Increased Xorg CPU usage

RedScare · 2009-09-06 21:53:47

I used to have a complete 0% cpu usage from

/usr/bin/X --nolisten tcp

, but after upgrading mesa and X in the past few (two?) days, xorg cpu usage has been hanging around 2%. This isn't a tragedy, I just don't understand it. I run dwm without gnome even installed (only gtk for filezilla and firefox), and don't have any compositing enabled. I was wondering if anyone was experiencing anything similar?

On a side note, what is "--nolisten tcp." Why would X accept tcp connections in the first place?

combuster · 2009-09-06 21:58:08

Yeah, I've noticed increased cpu usage too, mine varying from 1 to 4% ... I'm not troubled though...

RedScare · 2009-09-06 22:06:56

Thanks for the prompt response. I was initially worried it was some kind of malicious software, the --nolisten option scaring me further. I'm assuming I have nothing to be worried about then.

Btw, switching workspaces brings X cpu usage up to 30%. Is this normal (especially in minimal dwm)? This is on a dual core 2.6 GHz machine with an nvidia Geforce card. Thank you very much.

combuster · 2009-09-06 22:35:01

30% is way to many, mine doesn't pass 5% - 10% at most and that's with compiz on...

I'm running arch on 1.8 C2DMobile and x3100 intel gpu and it's smooth as it can be (having problems with mesa but that's another issue). As i said X is a bit more cpu consuming then it was before upgrade to xserver 1.6.3.901 but I don't think that there are any problems.

RedScare · 2009-09-06 22:48:00

Well I just solved that other problem, now what happens is that I get high cpu usage when launching firefox. Is this at least normal? Thanks very much for your time by the way. I'm only asking these questions for fear of malware (idk why I suddenly decided I had it, but now i need assurance ).

Note: smoothness isn't affected, and it only jumps to about 30 % during launch.

EDIT: I found part of the problem; the 30% cpu usage on workspace switch was caused by a loop I was running, I fixed that. So now it only goes up to around 2% cpu when I switch (obviously if I switch repeatedly it goes higher). Still, X is using more cpu now than before.

combuster · 2009-09-06 23:06:39

Relax I'm 99.99% positive that u don't have any malware on your computer. Linux is not Windows It's normal when u r starting firefox that cpu usage jumps...

If you want to be on the safe side you can install clamav and check on your hardrive for malware, but for linux malware is not needed, usually there are some exploits that can gain root access on your machine and it's not manifesting by an increased cpu usage (maybe just abnormal bandwith usage if you are not downloading anything ;-))

RedScare · 2009-09-07 01:02:36

Yeah, I figured that. Also I doubt that an exploit would be able to gain access to as reviewed a piece of software as Xorg.

bernarcher · 2009-09-07 04:54:53

If you are still in doubt you may check which processes are running with e.g. top or, preferably, htop.

RedScare · 2009-09-07 16:19:28

Those tools are where I got the information for this post. It doesn't look like there's anything extra running.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-09-06 21:53:47

Increased Xorg CPU usage

#2 2009-09-06 21:58:08

Re: Increased Xorg CPU usage

#3 2009-09-06 22:06:56

Re: Increased Xorg CPU usage

#4 2009-09-06 22:35:01

Re: Increased Xorg CPU usage

#5 2009-09-06 22:48:00

Re: Increased Xorg CPU usage

#6 2009-09-06 23:06:39

Re: Increased Xorg CPU usage

#7 2009-09-07 01:02:36

Re: Increased Xorg CPU usage

#8 2009-09-07 04:54:53

Re: Increased Xorg CPU usage

#9 2009-09-07 16:19:28

Re: Increased Xorg CPU usage

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