memory leak when scrolling windows

[JoeMonti]

Binary package hint: gdm

Some apps are experiencing issues where memory usage grows wildly when scrolling in a window. When the total system memory usage grows close to 100%, the app I am scrolling crashes and the memory it once consumed is returned. Top reports memory belonging to Xorg.

Here is some data about my system:
 * 4GB of memory, only 10% in use after boot and launching normally used apps
 * Kernel is linux-image-generic-pae (although at the time of the bug filing I am using linux-image-generic to see if PAE was the issue)
 * Using Gnome desktop, and problem exists with or without compositing enabled
 * All software is up-to-date as of the time of posting
 * NVidia GeForce 7300 LE, running dual monitors via TwinView

To reproduce, I open gnome-terminal, do something to that generates enough output to scroll the window, move the scroll bar up and down repeatedly, memory grows, then it appears to fill physical memory and then gnome-terminal crashes and then memory is recovered. Under normal use, it happens in gnome-terminal or Eclipse Galileo within a few hours of working (I'm a Java developer), and is EXTREMELY frustrating. This also happened when scrolling in gedit and evince. It did not happen when scrolling in firefox, gvim, or open office.

A workaround for an unrelated issue with Eclipse to fix an issue with dialog display resolves the scrolling/memory problem. The workaround was to set the environment var GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=1, which disables client side windows. This workaround also resolves the scrolling/memory problem in all other apps when set properly.

Although I have a working workaround, the bug still exists.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Tue Dec 8 15:29:10 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
ExecutablePath: /usr/sbin/gdm-binary
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: gdm 2.28.1-0ubuntu2 [modified: var/lib/gdm/.gconf.defaults/%gconf-tree.xml]
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-16.52-generic
SourcePackage: gdm
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-16-generic i686

[Jakob Unterwurzacher (jakobunt)]

I am using the nvidia driver version 173 (geforce go 7400) and cannot reproduce this. How long would you have to scroll up and down until this happens? Does it happen without twinview?

[JoeMonti (joe-monti)]

I can go from 10% to ~100% memory usage (out of 4GB) in 10 seconds if I try hard. It takes a few hours under normal usage.

I haven't tried without TwinView. I'll try and get back to you.

[snk (sk-snake)]

I have the same memory leak issue with gtk+ 2.18. I have an ATI video card, using xf86-video-ati version 6.12.4.

[paniq (paniq)]

I had the same issue with SciTE and a few other apps. Setting the environment variable works for me :) - But please fix this, it's terrible!

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

[This is an automatic notification.]

Hi JoeMonti,

This bug was reported against an earlier version of Ubuntu, can you
test if it still occurs on Lucid?

Please note we also provide technical support for older versions of
Ubuntu, but not in the bug tracker. Instead, to raise the issue through
normal support channels, please see:

    http://www.ubuntu.com/support

If you are the original reporter and can still reproduce the issue on
Lucid, please run the following command to refresh the report:

  apport-collect 494189

If you are not the original reporter, please file a new bug report, so
we can work with you as the original reporter instead (you can reference
bug 494189 in your report if you think it may be related):

  ubuntu-bug xorg

If by chance you can no longer reproduce the issue on Lucid or if you
feel it is no longer relevant, please mark the bug report 'Fix Released'
or 'Invalid' as appropriate, at the following URL:

  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/494189

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

We're closing this bug since it is has been some time with no response from the original reporter. However, if the issue still exists please feel free to reopen with the requested information. Also, if you could, please test against the latest development version of Ubuntu, since this confirms the bug is one we may be able to pass upstream for help.