System quickly runs out of memory and crashes when running i3

dusty.lau · 2023-04-12 15:40:45

EDIT:

I have determined the issue is related to Picom.
Killing Picom seems to resolve the issue.
Still trying to figure out why it is leaking though so any input would be helpful.

I have been a Linux user for a long time but just now getting into "real" Linux use and learning the tools, config and kernel.
I haven't really ever needed to monitor memory/cpu or dig through the journal logs and this side of things is relatively new to me.
I can generally google around and find/fix things on my own but this is beyond me.

I have been running Mint for years on an old Lenovo ThinkPad W530 with an i7 and 32g memory.
I tried out several different desktop environments and ended up really enjoying window managers so I picked i3 to get started with and ran i3 on Mint for quite a while with no issues.

Eventually I decided to take the plunge into Arch found that I prefer it over Debian/Ubuntu and have installed and configured Arch + i3 on several other PCs.
I held off installing Arch on this laptop as it is my main workstation and figured I'd learn on more disposable PCs/VMs.
So I have now installed Arch on this laptop and have issues, of course.

The system runs out of memory pretty quickly and freezes when i3 is loaded.
I have also installed KDE Plasma and Awesome and have no issues running in those environment with similar or identical loads.
I3 seems to start swapping immediately and will run out of available memory and crash in minutes.

Below is my system info (while running Awesome) and a picture of what top shows when the system freezes.
Where/how to I start figuring out what is causing this?

Top Screenshot

dusty:~/ $ neofetch                                                                                                                                [10:14:01]
                   -`                    dusty@arch-w530
                  .o+`                   ---------------
                 `ooo/                   OS: Arch Linux x86_64
                `+oooo:                  Host: 2436CTO ThinkPad W530
               `+oooooo:                 Kernel: 6.2.10-arch1-1
               -+oooooo+:                Uptime: 37 mins
             `/:-:++oooo+:               Packages: 721 (pacman)
            `/++++/+++++++:              Shell: zsh 5.9
           `/++++++++++++++:             Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1080, 1920x1080
          `/+++ooooooooooooo/`           WM: awesome
         ./ooosssso++osssssso+`          Theme: Breeze [GTK2/3]
        .oossssso-````/ossssss+`         Icons: breeze-dark [GTK2/3]
       -osssssso.      :ssssssso.        Terminal: alacritty
      :osssssss/        osssso+++.       CPU: Intel i7-3740QM (8) @ 3.700GHz
     /ossssssss/        +ssssooo/-       GPU: NVIDIA Quadro K1000M
   `/ossssso+/:-        -:/+osssso+-     GPU: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
  `+sso+:-`                 `.-/+oso:    Memory: 6359MiB / 31920MiB
 `++:.                           `-/+/
 .`                                 `/

Last edited by dusty.lau (2023-04-12 18:24:32)

seth · 2023-04-12 20:45:28

Please post your picom config.

Arch Linux

#1 2023-04-12 15:40:45

System quickly runs out of memory and crashes when running i3

#2 2023-04-12 20:45:28

Re: System quickly runs out of memory and crashes when running i3

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