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    #1

    Memory and screen flicker issue

    I am running Kubuntu 17.10 on Lenovo X1 Carbon 4th Gen. (Back Ports are enabled) 16GB Ram. Running Plasma 5.11.5. Until about a week ago I had no issues. All of a sudden the system memory started to peak and the system started to use the swap file at over 40%. Disk cache and physical memory were maxed out. At the same time screen started to flicker and all windows became very sluggish. All the running applications. This happens after the system has been sitting for a couple of hours. Looking in the logs I do not see any problems at all.

    The running programs are not resource intensive (evolution and Chrome browser).

    Once I reboot everything is back to normal. The only thing I can say that I did when this started is that installed SoftMaker 2018 office suite and I had some Icon errors during the install. I stopped baloo and file indexing service and that helped a bit but it goes back to the same problem.

    Please let me know if anyone else has seen this issue. I will rebuild the system after I can download 17.10 again due to the Bios issue.

    Thanks
    Nick
    Tags: None
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    #2
    If not installed, install htop. Then run htop (from a konsole) and leave it visible. Run your PC. When you start to see the slowdown and memory maxing out/swap being used, what are the 'top' most applications shown by htop?
    Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007
    "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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      #3
      I am currently running htop and two top processes are usr/bin/plasmashell and kwin_x11. Swap file is at 38%. VIRT in htop shows at 25.5G for plasma shell. Sorry, I do not have much experience in htop to understand all the parameters.

      Screen shots

      https://www.dropbox.com/s/o3t3kop38b...21637.png?dl=0
      Click image for larger version Name: Screenshot_20180113_121637_preview.jpg Views: 1 Size: 124.6 KB ID: 643724

      https://www.dropbox.com/s/q34pe9wfum...20540.png?dl=0
      Click image for larger version Name: Screenshot_20180113_120540_preview.jpg Views: 1 Size: 78.0 KB ID: 643725
      Last edited by Snowhog; Jan 13, 2018, 11:55 AM. Reason: Post actual images
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        #4
        I see plasmashell using 55% of your RAM ,,,and it should not be .

        this is usually caused by a widget that has a memory leek .

        you are fully updated are you not ,,,,,,,
        Code:
        sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get  dist-upgrade
        ,,,,then I would try removing all widgets (and that dock) and start adding them back 1 at a time and using the system for a wile to see what we see.

        VINNY
        i7 4core HT 8MB L3 2.9GHz
        16GB RAM
        Nvidia GTX 860M 4GB RAM 1152 cuda cores
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          #5
          If by chance, you are using a widget that cycles through different background images, disable/remove it. I believe it is one of those widgets that leaks memory.
          Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007
          "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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            #6
            Originally posted by Snowhog View Post
            If by chance, you are using a widget that cycles through different background images, disable/remove it. I believe it is one of those widgets that leaks memory.
            yes that one comes to mind ,,,,,,,,,+1

            VINNY
            i7 4core HT 8MB L3 2.9GHz
            16GB RAM
            Nvidia GTX 860M 4GB RAM 1152 cuda cores
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              #7
              The only widgets I am using are clock, weather and the comic strip in the panel. The wallpaper rotator is an application called Varity but it is not a widget. It uses the slide show function of the desktop wall paper. To answer the question from Vinney yes I am completely up to date. As I mentioned earlier I do have the back ports installed as well. Thanks again for all your help on this I will disable the widgets and will let you know if it happens again.
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                #8
                Originally posted by nberg View Post
                The only widgets I am using are clock, weather and the comic strip in the panel. The wallpaper rotator is an application called Varity but it is not a widget. It uses the slide show function of the desktop wall paper. To answer the question from Vinney yes I am completely up to date. As I mentioned earlier I do have the back ports installed as well. Thanks again for all your help on this I will disable the widgets and will let you know if it happens again.
                Several months ago my laptop was doing the same thing, flickering, high memory usage, high temps. I went to a single wallpaper instead of the slide show and everything cleared up. A couple months later I tried the slide show function again with no problems and I am still using it.
                If you think Education is expensive, try ignorance.

                The difference between genius and stupidity is genius has limits.
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                  #9
                  Originally posted by nberg View Post
                  The wallpaper rotator is an application called Varity but it is not a widget. It uses the slide show function of the desktop wall paper.
                  this can have the same effect some times ...that is , the desktop settings slide show setting ...their was also a similar glitch with one of the picture frame widgets I think.

                  VINNY
                  i7 4core HT 8MB L3 2.9GHz
                  16GB RAM
                  Nvidia GTX 860M 4GB RAM 1152 cuda cores
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                    #10
                    I had issues with the comic strip one. Removed it a good while back and no issues.
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                      #11
                      I think I found the issue. I spent the weekend reinstalling the system. I started with the new ISO 17.10.1. Everything went well but took a while to install all the apps. Spent Sunday working on the system all day no issues. On Sunday night decided to install the backports and upgrade to 5.11. That went well also no issues after reboot. After about an hour on 5.11 the memory issue started again and screen flickering came back. Looks like the there is an issue with 5.11 backports. Rebuilt the system again on Sunday night and started with 5.10 so far no issues at all Monday at 9 PM.

                      I will try the upgrade again just so I am sure that I can recreate the problem. Will let you know how it goes. I wanted to make sure I installed all the same apps including the wallpaper apps as well as the comic widget to see if the issue was in 5.10 also. Will let you the results.
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                        #12
                        Comic strip panel has a memory leak.

                        Please Read Me
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