System unresponsive under (IO/memory?) load

[Andrzej]

Tasks producing a lot of IO activity and/or use large amount of memory (uncompressing a .tar.gz file, starting a VM in virtualbox) starve the rest of the system. The system is responding to user input very slowly (jerky mouse pointer movement with >1s intervals etc). I have not seen that issue on previous Ubuntu versions, this is the first time I use a 64 bit system with full disk encryption.

64bit Xubuntu 13.10. Full disk encryption. 4GB memory. Sony Vaio laptop. Same behavior observed with Nouveau and NVidia drivers.

$ uname -a
Linux laptop 3.11.0-18-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Tue Feb 18 21:11:14 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ free -m
             total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 3870 2580 1289 0 33 406
-/+ buffers/cache: 2140 1730
Swap: 4011 959 3052

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor PCI Express x16 Root Port (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 05)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 05)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 05)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 05)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 6 (rev 05)
00:1c.6 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 7 (rev 05)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a5)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 05)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT218M [GeForce 310M] (rev a2)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
03:00.0 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd MMC/SD Host Controller
03:00.1 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5U2xx (R5U230 / R5U231 / R5U241) [Memory Stick Host Controller]
03:00.3 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 PCIe IEEE 1394 Controller
03:00.4 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd MMC/SD Host Controller
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8057 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)
05:00.0 Multimedia controller: Fujitsu Limited. Device 2036
06:00.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 03)
3f:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
3f:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
3f:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
3f:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
3f:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
3f:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)

$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
pci_stub 12622 1
vboxpci 23194 0
vboxnetadp 25670 0
vboxnetflt 27613 0
vboxdrv 320455 3 vboxnetadp,vboxnetflt,vboxpci
bnep 19704 2
rfcomm 69130 16
parport_pc 32701 0
ppdev 17671 0
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 41154 4
snd_hda_codec_realtek 56475 1
snd_hda_intel 52267 5
snd_hda_codec 188738 3 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel
uvcvideo 80885 1
intel_powerclamp 14705 0
snd_hwdep 13602 1 snd_hda_codec
coretemp 13435 0
videobuf2_vmalloc 13216 1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops 13362 1 videobuf2_vmalloc
snd_pcm 102033 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
kvm_intel 138567 0
kvm 431754 1 kvm_intel
videobuf2_core 40499 1 uvcvideo
pn533 34880 0
arc4 12608 2
videodev 133509 3 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
nfc 94643 1 pn533
snd_page_alloc 18710 2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
joydev 17377 0
snd_seq_midi 13324 0
snd_seq_midi_event 14899 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_rawmidi 30095 1 snd_seq_midi
ath9k 155779 0
ath9k_common 13859 1 ath9k
ath9k_hw 444732 2 ath9k_common,ath9k
snd_seq 61560 2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
btusb 28267 0
ath 23827 3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
snd_seq_device 14497 3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
mac80211 597268 1 ath9k
cfg80211 480503 3 ath,ath9k,mac80211
psmouse 97655 0
bluetooth 372041 22 bnep,btusb,rfcomm
snd_timer 29433 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd 69141 21 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_seq_device,snd_seq_midi
soundcore 12680 1 snd
microcode 23656 0
serio_raw 13413 0
mac_hid 13205 0
intel_ips 18470 0
sony_laptop 54219 0
lpc_ich 21080 0
lp 17759 0
parport 42299 3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
binfmt_misc 17468 1
ext2 72949 1
dm_crypt 22832 1
raid10 48079 0
raid456 77558 0
async_memcpy 12769 1 raid456
async_raid6_recov 12984 1 raid456
async_pq 13326 1 raid456
async_xor 13121 2 async_pq,raid456
async_tx 13509 5 async_pq,raid456,async_xor,async_memcpy,async_raid6_recov
xor 21411 1 async_xor
raid6_pq 97812 2 async_pq,async_raid6_recov
raid1 35557 0
raid0 17842 0
multipath 13145 0
linear 12894 0
hid_generic 12548 0
usbhid 53014 0
hid 101762 2 hid_generic,usbhid
mmc_block 35880 0
nouveau 943749 2
crct10dif_pclmul 14289 0
mxm_wmi 13021 1 nouveau
crc32_pclmul 13113 0
ghash_clmulni_intel 13259 0
aesni_intel 55624 3
aes_x86_64 17131 1 aesni_intel
lrw 13286 1 aesni_intel
gf128mul 14951 1 lrw
glue_helper 13990 1 aesni_intel
ablk_helper 13597 1 aesni_intel
cryptd 20359 4 ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel,ablk_helper
i2c_algo_bit 13413 1 nouveau
ahci 25819 2
ttm 84169 1 nouveau
libahci 32009 1 ahci
drm_kms_helper 52710 1 nouveau
sky2 58191 0
firewire_ohci 40327 0
firewire_core 64534 1 firewire_ohci
sdhci_pci 18981 0
drm 297056 4 ttm,drm_kms_helper,nouveau
sdhci 42898 1 sdhci_pci
crc_itu_t 12707 1 firewire_core
wmi 19070 2 mxm_wmi,nouveau
video 19318 1 nouveau

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1301245

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

Would it be possible for you to test the latest upstream kernel? Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Please test the latest v3.14 kernel[0].

If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tag 'kernel-fixed-upstream'.

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the tag: 'kernel-bug-exists-upstream'.

If you are unable to test the mainline kernel, for example it will not boot, please add the tag: 'kernel-unable-to-test-upstream'.
Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug as "Confirmed".

Thanks in advance.

[0] http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.14-trusty/

[Andrzej (ndrwrdck)]

$ uname -a
Linux lptp 3.14.0-031400-generic #201403310035 SMP Mon Mar 31 04:36:23 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

seems to work much better.

I still get occasional lags (processes slow to start, thundebird laggy, brief mouse cursor freezes) when I try to untar an 80G backup tarball but the system feels more responsive than before. I cannot say if the problem is actually fixed in the mainline kernel or if it is just my impression, or if the system works better simply because it has just been restarted.

I will use this kernel for a while and try to sleep/resume it several times. If I spot any issues I will report them back here.

[Andrzej (ndrwrdck)]

I have rechecked with
Linux lptp 3.11.0-19-generic #33-Ubuntu SMP Tue Mar 11 18:48:34 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

and cannot reproduce the problem, at least not within ~1 hr from boot.

As with mainline 3.14 I get occasional lags in IO heavy applications but nothing I used to see before (I have first observed the issue right after the installation of Xubuntu 13.10 when I started unpacking my backup tarballs).

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Andrzej (ndrwrdck)]

The problem still persists in 14.04 with updates (haven't checked 14.10). I have managed to solve(?) it by adding a "noautogroup" parameter to the kernel command line.

More details:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1219548

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]