<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Craig White wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:1214445156.23218.65.camel@lin-workstation.azapple.com" type="cite"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; "> <meta name="Generator" content="MS Exchange Server version 6.0.6619.12"> <title>Re: How to find and clear zombie processes w/o rebooting?</title>  On Wed, 2008-06-25 at 18:33 -0700, Daniel B. Thurman wrote: > Using F8, I have found that Nautilus sometimes hangs and > runs at 100% CPU. Force killing Nautilus's drive windows > was the only way to recover. I am not sure that force killing > this drive window is related to the zombie that I founding using > top. > > I also discovered that my swap was increased to 2GB of 4GB > and has stayed there ever since. > > So before I accuse Nautilus as being the zombie process, how > do I locate it using ps or some other tool to find out what is > going on and to what process the zombie was? > > In the same breadth, is there a way to clear zombie processes > without being forced to reboot the system which would certainly > remove the zombie process and clear the swap space? ---- you have to kill the parent - you can locate the parent process by running 'ps auxwwf' Craig </blockquote> Interesting! Looks like the parent is related to gdm-binary? Strange about my comment previously - hit 'reset' :D Wonder what is going on with Xsession and why it died. This is what I found: =================== root 3704 0.0 0.1 18416 2096 ? Ss Jun24 0:00 /usr/sbin/gdm-binary -nodaemon root 3797 0.0 0.0 17896 2064 ? S Jun24 0:00 \_ /usr/sbin/gdm-binary -nodaemon root 3801 2.4 2.2 63512 47528 tty7 Ss+ Jun24 40:15 \_ /usr/bin/X :0 -br -audit 0 -auth /var/gdm/:0.Xauth -nolisten tcp vt7 dant 3854 0.0 0.1 33768 4104 ? Ssl Jun24 0:01 \_ /usr/bin/gnome-session dant 3902 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? Z Jun24 0:00 \_ [Xsession] <defunct> dant 3956 0.0 0.0 6328 252 ? Ss Jun24 0:00 \_ /usr/bin/ssh-agent /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session /etc/X11/xinit/Xclients dant 3976 0.3 0.1 53684 3188 ? Sl Jun24 5:01 \_ /usr/bin/pulseaudio --log-target=syslog dant 3982 0.0 0.0 5216 1300 ? S Jun24 0:00 | \_ /usr/libexec/pulse/gconf-helper dant 3986 0.0 0.5 45136 10576 ? S Jun24 0:36 \_ metacity --sm-client-id 110a010008000120153982800000046910003 dant 3989 0.0 0.7 75252 15236 ? S Jun24 0:09 \_ gnome-panel --sm-config-prefix /gnome-panel-imrZa5/ --sm-client-id 110a010008000120153982700000046910001 --screen 0 dant 4013 0.7 0.3 65148 7292 ? S Jun24 12:56 \_ gkrellm --sm-client-id 110a010008000120794573900000093780003 dant 4026 0.0 0.7 127592 14612 ? Sl Jun24 1:33 \_ gnome-terminal --sm-config-prefix /gnome-terminal-1dtJD1/ --sm-client-id 110a010008000120153989800000046910008 --screen 0 --window-with-profile-internal-id=Default --show-menubar --role=gnome-terminal-5108--2081150439-1201539898 --active --geometry 80x24+135+141 --title dant@gold:~ --working-directory /home/dant --zoom 1 --window-with-profile-internal-id=Default --show-menubar --role=gnome-terminal-5108-574728165-1201539901 --active --geometry 80x24+135+550 --title dant@gold:~ --working-directory /home/dant --zoom 1 --window-with-profile-internal-id=Default --show-menubar --role=gnome-terminal-5108-1143529827-1201539901 --active --geometry 80x24+799+141 --title dant@gold:~ --working-directory /home/dant --zoom 1 --window-with-profile-internal-id=Default --show-menubar --role=gnome-terminal-5108--1131700843-1201539902 --active --geometry 80x24+799+550 --title dant@gold:~ --working-directory /home/dant --zoom 1 dant 4191 0.0 0.0 2616 628 ? S Jun24 0:00 | \_ gnome-pty-helper dant 4192 0.0 0.0 5616 1056 pts/1 Ss Jun24 0:00 | \_ bash root 5533 0.0 0.0 4716 916 pts/1 S Jun24 0:00 | | \_ su root 5539 0.0 0.0 5620 1608 pts/1 S Jun24 0:00 | | \_ bash root 23634 0.0 0.0 4016 828 pts/1 S+ 18:34 0:00 | | \_ man ps root 23654 0.0 0.0 4652 1092 pts/1 S+ 18:34 0:00 | | \_ sh -c /usr/bin/bzip2 -c -d /var/cache/man/cat1/ps.1.bz2 | /usr/bin/less -is root 23656 0.0 0.0 4372 932 pts/1 S+ 18:34 0:00 | | \_ /usr/bin/less -is dant 4198 0.0 0.0 5616 2016 pts/2 Ss Jun24 0:00 | \_ bash root 23690 0.0 0.0 4716 1232 pts/2 S 18:36 0:00 | | \_ su root 23697 0.0 0.1 5620 2480 pts/2 S 18:36 0:00 | | \_ bash root 24340 1.0 0.0 4652 980 pts/2 R+ 19:02 0:00 | | \_ ps auxwwf dant 4203 0.0 0.0 5616 2036 pts/3 Ss+ Jun24 0:00 | \_ bash dant 4215 0.0 0.0 5616 1056 pts/4 Ss+ Jun24 0:00 | \_ bash dant 5267 0.0 0.0 5608 1056 pts/6 Ss Jun24 0:00 | \_ bash root 5329 0.0 0.0 4716 916 pts/6 S Jun24 0:00 | | \_ su root 5339 0.0 0.0 5620 1912 pts/6 S+ Jun24 0:00 | | \_ bash dant 10269 0.0 0.0 5616 1056 pts/5 Ss Jun24 0:00 | \_ bash root 10328 0.0 0.0 4716 936 pts/5 S Jun24 0:00 | \_ su root 10335 0.0 0.0 5912 1728 pts/5 S Jun24 0:00 | \_ bash root 24065 0.0 0.0 3824 528 pts/5 S+ 18:51 0:00 | \_ tail -f /var/log/messages dant 4040 19.5 30.2 3125956 624924 ? Sl Jun24 326:57 \_ strigidaemon dant 4044 0.0 0.1 28888 2504 ? SNl Jun24 0:00 \_ pinot-dbus-daemon dant 4185 0.0 0.0 3796 372 ? S Jun24 0:00 | \_ /bin/cat dant 4046 0.0 0.2 69920 5456 ? S Jun24 0:16 \_ mugshot --no-show-window dant 4054 0.0 0.2 20480 4796 ? S Jun24 0:00 \_ tracker-applet dant 4055 0.0 0.1 39268 3696 ? SNl Jun24 0:17 \_ trackerd dant 4061 0.0 0.0 4148 1792 ? S Jun24 0:00 \_ online-prefs-sync-daemon dant 4064 0.0 0.4 78908 8976 ? S Jun24 0:00 \_ /usr/bin/python -tt /usr/bin/puplet dant 4065 0.0 0.2 28192 4588 ? S Jun24 0:00 \_ python /usr/share/system-config-printer/applet.py dant 4072 0.0 0.2 99360 4148 ? S Jun24 0:00 \_ nm-applet --sm-disable dant 4078 0.0 0.1 65020 4012 ? S Jun24 0:00 \_ padevchooser dant 4118 0.0 0.1 17476 3416 ? S Jun24 0:00 \_ /usr/bin/pam-panel-icon --sm-client-id 110a010008000120153983200000046910006 root 4136 0.0 0.0 1956 580 ? S Jun24 0:04 | \_ /sbin/pam_timestamp_check -d root dant 23276 0.5 2.0 142092 42544 ? S 18:18 0:15 \_ nautilus --sm-config-prefix /nautilus-vN3JUZ/ --sm-client-id 110a010008000120153982700000046910002 --screen 0 </body> </html>