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#1 2010-12-08 15:54:02

Unia
Member
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Registered: 2010-03-30
Posts: 2,486
Website

Resource usage went up like a rocket

Hello,

At the time of writing this, everything is fine again as I have just rebooted. A couple of minutes ago however, my system suddenly used 91 to 98% of my RAM (4GB), 50% of my SWAP (8GB) and around 60-100% of my CPU.
When I'm doing my normal stuff (as I was doing at that moment) my CPU usage is around 1-5%, RAM 8-12% and SWAP 0%.  I would like to know what had caused this to happen and if needed, how to solve it. It's the first time that I encountered something like this in one to two months of using Arch.

I have no idea on what log files to check or whatsoever, so please excuse me if I have left out some valueable info. My laptop's specs (Acer Aspire 5740G):
Intel Core i5 430M
ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5470
4GB RAM

I'm running Xfce


If you can't sit by a cozy fire with your code in hand enjoying its simplicity and clarity, it needs more work. --Carlos Torres

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#2 2010-12-08 17:25:39

jasonwryan
Anarchist
From: .nz
Registered: 2009-05-09
Posts: 30,424
Website

Re: Resource usage went up like a rocket

You can use top or htop to see what is eating up your cycles...


Arch + dwm   •   Mercurial repos  •   Surfraw

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#3 2010-12-08 17:50:19

Unia
Member
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Registered: 2010-03-30
Posts: 2,486
Website

Re: Resource usage went up like a rocket

At the moment I used gnome-system-monitor to see what was causing it, but none was out of the ordinary. Also, I'd like to know how I can find out what caused it now - meaning afterwards. Not when it's happening.


If you can't sit by a cozy fire with your code in hand enjoying its simplicity and clarity, it needs more work. --Carlos Torres

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#4 2010-12-08 18:42:37

LMW
Member
From: Las Vegas, NV
Registered: 2010-12-05
Posts: 8

Re: Resource usage went up like a rocket

Unia wrote:

At the moment I used gnome-system-monitor to see what was causing it, but none was out of the ordinary. Also, I'd like to know how I can find out what caused it now - meaning afterwards. Not when it's happening.

It's hard to suggest anything that is not happening right now. That's why when it will strike again, try to find out what process causes overloading (top). You can also configure syslog-ng package to manage your logs for almost any program. Try this


Bill Gates is a very rich man today... and do you want to know why? The answer is one word: versions. (c)

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#5 2010-12-08 18:58:35

Unia
Member
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Registered: 2010-03-30
Posts: 2,486
Website

Re: Resource usage went up like a rocket

But will top/htop show different info than gnome-system-monitor does? Sure I can try, but I wonder if it would show anything different. I'll report back when it occurs again, but tbh I'm not sure if it will.


If you can't sit by a cozy fire with your code in hand enjoying its simplicity and clarity, it needs more work. --Carlos Torres

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#6 2010-12-08 19:03:22

LMW
Member
From: Las Vegas, NV
Registered: 2010-12-05
Posts: 8

Re: Resource usage went up like a rocket

Unia wrote:

But will top/htop show different info than gnome-system-monitor does? Sure I can try, but I wonder if it would show anything different. I'll report back when it occurs again, but tbh I'm not sure if it will.

Generally speaking, it doesn't matter how you will track the issue. If it's your desktop than it's ok to use GSM. You will be able to notice that nasty process if it will appear again. However, it's usually a good idea to use your logs for error tracking.


Bill Gates is a very rich man today... and do you want to know why? The answer is one word: versions. (c)

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#7 2010-12-08 19:58:10

Unia
Member
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Registered: 2010-03-30
Posts: 2,486
Website

Re: Resource usage went up like a rocket

But I already checked GSM when the problem occured and found nothing out of the ordinary. Also I wasn't doing anything I normally don't do: I was just browsing some forum and chatting. Doing that now too and nothing is happening


If you can't sit by a cozy fire with your code in hand enjoying its simplicity and clarity, it needs more work. --Carlos Torres

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#8 2010-12-08 20:04:18

lucke
Member
From: Poland
Registered: 2004-11-30
Posts: 4,018

Re: Resource usage went up like a rocket

Use dstat to track what is happening with your system when it is misbehaving (run e.g. dstat -cdmnspg --top-bio --top-io --top-cpu) and perhaps smem from AUR to see what process is taking your swap.

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