You would be much better off using the radeon driver I think. FYI, I just tried ati-drivers-8.18.8 with kernel 2.6.14, and it builds fine. I haven't tried using it yet though. You need to accept ~x86 to get 8.18.8. -Richard -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
Hi, sorry about the late reply, but I didn't see the OP Holly Bostick wrote: Sorry that this will not be an extremely clear question, but I really have no idea where to start, or what the problem is. that will just bring you in line with some of my questions :) Basically, my system is running fine (no overt problems), but about every 30 seconds or so, it 'pauses' to do something, and I have to wait for 5-10 seconds while it does it before I can go further. Or the display pauses, and I have to wait for the redraw , I can't tell which. A friend had a problem similar to this, it turned out to be acpi (or apm?) and his gnome battery applet. Every time the battery applet polled for battery level, the system froze for 1-2 seconds. So, you could try running a fail safe X session (no extras) and see if it still happens. If so, try something from the command line (no X) and see if it still happens... HTH, -- Iain Buchanan [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
Re: [gentoo-user] Weird pauses making me nuts
I have not read every single post in it's entierty. I have seen this lots with Firefox - especiall with flash. It tends to actually be that the system is swapping out. What filesyetem are you using? js On 10/31/05, Iain Buchanan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, sorry about the late reply, but I didn't see the OPHolly Bostick wrote: Sorry that this will not be an extremely clear question, but I really have no idea where to start, or what the problem is. that will just bring you in line with some of my questions :) Basically, my system is running fine (no overt problems), but about every 30 seconds or so, it 'pauses' to do something, and I have to wait for 5-10 seconds while it does it before I can go further. Or the display pauses, and I have to wait for the redraw , I can't tell which.A friend had a problem similar to this, it turned out to be acpi (or apm?) and his gnome battery applet.Every time the battery appletpolled for battery level, the system froze for 1-2 seconds.So, you could try running a fail safe X session (no extras) and see ifit still happens.If so, try something from the command line (no X) and see if it still happens...HTH,--Iain Buchanan [EMAIL PROTECTED]--gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
