Baloo file search continually consumes high memory, cannot be stopped, causes continual disk usage, makes desktop unusable

[David Nelson]

Distribution: 22.04 LTS "Jammy"
Desktop: KDE Plasma
System RAM: 24GB
Filesystem size: 1TB
Verbose hardware info and packages installed are listed in the attached text file.

I have been leaving my laptop running continuously for days/weeks. My home directory contains relatively few files, but I have some really big archive files containing backed-up data.

The disk usage indicator light on the laptop has been on continually, indicating continual disk usage.

I ran the command "LINES=20 top -b -n 2 -d .5 -w" and got the following output:

    PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
   1787 me 20 0 2654000 151596 60860 R 7.8 0.6 3:31.56 plasmashell
   1219 root 20 0 692284 29280 15088 S 3.9 0.1 1:52.82 Xorg
   1701 me 20 0 1553312 23060 13788 S 3.9 0.1 1:37.48 kwin_x11
   5862 me 39 19 279.3g 20.7g 4136 D 3.9 90.2 20:26.30 baloo_file_extr
   2024 me 20 0 247208 6300 4252 S 2.0 0.0 0:37.85 ksystemstats
   2395 root 20 0 6876396 30416 7656 S 2.0 0.1 0:14.86 nordvpnd
   2588 me 20 0 831036 33192 23352 S 2.0 0.1 0:15.56 konsole
   7479 me 20 0 15948 4120 3420 R 2.0 0.0 0:00.02 top
      1 root 20 0 168012 8596 3884 S 0.0 0.0 0:03.30 systemd
      2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 kthreadd
      3 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_gp
      4 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_par_gp
      5 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 netns

I ran the commands "sudo balooctl suspend" and got the command line output:

File Indexer suspended

But the command "top" still reports:

top - 13:03:34 up 1:08, 4 users, load average: 2.00, 1.94, 2.10
Tasks: 240 total, 1 running, 239 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
%Cpu(s): 1.2 us, 1.0 sy, 0.7 ni, 91.8 id, 5.2 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st
MiB Mem : 23499.5 total, 201.9 free, 22421.2 used, 876.4 buff/cache
MiB Swap: 31250.0 total, 28155.4 free, 3094.6 used. 279.6 avail Mem

    PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
   1787 me 20 0 2726840 153476 58716 S 7.8 0.6 3:50.83 plasmashell
   1701 me 20 0 1553272 22864 13584 S 5.9 0.1 1:47.16 kwin_x11
   5862 me 39 19 279.3g 20.7g 4368 D 5.9 90.3 20:37.70 baloo_file_extr
   1219 root 20 0 692672 30268 16008 S 3.9 0.1 2:03.51 Xorg
   2588 me 20 0 831756 45928 35196 S 3.9 0.2 0:18.09 konsole
   7476 root 20 0 0 0 0 I 2.0 0.0 0:00.12 kworker/u16:0-events_unbound
   7509 me 20 0 16048 4332 3532 R 2.0 0.0 0:00.02 top
      1 root 20 0 168012 8424 3728 S 0.0 0.0 0:03.30 systemd
      2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 kthreadd
      3 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_gp
      4 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_par_gp
      5 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 netns
      7 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/0:0H-events_highpri

I then ran the command "sudo balooctl disable" and got the command line output:

Disabling and stopping the File Indexer

But the command "top" still reports:

top - 13:06:09 up 1:11, 4 users, load average: 3.37, 2.39, 2.24
Tasks: 240 total, 1 running, 239 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
%Cpu(s): 1.2 us, 0.7 sy, 0.5 ni, 89.4 id, 8.1 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st
MiB Mem : 23499.5 total, 215.2 free, 22382.1 used, 902.2 buff/cache
MiB Swap: 31250.0 total, 28054.3 free, 3195.7 used. 302.1 avail Mem

    PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
   1787 me 20 0 2726924 150228 55692 S 5.9 0.6 4:04.23 plasmashell
   5862 me 39 19 279.3g 20.7g 4368 D 3.9 90.0 20:45.27 baloo_file_extr
   1219 root 20 0 698600 30116 16180 S 2.0 0.1 2:13.20 Xorg
   1701 me 20 0 1553272 22320 13388 S 2.0 0.1 1:55.33 kwin_x11
   2395 root 20 0 6876396 29844 7052 S 2.0 0.1 0:16.59 nordvpnd
   2588 me 20 0 831948 46064 35308 S 2.0 0.2 0:19.93 konsole
   7535 me 20 0 16048 4144 3340 R 2.0 0.0 0:00.02 top
      1 root 20 0 168012 8148 3464 S 0.0 0.0 0:03.30 systemd
      2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 kthreadd
      3 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_gp
      4 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_par_gp
      5 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 netns
      7 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/0:0H-events_highpri

I went to the KDE System Settings and searched on the term "baloo". It returned the results "File Search" and "Plasma Search". I went to the File Search panel and disabled the checkboxes "Enable File Search", "Also index file content" and "Index hidden files and folders", and then clicked the "Apply" button. Then I again ran the command "LINES=20 top -b -n 2 -d .5 -w". I got the following command line output:

    PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
   1787 me 20 0 2726700 152416 53308 S 7.8 0.6 4:34.84 plasmashell
   1701 me 20 0 1553272 22600 13596 S 3.9 0.1 2:10.53 kwin_x11
   5862 me 39 19 279.4g 20.6g 4368 D 3.9 89.8 21:02.51 baloo_file_extr
   1219 root 20 0 693472 30296 16304 S 2.0 0.1 2:31.28 Xorg
   2395 root 20 0 6876396 29656 6804 S 2.0 0.1 0:18.17 nordvpnd
   2588 me 20 0 831948 43500 32688 S 2.0 0.2 0:21.32 konsole
   7566 me 20 0 15948 4132 3436 R 2.0 0.0 0:00.02 top
      1 root 20 0 168012 8148 3464 S 0.0 0.0 0:03.30 systemd
      2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.0 0.0 0:00.01 kthreadd
      3 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_gp
      4 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 rcu_par_gp
      5 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 netns
      7 root 0 -20 0 0 0 I 0.0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/0:0H-events_highpri

The system is still practically unusable and the disk indicator light is still on continually.
I restarted the system, but the situation is still the same. I ran the command "lspci -vv" and got the output you can find in the attached text file (verbose info about hardware and packages installed).

Please let me know if you need any further info, I will be happy to provide it.

Thank you so much for your work on Linux and KDE! :)

[Scarlett Gately Moore (scarlettmoore)]

Please run balooctl status and post result.

try balooctl disable and balooctl purge

Thanks
Scarlett