Arch Linux

peonerovv

Member

Registered: 2021-08-11

Posts: 34

High CPU usage in Xorg

Hi,

I ran into an issue where my Thinkpad x200 was overheating and turning off while I was using Xorg. While I'm in the console, the temperature was somewhere around 30°, but just after a minute or so after starting Xorg, the temperature stays around 57° at idle (I'm using dwm on top of Xorg, which is very minimal, so it shouldn't be the cause of the problem).
If I watch a video or do do other thing in a browser, the temperature goes to about 61° and after 10-15 minutes, the system cuts power and restarts (I guess it is due to overheating).
I would like to know where the point of failure is. Maybe the temperatures are fine, and I just have to turn some setting off in my bios.
Maybe there is something wrong with my hardware (hope it's not, so I'd like to first try software fixes, before opening the machine).
Maybe I should use something more lightweight.
Any suggestions are welcome (besides "get a newer laptop")

peonerovv

Member

Registered: 2021-08-11

Posts: 34

Re: High CPU usage in Xorg

Update:
There is a strange thing i noticed, which is that if I start the machine with the charger inside, I have the problem. If i then unplug the cord, the issue persists, but if i then plug it back in, the temperature drops almost immediately down to 42° on idle and 47° if playing a video.

I'm so confused

d_fajardo

Member

Registered: 2017-07-28

Posts: 1,687

Re: High CPU usage in Xorg

Have you without the battery and just the mains? Just filtering if the battery causes the issue.

peonerovv

Member

Registered: 2021-08-11

Posts: 34

Re: High CPU usage in Xorg

What do you mean?

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,223

Re: High CPU usage in Xorg

1. check powertop - the heat comes from somewhere, that's your battery, something is drawing the energy from there and heats up your room
2. check top - if the something™ from (1) is your CPU, some process will suck on it and be the ultimate culprit
3. CHECK YOUR FANS (eg. lm_sensors) - the heat might just build up from perfectly normal use because nothing shovels it out of the case

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peonerovv

Member

Registered: 2021-08-11

Posts: 34

Re: High CPU usage in Xorg

The fans are responding correctly, and they are quite effective.
I tested it with the battery removed and it seems that the result is the same. I changed the settings in my bios to power saving mode, and now the temperature in Xorg averages at about 40° (and yes, I'm using $sensors for that). The problem disappeared while reading text or doing other non-heavy work. But watching videos on YouTube seems troubling. It is actually fine, as long as I don't start to skip forward the video (this is pretty much guarantees the reboot).
This machine actually has an external (as in there is no integrated gpu) gpu. The video is rendered by it, so can it just be that the trouble is with the GPU? I no longer think it's an issue of heat. Since I'm getting the same crashes at 60° and 50° CPU.

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,223

Re: High CPU usage in Xorg

This machine actually has an external (as in there is no integrated gpu) gpu.

?
https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X200

Please post your xorg log and dmesg ouput.
The issue itself is probably https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Overheating but why playing videos stresses the CPU so much is a different question.

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