Public bug reported: A little while ago my system suddenly became extremely slow, to the point of being unusable for normal work. This went on for several minutes. The disk light was on constantly. On running iotop I discovered that the main culprit was a ".../check-new-release -q" process. This is one of many programs that periodically cause excessive disk reading/writing and bring my system to its knees for periods typically lasting several minutes. Together they constitute a massive usability problem.
ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04 Package: ubuntu-release-upgrader-core 1:0.192.12 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-29.21-lowlatency 3.8.13.5 Uname: Linux 3.8.0-29-lowlatency x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8.3 Architecture: amd64 CrashDB: ubuntu Date: Mon Sep 2 13:16:36 2013 EcryptfsInUse: Yes InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-08-22 (10 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Studio 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424) MarkForUpload: True PackageArchitecture: all SourcePackage: ubuntu-release-upgrader Symptom: ubuntu-release-upgrader UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) ** Affects: ubuntu-release-upgrader (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Tags: amd64 apport-bug dist-upgrade raring -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1219786 Title: Frantic disk activity by check-new-release makes system temporarily almost unusable To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubuntu-release-upgrader/+bug/1219786/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs