Ubuntu slows down even after cpu-intensive process is ended

Posted by Matt2 on Ask Ubuntu See other posts from Ask Ubuntu or by Matt2
Published on 2012-05-31T20:34:14Z Indexed on 2012/05/31 22:51 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 195

Filed under:

12.04

|

64-bit

After a Skype video call, or the use of virtualbox, Ubuntu slows down to a crawl, even after the process is ended. Running htop reveals that processes that used little CPU before are now all using about 30% cpu (namely Compiz, Firefox, Python, and Skype, but I'm sure there are others), to the point where all my cores are at 99%. All I can do from here is restart.

Any idea why this is happpening? I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit on 3.7 GiB of memory, Intel® Core™ i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz × 4, VESA: M92 graphics driver. Not sure why I'm running VESA, I installed fglrx, but I suppose that's a different question.

Thanks in advance!

© Ask Ubuntu or respective owner

Related posts about 12.04

Wipe 12.04/Windows 7 dual boot setup and start fresh new 12.04

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have an Asus u56e laptop running dual boot setup, Windows 7 and 12.04. I had Windows 7 first. I was wondering what's the easiest way possible to erase/format my drive (500GB) so that it deletes Ubuntu and Windows 7 so I can reinstall 12.04 onto my whole drive? Does the Ubuntu Live CD help make this… >>> More
In 12.04: Failed to load session 'ubuntu' [closed]

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Possible Duplicate: There's an issue with an Alpha/Beta Release of Ubuntu, what should I do? I'm using 12.04 beta. Today I was prompted to install some updates, which I did, followed by a reboot. On reboot, X starts, but all I see is a single dialog window in the middle of the screen… >>> More
Will final version of 12.04 use the power management changes found in kernel 3.3

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I have seen in some version of Ubuntu that instead of making a huge change to update to the latest kernel, they take some of the good stuff out of it, for the sake of stability and put it on a previous version. In this case, kernel 3.3 has seen some very good power management enhancements that are… >>> More
Wired PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse do not work in 12.04 Live CD or after fresh 12.04 install - Foxconn D270S Atom Motherboard

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
My Wired PS/2 keyboard and mouse do not work in 12.04, either in a fresh install or from the Live CD. A USB keyboard and mouse will work. The PS/2 keyboard and mouse will work using the same hardware and a fresh 10.04 Ubuntu install or a fresh Windows 7 install. The motherboard is a Foxconn D270S… >>> More
Difference between 12.04 and 12.04.1

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I recently did a fresh install of Ubuntu 12.04 two days ago. Or at least I thought it was 12.04, but actually 12.04.1. Now I'm having errors popping up from the grub loader. Error: no video mode activated which was apparently resolved in this bug# 699802. However these workarounds are for 11.xx… >>> More

Related posts about 64-bit

64-bit 13.10 shows 1GB less RAM than 64-bit 13.04 did

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Multiple 64-bit versions (Kubuntu, Lubuntu and Xubuntu) once installed on my ThinkPad R60 show 3GB of RAM, not the correct 4GB of RAM. Last week with 13.04, I had 4GB of RAM (which matches the BIOS) and this week I have 3GB available. Inquiring minds want to know. Details follow: Linux R60 3.11.0-12-generic… >>> More
VMWare Workstation 6.5.5 (64-bit) on Ubuntu 10.04 (64-bit) Odd Problem

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I managed to successfully install VMWare Workstation 6.5.5 (64-bit) on Ubuntu 10.04 (64-bit). It works well and somehow feels faster and snappier than the same exact version on Ubuntu 8.04. However, there is one slight issue, somewhat hurting productivity: When the guest VM is Microsoft Windows… >>> More
How to build 64-bit Python on OS X 10.6 -- ONLY 64 bit, no Universal nonsense

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I just want to build this on my development machine -- the binary install from Python.org is still 32 bits and installing extensions (MySQLdb, for example) is driving me nuts with trying to figure out the proper flags for each and every extension. Clarification: I did NOT replace the system Python… >>> More
Windows 7 on a 64-bit computer

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I read on Wikipedia that Windows 7 on a 64-bit PC needs twice as much RAM as on a 32-bit PC. I understand why is that: every number stored in memory takes 8 bytes rather than just 4. That, in simple terms, means that your amount of RAM is reduced to half when you use Windows 7 on a 64-bit computer… >>> More
ActiveX component can't create Object Error? Check 64 bit Status

as seen on West-Wind - Search for 'West-Wind'
If you're running on IIS 7 and a 64 bit operating system you might run into the following error using ASP classic or ASP.NET with COM interop. In classic ASP applications the error will show up as: ActiveX component can't create object (Error 429) (actually without error handling the… >>> More