x.org consumes much memory than before

[JohnBull]

Binary package hint: xorg

I've kept UBUNTU 10.04 running for about 2 days.
I noticed that the xorg process consumes much more memory than 9.10 did on the very same hardware environment. On 9.10, xorg consumes about 70M around and it is about 10 times than that now on 10.04.

I don't know whether this is really a BUG.

See this:
top - 07:47:15 up 2 days, 5:09, 3 users, load average: 0.06, 0.13, 0.11
Tasks: 202 total, 1 running, 201 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
Cpu(s): 0.2%us, 0.1%sy, 0.0%ni, 99.7%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 0.0%st
Mem: 2061268k total, 1764084k used, 297184k free, 26012k buffers
Swap: 979956k total, 311712k used, 668244k free, 215412k cached

  PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
11390 root 20 0 956m 711m 9m S 1 35.4 17:01.49 Xorg
 2543 john 20 0 359m 72m 29m S 0 3.6 0:20.38 firefox-bin
11500 john 20 0 174m 32m 10m S 0 1.6 0:48.27 python
11541 john 20 0 68324 21m 8820 S 0 1.1 0:53.46 gnome-panel
11544 john 20 0 130m 20m 9.9m S 0 1.0 1:01.80 nautilus
......

My hardwqare:
CPU=Intel Q8300
GraphicCard=NV 8600GT
RAM=2G
MainBoardChipset=Intel P35

My software usage history:
Firefox: almost all the time
Firefix with nonfree flashplugin: some times
F-Spot: some times
WOW over wine: many times
mplayer: many times
...

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: xorg 1:7.5+3ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-17.26-generic 2.6.32.10+drm33.1
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-17-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: i386
Date: Mon Mar 29 07:53:41 2010
DkmsStatus:
 nvidia-current, 195.36.15, 2.6.32-17-generic, i686: installed
 nvidia-current, 195.36.15, 2.6.32-16-generic, i686: installed
 nvidia-173, 173.14.22, 2.6.32-17-generic, i686: installed
 nvidia-173, 173.14.22, 2.6.32-16-generic, i686: installed
GdmLog2: X: /tmp/.X11-unix has suspicious mode (not 1777) or is not a directory, aborting.
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Beta i386 (20100317.1)
MachineType: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD MS-7360
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-17-generic root=UUID=695c210b-7b6f-4b6e-ad8f-2194ac233a95 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=zh_CN:zh
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=zh_CN.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xorg
dmi.bios.date: 07/03/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: V1.9
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: MS-7360
dmi.board.vendor: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrV1.9:bd07/03/2008:svnMICRO-STARINTERNATIONALCO.,LTD:pnMS-7360:pvr1.0:rvnMICRO-STARINTERNATIONALCO.,LTD:rnMS-7360:rvr1.0:cvnMICRO-STARINTERNATIONALCO.,LTD:ct3:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: MS-7360
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTD
glxinfo: Error: [Errno 2] 没有那个文件或目录
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 codename: lucid
 architecture: i686
 kernel: 2.6.32-17-generic

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

It might be a bug but probably is not actually an X11 bug. X is a server which means it uses whatever CPU and memory is demanded by client applications. I would guess that you have some client applications that use more memory in your current install than they did previously, thus driving up X memory use. You should do some deeper analysis to pinpoint what's going on, so that you know for certain whether it is a bug or not and if so, what specific package is causing it.

[Vikram Dhillon (dhillon-v10)]

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 07:14:26PM -0000, Bryce Harrington wrote:
> It might be a bug but probably is not actually an X11 bug. X is a
> server which means it uses whatever CPU and memory is demanded by client
> applications. I would guess that you have some client applications that
> use more memory in your current install than they did previously, thus
> driving up X memory use. You should do some deeper analysis to pinpoint
> what's going on, so that you know for certain whether it is a bug or not
> and if so, what specific package is causing it.
>
> ** Changed in: nvidia-graphics-drivers-180 (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Won't Fix
>

I agree, Bryce, I am having similar problems but in my case its pulseaudio which just suddenly takes up too much CPU, and then its chrome, do you think there's a corelation between the two?

--
Regards,
Vikram Dhillon

There is poetry and there is beauty in real sympathy; but there is more — there is action. The noblest and most powerful form of sympathy is not merely the responsive tear, the echoed sigh, the answering look; it is the embodiment of the sentiment in actual help.