I get some weird X behavior when my computer is under high I/O load. For some reason, X struggles with rendering (I think), causing long delays in program execution.
Steps to reproduce:
1. Start 'stress -d 2' to start hard-drive I/O
2. In another terminal, execute 'time ls /usr/bin'
3. Watch how the ls command hangs for many seconds.
The 'hanging' sometimes occurs before any output appears, other times it hangs in the middle of the output. The worst I've seen is 18 seconds before the command completes. The whole terminal window also hangs at this point.
Now I thought this was related to bug #131094, but I discovered that if I run the same test through SSH, there's no hanging! Everything is smooth through the SSH session. So the problem seems to be with X rendering the output of the command in the terminal.
There seem to be no relevant entries in the logs (kern.log, syslog, Xorg.0.log).
I've tested this with the proprietary nvidia driver, the nouveau driver and vesa driver. I got the same problem in all three cases. Tested both with Unity and Ubuntu Classic (no effects). I have also tried the packages in xorg-edgers, and the problem is still there.
System information:
- Ubuntu 11.04 64bit
- NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
I'm not sure how to debug this further. Please let me know if there's any other information you require.
---
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 270.41.06 Mon Apr 18 14:53:56 PDT 2011
GCC version: gcc version 4.5.2 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.5.2-8ubuntu4)
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,place,compiztoolbox,imgpng,regex,grid,unitymtgrabhandles,move,animation,session,gnomecompat,vpswitch,workarounds,resize,snap,expo,mousepoll,ezoom,wall,staticswitcher,fade,scale,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: compiz
DistUpgraded: Log time: 2011-04-01 00:04:02.963428
DistroCodename: natty
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
vboxhost, 4.0.4, 2.6.38-8-generic, x86_64: installed
vboxhost, 4.0.4, 2.6.38-7-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!)
nvidia-current, 270.41.06, 2.6.38-8-generic, x86_64: installed
GraphicsCard:
nVidia Corporation G92 [GeForce GTS 250] [10de:0615] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device [1462:1543]
JockeyStatus: xorg:nvidia_current - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Enabled, Not in use)
MachineType: System manufacturer P5K
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: xserver-xorg-video-nv 1:2.1.17-3ubuntu7
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
LANGUAGE=en_US:en
PATH=(custom, user)
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-2.6.38-8-generic root=UUID=47045301-e02a-4cb1-9cfe-edbd6fc4dc1a ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Renderer: Unknown
Tags: natty running-unity ubuntu compiz-0.9
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-03-31 (59 days ago)
UserGroups: adm admin audio backuppc cdrom dialout fuse libvirtd lpadmin plugdev pulse pulse-access pulse-rt sambashare vboxusers video
dmi.bios.date: 10/14/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 1201
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: P5K
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr1201:bd10/14/2008:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnP5K:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnP5K:rvrRev1.xx:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: P5K
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.4+bzr20110415-0ubuntu2
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs 20090808ubuntu13
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.23-1ubuntu6
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.10.2-0ubuntu2
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.10.2-0ubuntu2
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.0-0ubuntu4
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.14.0-4ubuntu7
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110107+b795ca6e-0ubuntu7
apport information