Intermittent temporary GUI freeze in Ubuntu 11.10
- by Oscar
I've been using Ubuntu 11.10 for a month or so. In the last week it's started freezing randomly (every few hours or minutes). I can still move the mouse and switch to other terminals with ctrl+alt.
I thought this was purely a gui issue as I could continue entering commands (mouse clicks and keys) which seem to be processed once the system resumes (generally 30 seconds to a few minutes). I'm using gnome and metacity.
I can't identify anything in particular that triggers the freezes. Saving a file in LibreOffice causes the system to hang. I tried disabling most of the services I've installed (dropbox, autokey, etc.) but doesn't help.
Switching to another terminal and running top, the CPU column is shared equally among all of my processes (i.e. non-root). I have no idea what that signifies. My PC is unusable in this state.
CPU model name : Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E6700 @ 3.20GHz
[7m PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND [0;10m[39;49m[K
[0;10m[0;10m 1499 ogga 20 0 404m 32m 13m R 10 0.8 0:28.19 python [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1501 ogga 20 0 216m 13m 6224 R 10 0.3 0:18.28 ibus-x11 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1679 ogga 20 0 449m 34m 15m R 10 0.9 0:41.10 gnome-panel [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1710 ogga 20 0 350m 15m 8324 R 10 0.4 0:18.25 bluetooth-apple [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1752 ogga 20 0 458m 37m 13m R 10 0.9 0:22.62 autokey-gtk [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 2081 ogga 20 0 354m 17m 9800 R 10 0.5 0:16.36 update-notifier [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 5439 ogga 20 0 640m 104m 38m R 10 2.6 0:45.17 chromium-browse [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 5586 ogga 20 0 381m 42m 21m R 10 1.1 0:20.17 chromium-browse [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 6422 ogga 20 0 529m 59m 18m R 10 1.5 0:28.15 sublime_text [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1362 ogga 20 0 264m 14m 7884 R 8 0.4 0:18.29 gnome-session [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1673 ogga 20 0 351m 17m 9768 R 8 0.4 0:21.78 metacity [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1708 ogga 20 0 249m 13m 7156 R 8 0.3 0:18.23 gnome-fallback- [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1709 ogga 20 0 572m 28m 15m R 8 0.7 0:18.37 nautilus [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1722 ogga 20 0 467m 18m 9m R 8 0.5 0:18.43 nm-applet [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1727 ogga 20 0 225m 12m 6304 R 8 0.3 0:18.24 polkit-gnome-au [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1731 ogga 20 0 422m 19m 10m R 8 0.5 0:26.62 gnome-sound-app [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1735 ogga 20 0 306m 31m 13m R 8 0.8 0:18.37 python [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1754 ogga 20 0 286m 16m 8912 R 8 0.4 0:18.90 vino-server [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1798 ogga 20 0 246m 15m 7476 R 8 0.4 0:18.25 gnome-screensav [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1851 ogga 20 0 185m 14m 7256 R 8 0.4 0:18.18 gdu-notificatio [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1923 ogga 20 0 251m 28m 11m R 8 0.7 0:17.96 applet.py [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 4085 ogga 20 0 378m 22m 11m R 8 0.6 0:18.19 gnome-terminal [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 4213 ogga 20 0 263m 73m 15m S 2 1.9 3:57.44 skype [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 1 root 20 0 24188 1492 1320 S 0 0.0 0:00.45 init [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kthreadd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 3 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:02.27 ksoftirqd/0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 6 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 migration/0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 7 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 migration/1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 9 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:01.97 ksoftirqd/1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 10 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:01.16 kworker/0:1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 11 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 cpuset [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 12 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khelper [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 13 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 netns [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 15 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 sync_supers [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 16 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 bdi-default [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 17 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kintegrityd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 18 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kblockd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 19 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ata_sff [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 20 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khubd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 21 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 md [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 23 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khungtaskd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 24 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.14 kswapd0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 25 root 25 5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ksmd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 26 root 39 19 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khugepaged [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 27 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 fsnotify_mark [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 28 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ecryptfs-kthrea [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 29 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 crypto [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 37 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kthrotld [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 38 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 39 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 41 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_2 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 42 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_3 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 64 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:02.98 kworker/0:2 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 242 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.39 jbd2/sdb1-8 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 243 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ext4-dio-unwrit [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 288 root 20 0 17236 448 448 S 0 0.0 0:00.04 upstart-udev-br [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 295 root 20 0 21752 884 796 S 0 0.0 0:00.06 udevd
And at another time:
[7m PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND [0;10m[39;49m[K
[0;10m[0;10m 1757 ogga 20 0 222m 9932 6300 R 13 0.2 0:05.69 polkit-gnome-au [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1559 ogga 20 0 152m 9764 6112 R 13 0.2 0:05.77 ibus-x11 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1786 ogga 20 0 457m 33m 13m R 13 0.9 0:06.10 autokey-gtk [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1395 ogga 20 0 262m 12m 7880 R 12 0.3 0:05.88 gnome-session [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1557 ogga 20 0 403m 31m 13m R 12 0.8 0:14.95 python [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1745 ogga 20 0 247m 11m 7196 R 12 0.3 0:05.69 gnome-fallback- [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1767 ogga 20 0 237m 26m 11m R 12 0.7 0:05.87 python [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1713 ogga 20 0 440m 25m 13m R 12 0.6 0:13.76 gnome-panel [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1747 ogga 20 0 348m 13m 8328 R 11 0.3 0:05.22 bluetooth-apple [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1754 ogga 20 0 465m 16m 10m R 11 0.4 0:05.21 nm-applet [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1710 ogga 20 0 167m 11m 7564 R 11 0.3 0:05.21 metacity [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1761 ogga 20 0 406m 17m 9928 R 11 0.4 0:12.71 gnome-sound-app [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1789 ogga 20 0 283m 13m 8852 R 11 0.3 0:05.55 vino-server [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1815 ogga 20 0 243m 11m 7452 R 11 0.3 0:05.17 gnome-screensav [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1885 ogga 20 0 182m 11m 7256 R 11 0.3 0:05.18 gdu-notificatio [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 1957 ogga 20 0 249m 25m 11m R 11 0.7 0:05.32 applet.py [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 2067 ogga 20 0 260m 12m 7828 R 11 0.3 0:05.21 update-notifier [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 1975 ogga 20 0 292m 48m 11m S 0 1.2 0:08.28 ubuntuone-syncd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m[0;10m 2363 ogga 20 0 21468 1384 988 R 0 0.0 0:00.01 top [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 1 root 20 0 24284 2296 1320 S 0 0.1 0:00.46 init [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 2 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kthreadd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 3 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.05 ksoftirqd/0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 4 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/0:0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 5 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.19 kworker/u:0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 6 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 migration/0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 7 root RT 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 migration/1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 8 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/1:0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 9 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.06 ksoftirqd/1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 10 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.09 kworker/0:1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 11 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 cpuset [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 12 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khelper [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 13 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 netns [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 14 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.25 kworker/u:1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 15 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 sync_supers [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 16 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 bdi-default [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 17 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kintegrityd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 18 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kblockd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 19 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ata_sff [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 20 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khubd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 21 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 md [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 22 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.22 kworker/1:1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 23 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khungtaskd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 24 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kswapd0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 25 root 25 5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ksmd [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 26 root 39 19 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 khugepaged [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 27 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 fsnotify_mark [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 28 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 ecryptfs-kthrea [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 29 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 crypto [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 37 root 0 -20 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kthrotld [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 38 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_0 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 39 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_1 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 40 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/u:2 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 41 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_2 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 42 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 scsi_eh_3 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 43 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/u:3 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 44 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/u:4 [0;10m[39;49m
[0;10m 45 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kworker/u:5 [0;10m[39;49m[6;1H[K
Sorry about the horrible formatting.
Thanks for any suggestions...
Edit:
I notice that my virtual computer (win7 64 on virtualbox) continues to respond most of the time during these 'freezes'
Edit2:
I suspect this is something to do with UI priority being too low... but I don't know enough about linux to know how to address that.