Arch Linux

busy beaver

Member

From: Russia

Registered: 2022-05-25

Posts: 29

Lags and freezes after moving big files

Whenever I try to move, copy or unzip big file my system becomes really laggy. It even persists after the operation is done an sometimes even after reboot. Then, after some time, it returns to the normal state. I have no clue why does that happen. Maybe it's related to cached memory somehow? Usually a lot of memory gets cached while an operation with big files. It can even use up all free RAM like that. But why then lags and freezes persist after reboot?

Thanks for any suggestions

ua4000

Member

Registered: 2015-10-14

Posts: 559

Re: Lags and freezes after moving big files

please tell us more about your system,
installed ram, cpu, Desktop environments, filesystem, harddisk or ssd, both ?
And what exactly are "big" files for you ?

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 76,129

Re: Lags and freezes after moving big files

It … persists … sometimes even after reboot.

Temperature issue?

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busy beaver

Member

From: Russia

Registered: 2022-05-25

Posts: 29

Re: Lags and freezes after moving big files

please tell us more about your system,
installed ram, cpu, Desktop environments, filesystem, harddisk or ssd, both ?

It's Arch with Cinnamon on a 240 gb SSD formatted in Ext4, cpu is Intel Xeon e3 1230 v2, 20 gb of RAM. I also have HDD plugged in but I don't even use it that often.

And what exactly are "big" files for you ?

More than 1 or 2 gb.

busy beaver

Member

From: Russia

Registered: 2022-05-25

Posts: 29

Re: Lags and freezes after moving big files

It … persists … sometimes even after reboot.

Temperature issue?

Definitely not. I don't have any temperature issues. I also have an applet that displays the CPU temp on the panel at the bottom of the screen. Temperature is clearly not the issue. I assume it's somehow related to the filesystem.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 76,129

Re: Lags and freezes after moving big files

Does this also happen on the external HDD?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/SMART

Are there any error messages in the journal/dmesg while copying the file?

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How to upload text · How to boot w/o GUI · Disable Windows Fast-Start! · Fix your xinitrc

busy beaver

Member

From: Russia

Registered: 2022-05-25

Posts: 29

Re: Lags and freezes after moving big files

I tested it with $dd if=/dev/zero of=test . It does not happen on the external HDD. However if I boot from that HDD (there is a Manjaro system installed), then I can experience a very similar issue, just on another system on another disk.

After $dd if=/dev/zero of=test on the main disk my system did lag a bit. I was not able to open my browser for example. No error messages in $journalctl -f . The output of $sudo dmesg is rather large so I don't know how to post it here or how to find the necessary lines in all that mess.

Also here are some interesting facts: In the same applet I already talked above I can see the rates at which my disk is being written and read. For same reason while im writing the test file the write rate jumps from 30-40 mb/s to 2-3 gb/s and back. Also after i CTRL+C to stop writing that file the write rate persists at 20-40 mb/s for a while and during that time my system does lag and I cant open my browser. However if i $rm test meanwhile then the write rate drops to zero and my system immediately stops lagging.

karabaja4

Member

From: Croatia

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 1,048

Website

Re: Lags and freezes after moving big files

Try setting dirty_background_bytes as suggested here https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Sysctl … em_freezes and see if that helps.

busy beaver

Member

From: Russia

Registered: 2022-05-25

Posts: 29

Re: Lags and freezes after moving big files

Try setting dirty_background_bytes as suggested here https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Sysctl … em_freezes and see if that helps.

Thanks a lot man! It worked!