RHEL AS 4 U2 Slow
Brenda Radford
brkittycat at verizon.net
Tue Feb 7 22:29:59 UTC 2006
Rick Stevens wrote:
>On Mon, 2006-02-06 at 13:55 -0500, Brenda Radford wrote:
>
>
>>Rick Stevens wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>On Mon, 2006-01-30 at 18:55 -0500, Brenda Radford wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Rick Stevens wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>On Mon, 2006-01-30 at 16:16 -0500, Brenda Radford wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>Installed RHEL AS 4 U2 on an 80 GB HD (non-production, educational box).
>>>>>>When I turn it on, it is slow doing all the things it does when it boots
>>>>>>up.
>>>>>>After it is finished, I right-click on Open Terminal, and it takes
>>>>>>forever for a
>>>>>>window to pop up. How do I find out why it is so slow?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>You need to look at the output of "ps ax" or "top" and see which process
>>>>>is sucking up the resources. You then have to sort out why that's
>>>>>happening.
>>>>>
>>>>>If this is the first boot on the machine, the dread "updatedb" process
>>>>>may be running. It can take a lot of resources. Either wait for it to
>>>>>finish (it will, eventually) or kill it and let it run when your machine
>>>>>isn't busy. It is what updates the "slocate" database and typically
>>>>>runs at 4:00 a.m.--provided you leave the machine on. If you shut the
>>>>>machine off and 4:00 a.m. rolls by while it's off, the process will
>>>>>launch shortly after the machine boots so it can "catch up".
>>>>>
>>>>>Of course, if you don't need the "slocate" command then disable the
>>>>>updatedb process completely by editing /etc/updatedb.conf and changing
>>>>>"DAILY_UPDATE=yes" to "DAILY_UPDATE=no" and killing any currently
>>>>>running process.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>I have 895 MB memory and a 1995.494 MHz CPU.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The only thing I did manually in the install was to partition the hard
>>>>>>disk (from df):
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
>>>>>>/dev/hda5 1004024 162144 790876 18% /
>>>>>>/dev/hda1 497829 15985 456142 4% /boot
>>>>>>none 452880 0 452880 0% /dev/shm
>>>>>>/dev/hda10 20161172 123016 19014016 1% /home
>>>>>>/dev/hda3 2016044 35836 1877796 2% /opt
>>>>>>/dev/hda8 10080488 55408 9513012 1% /tmp
>>>>>>/dev/hda2 10080520 3546400 6022052 38% /usr
>>>>>>/dev/hda7 5036284 42924 4737528 1% /usr/local
>>>>>>/dev/hda9 10080488 147520 9420900 2% /var
>>>>>>/dev/hdb1 101089 33094 62776 35% /mnt/hdb1
>>>>>>/dev/hdb2 76051264 24007900 48180136 34% /mnt/hdb2
>>>>>>/dev/fd0 1424 3 1421 1% /media/floppy
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I do have a second hard drive that ran RHEL AS 3, but it isn't mounted in
>>>>>>/etc/fstab; it was done manually above.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I do have 2 errors in the kernel log, but I don't know what they mean:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>shpchp: acpi_shpchprm:\_SB_.PCI0 evaluate _BBN fail=0x5
>>>>>>shpchp: acpi_shpchprm:get_device PCI ROOT HID fail=0x5
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>I wouldn't worry about those. They're related to the ACPI (Advanced
>>>>>Configuration and Power Interface) system and aren't critical. You may
>>>>>wish to turn off ACPI ("chkconfig acpid off;service acpid stop") or
>>>>>boot with "noacpi".
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>Rick,
>>>>
>>>>There were no resource hogs in "ps ax" or "top".
>>>>
>>>>It wasn't "updatedb". "DAILY_UPDATE" was no. I have been booting the
>>>>machine at least once a day
>>>>since I installed on January 16. BTW, I love "slocate".
>>>>
>>>>I turned off acpid first by stopping the service; things improved
>>>>dramatically and instantly.
>>>>Then I chkconfig'd it off.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>Interesting that acpid hosed the machine that badly. Weird!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>I want to boot with "noacpi". Where do I put that?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>Edit /boot/grub/grub.conf. Find the stanza that reflects your kernel,
>>>and edit the "kernel=" line. Put " noacpi" at the end. For example,
>>>on my Fedora Core 4 machine:
>>>
>>>title Fedora Core (2.6.14-1.1656_FC4)
>>> root (hd0,0)
>>> kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.14-1.1656_FC4 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb
>>>quiet noacpi <<<<====NOTE!
>>> initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.14-1.1656_FC4.img
>>>
>>>If you just want to try it once, reboot the system. At the grub
>>>screen scroll to the kernel you want to play with and hit "E".
>>>Scroll down to the kernel line and hit "E" again. Go to the end of
>>>the line and add " noacpi" to it (don't forget the leading space and
>>>do NOT include the quote marks), then hit <ENTER> and press B. The
>>>system will boot with noacpi THIS TIME ONLY. If you want it to be
>>>permanent, you have to edit the grub.conf file as I mentioned above.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>Rick,
>>
>>The perkiness from dropping acpid only lasted a day. Any other ideas?
>>Did I partition it to death?
>>
>>
>
>Partitioning (as in hard drive) shouldn't have that kind of performance
>hit that you're experiencing.
>
>
>
>>The output from ps ax:
>>
>> PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
>> 1 ? S 0:00 init [5]
>> 2 ? SN 0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
>> 3 ? S< 0:00 [events/0]
>> 4 ? S< 0:00 [khelper]
>> 5 ? S< 0:00 [kacpid]
>> 23 ? S< 0:00 [kblockd/0]
>> 33 ? S 0:00 [pdflush]
>> 34 ? S 0:00 [pdflush]
>> 36 ? S< 0:00 [aio/0]
>> 24 ? S 0:00 [khubd]
>> 35 ? S 0:00 [kswapd0]
>> 110 ? S 0:00 [kseriod]
>> 199 ? S 0:00 [kjournald]
>> 1042 ? S<s 0:00 udevd
>> 1590 ? S< 0:00 [kauditd]
>> 1623 ? S< 0:00 [kmirrord]
>> 1624 ? S< 0:00 [kmir_mon]
>> 1653 ? S 0:00 [kjournald]
>> 1654 ? S 0:00 [kjournald]
>> 1655 ? S 0:00 [kjournald]
>> 1656 ? S 0:00 [kjournald]
>> 1657 ? S 0:00 [kjournald]
>> 1658 ? S 0:00 [kjournald]
>> 1659 ? S 0:00 [kjournald]
>> 2289 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/dhclient -1 -q -lf
>>/var/lib/dhcp/dhclient-eth0.leases -pf /var/run/dhclient-eth0.pid eth0
>> 2343 ? Ss 0:00 syslogd -m 0
>> 2347 ? Ss 0:00 klogd -x
>> 2368 ? Ss 0:00 portmap
>> 2388 ? Ss 0:00 rpc.statd
>> 2416 ? Ss 0:00 rpc.idmapd
>> 2492 ? S 0:00 /usr/sbin/smartd
>> 2502 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd
>> 2517 ? Ss 0:00 xinetd -stayalive -pidfile /var/run/xinetd.pid
>> 2530 ? SLs 0:00 ntpd -u ntp:ntp -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -g
>> 2551 ? Ss 0:00 sendmail: accepting connections
>> 2559 ? Ss 0:00 sendmail: Queue runner at 01:00:00 for
>>/var/spool/clientmqueue
>> 2617 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd
>> 2660 ? Ss 0:00 gpm -m /dev/input/mice -t imps2
>> 2670 ? Ss 0:00 crond
>> 2696 ? Ss 0:00 xfs -droppriv -daemon
>> 2706 ? SNs 0:00 anacron -s
>> 2715 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/atd
>> 2734 ? Ss 0:00 dbus-daemon-1 --system
>> 2745 ? Ss 0:00 rhnsd --interval 240
>> 2755 ? Ss 0:00 cups-config-daemon
>> 2766 ? Ss 0:01 hald
>> 2776 tty1 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty1
>> 2801 tty2 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty2
>> 2887 tty3 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty3
>> 2906 tty4 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty4
>> 2913 tty5 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty5
>> 2920 tty6 Ss+ 0:00 /sbin/mingetty tty6
>> 3174 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/gdm-binary -nodaemon
>> 3207 ? S 0:00 /usr/bin/gdm-binary -nodaemon
>> 3213 ? S 0:15 /usr/X11R6/bin/X :0 -audit 0 -auth
>>/var/gdm/:0.Xauth -nolisten tcp vt7
>> 3521 ? Ss 0:01 /usr/bin/gnome-session
>> 3549 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-agent -s
>> 3576 ? S 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session
>>/etc/X11/xinit/Xclients
>> 3577 ? Ss 0:00 dbus-daemon-1 --fork --print-pid 8
>>--print-address 6 --session
>> 3581 ? S 0:00 /usr/libexec/gconfd-2 5
>> 3584 ? S 0:00 /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon
>> 3586 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/libexec/bonobo-activation-server
>>--ac-activate --ior-output-fd=18
>> 3588 ? S 0:00 /usr/libexec/gnome-settings-daemon
>>--oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_SettingsDaemon --oaf-ior-fd=22
>> 3594 ? S 0:00 /usr/libexec/gam_server
>> 3603 ? S 0:00 xscreensaver -nosplash
>> 3627 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/metacity --sm-client-id=default1
>> 3631 ? Ss 0:00 gnome-panel --sm-client-id default2
>> 3633 ? Ssl 0:00 nautilus --no-default-window --sm-client-id
>>default3
>> 3635 ? Ss 0:00 gnome-volume-manager --sm-client-id default6
>> 3637 ? S 0:00 /usr/libexec/wnck-applet
>>--oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_Wncklet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=26
>> 3639 ? S 0:00 /usr/libexec/mixer_applet2
>>--oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_MixerApplet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=28
>> 3641 ? S 0:00 /usr/libexec/clock-applet
>>--oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_ClockApplet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=30
>> 3643 ? S 0:00 /usr/libexec/notification-area-applet
>>--oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_NotificationAreaApplet_Factory
>>--oaf-ior-fd=32
>> 3647 ? Ss 0:00 eggcups --sm-client-id default5
>> 3653 ? Sl 0:00 /usr/libexec/gnome-vfs-daemon
>>--oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_VFS_Daemon_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=36
>> 3666 ? S 0:00 /usr/libexec/mapping-daemon
>> 3668 ? Ss 0:00 pam-panel-icon --sm-client-id default0
>> 3672 ? S 0:00 /sbin/pam_timestamp_check -d root
>> 3788 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/esd -terminate -nobeeps -as 2
>>-spawnfd 28
>> 3790 ? Sl 0:01 /usr/bin/gnome-terminal
>> 3791 ? S 0:00 gnome-pty-helper
>> 3792 pts/1 Ss 0:00 bash
>> 3818 pts/1 R+ 0:00 ps ax
>>
>>
>
>There's nothing obvious there. What you really need to do is run
>"top" and look at the top few processes listed there (you can usually
>ignore the "init", "top" and "X" processes) and see what's sucking up
>the CPU time. Watch the "%CPU" and %MEM" columns and find the process
>that's got the highest "%CPU" bit. That's the one we need to look at.
>
>Also pay attention to the bit that looks like this:
>
>Cpu(s): 4.6% us, 0.0% sy, 0.0% ni, 94.4% id, 0.0% wa, 1.0% hi,
>0.0% si
>
>as it shows a summary of where the CPU is spending its time:
>
>"us" = user state
>"sy" = system state
>"ni" = non-interruptible sleep
>"id" = idle
>"wa" = I/O wait state
>"hi" = hardware interrupts
>"si" = software interrupts
>
>Even if you don't see a process sucking up a lot of CPU, but you see
>the CPU spending a lot of time in the "wa" state, then you have a disk
>problem. Look in the process list for processes in the "D" state.
>
>
>
>
Rick,
From top, on two different days:
[brenda at localhost ~]$ top
top - 20:40:49 up 11 min, 2 users, load average: 0.03, 0.05, 0.06
Tasks: 83 total, 1 running, 82 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
Cpu(s): 2.3% us, 0.0% sy, 0.0% ni, 97.7% id, 0.0% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.0% si
Mem: 905760k total, 306536k used, 599224k free, 18996k buffers
Swap: 1799232k total, 0k used, 1799232k free, 180724k cached
[brenda at localhost ~]$ top
top - 15:31:16 up 35 min, 4 users, load average: 0.24, 0.07, 0.02
Tasks: 89 total, 1 running, 87 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie
Cpu(s): 1.3% us, 0.0% sy, 0.0% ni, 98.7% id, 0.0% wa, 0.0% hi, 0.0% si
Mem: 905760k total, 396168k used, 509592k free, 23224k buffers
Swap: 1799232k total, 0k used, 1799232k free, 244368k cached
The only time the CPU showed any activity in the I/O wait state was when
top was first started,
at the 1-4% level, and only for an instant. It immediately went back to
0.0%. The only other
processes that showed up at the top of the list (besides those you
mentioned) were gnome-terminal,
hald, and rhn-applet-gui, but they only used tiny amounts of CPU and
MEM, even with 4 or 5
terminal windows open (hence the 4 users).
The more times I ran top, the more Memory it reported used (in the top
header). It went up to more than
4XX,XXX used before I was finished, after running top and ps ax
numerous times.
I didn't have any processes in the "D" state.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Brenda
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