Arch Linux

Demignom

Member

Registered: 2014-11-13

Posts: 13

[SOLVED] General desktop stuttering

Hello everyone!

I have encountered a very strange problem, and had no success finding solution on the Internet.

After upgrading to the latest kernel (from linux-lts 3.14.52 to 4.1.9) Gnome 3 started stuttering. Every 10 or so seconds, everything stops responding for a fraction of a second and then continues. E.g. the mouse freezes, audio/video freezes, keyboard input not processed etc...

To make symptoms more clear:

- Kernel version doesn't matter - everything above kernel 4 has this problem (lts or no lts).
- On XFCE this doesn't happen.
- On Cinnamon it happens, like in Gnome 3.
- On tty (before startx) this doesn't happen (at least keyboard input doesn't get interrupted).

So the conclusion is that it's somehow maybe connected to GTK3 problem with newer kernels (since Gnome 3 and Cinnamon use GTK3 and XFCE doesn't).
Right now I've downgraded back to kernel 3.14.52-1-lts and everything works fine.

Anyone had similar problem?

Thanks!

Update
See comments below. The problem is related to sensors (temperature). So, kinda solved by removing the applets.

Last edited by Demignom (2015-12-28 14:13:11)

The Loko

Member

From: Spain

Registered: 2014-07-23

Posts: 103

Re: [SOLVED] General desktop stuttering

You could check the dmesg output when this happens, if it is kernel related it should print some relevant information.

drcouzelis

Member

From: Connecticut, USA

Registered: 2009-11-09

Posts: 4,092

Website

Re: [SOLVED] General desktop stuttering

Do you have your hostname set in "/etc/hosts"? It shouldn't make a difference, but sometimes it does.

I think GNOME 3 and Cinnamon use video compositing and XFCE does not. Could this be the difference? Does your computer stutter when using Kwin or Compiz? Does it not stutter when using Openbox or Window Maker?

Demignom

Member

Registered: 2014-11-13

Posts: 13

Re: [SOLVED] General desktop stuttering

Got some progress narrowing it down!

This is caused by temperature measuring plugin (or the sensors interface more precisely). I have those plugins enabled in Gnome as well as in Cinnamon (different ones of course). So those two are lagging, while XFCE dos not.

Disabling the plugin restores system to normal - no more lagging.
The one for Gnome: Freon

The problem is not with plugins I guess, since they are two different ones (Gnome and Cinnamon), but something with sensors with newer kernel.
dmesg does not have any output after lags. Please point me in the correct direction to look for clues - logs etc. I think more users may have this problem.

Thanks.

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,720

Re: [SOLVED] General desktop stuttering

Might I suggest you try the 4.2 kernel?  I had all kinds of problems with my HP Envy with a Core i7 flavor processor on with 4.0 <= kernel <4.2.  Reads from the /sys file system for acpi stuff (thermal) would block when the system got busy (or hot).  That caused the systems you described.

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Demignom

Member

Registered: 2014-11-13

Posts: 13

Re: [SOLVED] General desktop stuttering

Might I suggest you try the 4.2 kernel?  I had all kinds of problems with my HP Envy with a Core i7 flavor processor on with 4.0 <= kernel <4.2.  Reads from the /sys file system for acpi stuff (thermal) would block when the system got busy (or hot).  That caused the systems you described.

Thanks for suggestion!
Installed 4.2.2-1. Problem still exists.

I have narrowed the problem even more. I can replicate exactly the momentary freezing when calling sensors.
After hitting sensors <enter> while moving the mouse, the mouse freezes before sensors prints all the temperatures.

blacky

Member

Registered: 2012-10-26

Posts: 14

Re: [SOLVED] General desktop stuttering

This thread is gold. I’ve been going nuts for almost a week now. But for me it seems to be a combination of “Multi-Core System Monitor” and “CPU Temperature Indicator”. Only after I removed both from the bar my computer became responsive again. Interestingly enough re-adding them did not make this issue reoccur. I’m curious what happens when I reboot.