Unix pc sluggishness when switching windows (long)

Bruce Lilly bruce at balilly.UUCP
Sat Feb 9 12:12:13 AEST 1991


In article <1991Feb7.161712.9239 at shibaya.lonestar.org> afc at shibaya.lonestar.org (Augustine Cano) writes:
>In article <979 at gnosys.svle.ma.us> gst at gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo) writes:
>>In <1991Feb5.040416.354 at shibaya.lonestar.org> afc at shibaya.lonestar.org (Augustine Cano) writes:
>>
>>> So, what is slowly degrading in the kernel that is fixed at boot time?
>>> Has anybody else noticed this?  Does anybody have a clue as to what it is?
>>
>>Yup.  It's a memory leak of some sort in the window manager.  Do a "ps -el"
>>and take a look at the memory size numbers |
>>                                           v
>>     1 S     0 17268     1  3  27 20 14d 18: 13   5af68  w4  2:36 wmgr
>>
>>I just killed and restarted wmgr recently, so not much memory has been
>>consumed so far (I've seen the first number as high as 80 or 90).  Let's
>>see what I get if I kill and restart wmgr again:
>>
>>     1 S     0 20490     1  6  27 20 1e5  6: 12   5af68  w4  0:04 wmgr
>>
>>Maybe one of the UNIXpc development team out there who have access to
>>the source code of wmgr can take a look for us.  I've just learned to
>>kill and restart wmgr every 2 or 3 days.
>
>This is not a leak, it's a FLOOD!  I just hit the <SHIFT><RESUME> button
>24 times and that was enough to bump the memory size by 1.

Now hold on just a minute. While the above sounds plausible, I'm not 100%
convinced.  I have 2 machines. The one I'm posting from has been up about
a month, switching windows is rapid, no phone manager running. Here's the
output from ps -elf: (oh yes: 3.5MB, Ethernet, combo card)

  F S    UID   PID  PPID  C PRI NI ADR SZ:RSZ   WCHAN   STIME  TTY  TIME COMD
  3 S   root     0     0  0   0 20  4d  0:  0   264a8  Jan 11    ? 36267:18 swapper
  1 S   root     1     0  3  49 20  50  6:  6   70900  Jan 11    ?  5:50 init
  3 S   root     2     0  0   1 20  4e 48:  0   466ac  Jan 11    ?  0:42 pagedaemon
  3 S   root     3     0  0   3 20  4f  0:  0   5377c  Jan 11    ? 227:38 windaemon
  1 S  bruce   206     1  3  27 20  6e 38:  7   54e74  Jan 11   w1  1:35 ksh
  1 S   root 10908     1  3  27 20 399  6:  5  37ca1c 19:29:17 001  0:01 uugetty
  1 S   root   157     1  3  27 20 220169: 35   54f14  Jan 11   w3 52:11 wmgr
  1 S   root   161     1  3  49 20 2fc 29: 17   1ff3c  Jan 11   w4 67:13 smgr
  1 S   root  4489     1  3  49 20 205  4:  0   70900  Feb  4   w5  0:01 .phclr
  1 S   root    75     1  3  26 20 297  3:  0  374a5a  Jan 11    ?  0:01 timed
  1 S   root    58     1  3  26 20 252 10:  0  376f5a  Jan 11    ?  0:00 telnetd
  1 S   root    60     1  3  26 20 25c 16:  0  376d5a  Jan 11    ?  0:00 ftpd
  1 S   root    62     1  3  26 20 24e  8:  0  376bae  Jan 11    ?  0:00 tftpd
  1 S   root    64     1  3  26 20 256 10:  0  376ada  Jan 11    ?  0:00 rlogind
  1 S   root    66     1  3  26 20 2a2 10:  5  37662e  Jan 11    ? 14:03 rwhod
  1 S   root    68     1  3  26 20 2ae 10:  0  37695a  Jan 11    ?  0:01 rshd
  1 S   root    70     1  3  26 20 2b9 12:  0  3767da  Jan 11    ?  0:00 fingerd
  1 S   root    72     1  3  26 20 2c4 10:  0  37655a  Jan 11    ?  0:00 rexecd
  1 S   root  7870     1  3  26 20 3e4 42: 15  374f5a  Feb  6    ?  1:36 sendmail
  1 S   root    77     1  3  26 20 2d1 22:  0  3761da  Jan 11    ?  0:00 nntpd
  1 S  bruce 11002 10899  3  40 20  54 31:  9   46e8c 19:51:11  w8  0:04 ksh
  1 S   root  3979     1  3  27 20 3c0 35: 13   54ec4  Jan 14   w2  8:31 ksh
  1 S   uucp  8082     1  3  27 20 3f4 34:  0   55054  Feb  6   w7  0:04 ksh
  1 S    bin 29102     1  3  27 20 30c 35:  1   55004  Feb  1   w6  2:28 ksh
  1 S  bruce 10899     1  3  40 20 3d9 50: 29   4704c 19:26:07  w8  0:17 rn
  1 S     lp   177     1  3  26 20 354  8:  0   42662  Jan 11    ?  0:06 lpsched
  1 R  bruce 11011 11002  6  26 20 221 63: 20         19:51:26  w8  0:11 vi
  1 Z  bruce 11012 11011 13  73 20                              <defunct>
  1 S  bruce 11013 11011 45  40 20 3e1 30:  7   4720c 19:54:06  w8  0:02 ksh
  1 R  bruce 11014 11013204 111 20  69  7: 11         19:54:09  w8  0:02 ps

Note the large numbers for size of wmgr.
My other machine has been up about the same amount of time, wmgr numbers are much
smaller, window switching is painfully slow, AND ph is running there (and
is pretty big also). Configuration is 2MB, Ethernet. Here's output from ps -elf there:

  F S    UID   PID  PPID  C PRI NI ADR SZ:RSZ   WCHAN   STIME  TTY  TIME COMD
  3 S   root     0     0  0   0 20  53  0:  0   264a8  Jan 13    ? 35976:05 swapper
  1 S   root     1     0  7  49 20  56  6:  4   70900  Jan 13    ?  8:15 init
  3 S   root     2     0  0   1 20  54 48:  0   4d150  Jan 13    ?  1:27 pagedaemon
  3 S   root     3     0  0   3 20  55  0:  0   5977c  Jan 13    ? 85:47 windaemon
  1 S  bruce   275     1  7  27 20  74 33:  0   5ae74  Jan 13   w1  0:27 ksh
  1 S   root   260     1  7  27 20 1e0 81: 12   5b004  Jan 13   w6 15:40 ph
  1 S   root   234     1  7  27 20  a5 60:  0   5af14  Jan 13   w3 16:52 wmgr
  1 S   root   238     1  7  49 20 128 49:  4   1ff3c  Jan 13   w4 66:51 smgr
  1 S   root  8833    75 11  26 20 177 11:  6  3786e0 19:56:41   ?  0:00 rshd
  1 S   root    82     1  3  26 20  d7  3:  0  37cbda  Jan 13    ?  0:01 timed
  1 S   root    65     1  3  26 20  d8 10:  0  37df5a  Jan 13    ?  0:00 telnetd
  1 S   root    67     1  3  26 20  f2 16:  0  37dd5a  Jan 13    ?  0:00 ftpd
  1 S   root    69     1  3  26 20  dd  8:  0  37dbae  Jan 13    ?  0:00 tftpd
  1 S   root    71     1  3  26 20 11a 10:  0  37dada  Jan 13    ?  0:01 rlogind
  1 S   root    73     1  7  26 20 131 10:  5  37d7ae  Jan 13    ? 15:59 rwhod
  1 S   root    75     1  7  26 20 134 10:  5  37d95a  Jan 13    ?  0:14 rshd
  1 S   root    77     1  3  26 20 13f 12:  0  37d6da  Jan 13    ?  0:00 fingerd
  1 S   root    79     1  3  26 20 14a 10:  0  37d55a  Jan 13    ?  0:00 rexecd
  1 S   root    88     1  7  26 20 151 41:  7  37d0da  Jan 13    ? 14:17 sendmail
  1 S   root    84     1  7  26 20 157 22:  8  37d1da  Jan 13    ?  0:05 nntpd
  1 S   root   314     1  7  27 20 1e2 33:  0   5aec4  Jan 13   w2  2:52 ksh
  1 S     lp   243     1  7  26 20 186  8:  0   4904a  Jan 13    ?  0:06 lpsched
  1 S   root  8762    84  7  26 20 150 31: 15  37c92e 19:26:26   ?  0:05 nntpd
  1 S  bruce  8834  8833 13  40 20  b2 22:  4   4da80 19:56:42   ?  0:00 sh
  1 R  bruce  8835  8834175 103 20  8e  7: 11         19:56:43   ?  0:03 ps
  1 S   root 26795     1  7  27 20 123 31: 14   5b054  Feb  3   w7  8:54 watch
  1 S    bin 23327     1  7  27 20  71 33:  0   5b0f4  Feb  1   w9  0:15 ksh
  1 S   root  1234     1  8  27 20 18b 31:  6   5b0a4  Feb  5   w8 52:54 watch

I just walked into the other room, killed ph, checked window switching
(much, much better), restarted ph, rechecked window switching speed (still
good). More ps -elf output:

  F S    UID   PID  PPID  C PRI NI ADR SZ:RSZ   WCHAN   STIME  TTY  TIME COMD
  3 S   root     0     0  0   0 20  53  0:  0   264a8  Jan 13    ? 35981:59 swapper
  1 S   root     1     0  7  49 20  56  6:  4   70900  Jan 13    ?  8:15 init
  3 S   root     2     0  0   1 20  54 48:  0   4d150  Jan 13    ?  1:27 pagedaemon
  3 S   root     3     0  0   3 20  55  0:  0   5977c  Jan 13    ? 85:48 windaemon
  1 S  bruce   275     1  7  27 20  74 33:  0   5ae74  Jan 13   w1  0:27 ksh
  1 S   root  8853    75  9  26 20 148 11:  6  3786e0 20:03:04   ?  0:00 rshd
  1 S   root   234     1  7  27 20  a5 61: 56   5af14  Jan 13   w3 17:06 wmgr
  1 S   root   238     1  7  49 20 128 49:  3   1ff3c  Jan 13   w4 66:52 smgr
  1 S    adm  8845  8842  0  49 20 1db  3:  0   70900 20:00:05  w4  0:00 sa1
  1 S   root    82     1  3  26 20  d7  3:  0  37cbda  Jan 13    ?  0:01 timed
  1 S   root    65     1  3  26 20  d8 10:  0  37df5a  Jan 13    ?  0:00 telnetd
  1 S   root    67     1  3  26 20  f2 16:  0  37dd5a  Jan 13    ?  0:00 ftpd
  1 S   root    69     1  3  26 20  dd  8:  0  37dbae  Jan 13    ?  0:00 tftpd
  1 S   root    71     1  3  26 20 11a 10:  0  37dada  Jan 13    ?  0:01 rlogind
  1 S   root    73     1  7  26 20 131 10:  5  37d7ae  Jan 13    ? 15:59 rwhod
  1 S   root    75     1  7  26 20 134 10:  4  37d95a  Jan 13    ?  0:14 rshd
  1 S   root    77     1  3  26 20 13f 12:  0  37d6da  Jan 13    ?  0:00 fingerd
  1 S   root    79     1  3  26 20 14a 10:  0  37d55a  Jan 13    ?  0:00 rexecd
  1 S   root    88     1  7  26 20 151 41:  0  37d0da  Jan 13    ? 14:17 sendmail
  1 S   root    84     1  7  26 20 157 22:  0  37d1da  Jan 13    ?  0:05 nntpd
  1 S   root   314     1  7  27 20 1e2 33:  7   5aec4  Jan 13   w2  2:52 ksh
  1 S     lp   243     1  7  26 20 186  8:  0   4904a  Jan 13    ?  0:06 lpsched
  1 S   root  8762    84  7  26 20 150 31:  1  37c92e 19:26:26   ?  0:05 nntpd
  1 S   root  8848     1  7  27 20 19a 79: 19   5afb4 20:01:01 sys  0:00 ph
  1 S   root  8842     1  7  40 20  d6 22:  0   4daf0 20:00:01  w4  0:00 sh
  1 S   root 26795     1  7  27 20 123 31: 10   5b054  Feb  3   w7  8:55 watch
  1 S    bin 23327     1  7  27 20  71 33:  0   5b0f4  Feb  1   w9  0:15 ksh
  1 S   root  1234     1  7  27 20 18b 31:  6   5b0a4  Feb  5   w8 52:54 watch
  1 S  bruce  8854  8853 12  40 20 1e5 22:  4   4dcb0 20:03:05   ?  0:00 sh
  1 R  bruce  8855  8854173 103 20 1d9  7: 11         20:03:05   ?  0:03 ps

  ph size is still the largest, wmgr size went up, BUT window switching is
  faster.  I still can't say exactly what the slow window switching is
  caused by, but the above simple experiment seems to suggest that it's
  not solely due to the size of the wmgr process. It might be some
  interaction with the phone manager (which has an annoying tendency to
  pop open a window everytime the phone rings), then again it might not
  be. I just don't know.
--
	Bruce Lilly		blilly!balilly!bruce at sonyd1.Broadcast.Sony.COM



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