Major memory leak.

[Karol Bryd]

Binary package hint: digikam

There seems to be a major memory leak in Digikam in Ubuntu 10.04:

digikam:
  Installed: 2:1.2.0-0ubuntu2
  Candidate: 2:1.2.0-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 2:1.2.0-0ubuntu2 0
        500 http://pl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

In can be reproduced by editing a few (about 10) raw images (I've used raw images from Canon 7D). I usually apply Local contrast filter and after editing 7-10 images there is not enough memory to execute further filters:

digikam(5789)/digikam (core): Caught out-of-memory exception! Aborting operation std::bad_alloc

Then a crash is also very likely:

<unknown>: Fatal IO error 9 (Bad file descriptor) on X server :0.0.
KCrash: Application 'digikam' crashing...
sock_file=/home/kbryd/.kde/socket-quad/kdeinit4__0
Unable to start Dr. Konqi

I have 4GB of memory on my PC so it should be enough for editing more than 7-10 images...It looks like memory is not fully released after closing the Editor window.

[Gurubie (gurubie)]

I've been tracking this kind of problem for over a year. Now I'm on Ubuntu (Gnome) 10.04 and running DigiKam upgraded. I can't seem to get through a string of changes, in the Editor, without this manner of crashing/lock-up; on either doing a process, Like Local Contrast, or clicking OK to apply changes, and go back to the main Editor window.

Speed has also been dragging, while applying changes.

Noise reduction (or Restoration) is sluggish (compared to main stream options on my same hardware) and takes away to much detail comparatively.

I suggest changing, "... like a professional photographer", in the starting popup, to "professionally" WHEN these issues are resolved, and passed through to Ubuntu.

[Karol Bryd (karolbe)]

Gurubie, problem is that except that memory leak issue I really like Digikam, and at least on my PC it is fast enough (but I have quite fast CPU :)

But you're right, it is far from 'professional' that such major (or even critical) errors are still present and seems like no one is interested in fixing them.

[Pierre Rust (pierre-rust)]

I confirm this problem on kubuntu 10.04.
After editing a few iamges (jpeg, not raw) digikam uses more than 400 mo and get's extremely slow.
Closing and restarting digikam solves the problem, but only for a few minutes.

I have been using digikam during 2 years on the same hardware (always on ubuntu) and never experienced before this kind of problem.

Tell me if you need more info.

[Karol Bryd (karolbe)]

Bug is fixed in Digikam 1.3.0 you can get it from PPA archives, follow instructions from this blog:

http://scribblesandsnaps.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/install-the-latest-version-of-digikam-on-ubuntu-10-04/

after installing digikam you will have to also do a dist-upgrade to install new KDE4 libraries and seems like Digikam thumbnails database is not compatible with 1.3.0 so you will have to regenerate it.

Other than that it works great!

[Pierre Rust (pierre-rust)]

Thanks a lot Karol, it works great and the performance problem is clearly gone !

It bugs me to upgrade most of the kde libs on my pc to untested ppa-originated version, but it seems there is no other solution :(

[Major Carter (sam-carter)]

I can also confirm this problem on Kubuntu 10.04 and, although I've followed the instructions to upgrade to 1.3.0, I'm sorry to have to report that 1.3.0 does not fix it for me. Although it is a definite improvement, it's still gobbling large amounts of memory (~500Mb) and it still slows down to a crawl after a while. When this happens, I'm having to exit and re-start digikam and then carry on with whatever I was doing.

[Major Carter (sam-carter)]

I forgot to mention in my previous report that other users are reporting similar problems on the digikam mailing list.

[Vlado Plaga (vlado-gmx)]

There is also a new memory hole in digiKam 1.3.0 - but this should be fixed in 1.4.0, which is already out. See bug #625452

[Major Carter (sam-carter)]

I installed the Kubuntu Meerkat Beta yesterday and amongst this morning's updates I noticed that digiKam was updated to 1.4.0

This brings with it a new problem: every time I exit digiKam, it leaves a zombie process running (~80Mb)