-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 The thrashing problem described below has been overtaken by events. On the Lenovo R61 ThinkPad I had installed Lenny using the Lenny beta2 installer. Subsequent package upgrades solved the main problems. Those remaining will be the subject of specific threads.
On the desktop I had installed etch-and-a-half. The ensuing problems multiplied to the extent that the computer became unusable except in single user mode in a virtual terminal. For the time being I have abandoned use of this computer. Sometime after 14 October I will do a clean Lenny installation on it and see what happens. Perhaps by then Lenny will have been declared "stable", a relative term I suppose. Thanks to Alex Samad and Steve Lamb for your responses. Regards, Ken Heard - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Heard wrote: > One of these computers is a desktop. From a cold boot it appears to > load the operating system without incident -- as far as I can tell -- > right to the kdm login manager. Once a user name and password are > entered it loads KDE in about 5-10 seconds. > > However, soon after I load the first application, Iceweasel or Icedove > for instance, the computer exhibits the usual symptoms of thrashing: > sluggish response to keyboard or mouse generated commands and continuous > flicker of the hard drive light. > > The only way I have found to stop the thrashing is to do a warm re-boot > as soon as possible after the thrashing starts. After I do so the > computer regains its stability. > > The mainboard of this computer is a Foxconn 45CM with an Intel E2160 > dual-core CPU and one 1GB memory module. > > This computer has etch-and-a-half installed, after upgrade from etch. It > uses the XFS file system and consequently LILO rather than GRUB. The df > command returns the following: > > Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on > /dev/mapper/SOL-root 3.0G 219M 2.8G 8% / > tmpfs 502M 0 502M 0% /lib/init/rw > udev 10M 56K 10M 1% /dev > tmpfs 502M 0 502M 0% /dev/shm > /dev/sda1 60M 25M 35M 43% /boot > /dev/mapper/SOL-home_crypt > 208G 55G 153G 27% /home > /dev/mapper/SOL-tmp 1014M 4.4M 1010M 1% /tmp > /dev/mapper/SOL-usr 15G 2.5G 13G 17% /usr > /dev/mapper/SOL-var 3.0G 1.1G 2.0G 35% /var > BDS:/home/martin/docs > 50G 37G 11G 78% /home/martin/docs > BDS:/home/martin/ice 50G 37G 11G 78% /home/martin/ice > BDS:/home/martin/images-elph > 50G 37G 11G 78% /home/martin/images-elph > BDS:/home/martin/images-m > 50G 37G 11G 78% /home/martin/images-m > > The df command does not return information about the swap partition; its > size is 2 GB. Both it and the home partition are encrypted, the former > with a random passphrase, the latter with one which is entered every > time the system is booted. The syslog indicates some swapping out of > memory to make space for other processes, but not -- it seems -- > excessively. > > The other computer is a Lenovo ThinkPad R61 laptop. It also seems to > load the operating system as it should, as far as the kdm login manager. > From this point on, its performance differs from the desktop. > > After a user name and password are entered, it takes on average 90 > seconds to load Xorg and KDE. During this time the hard drive indicator > light flashes continuously. I would surmise that it needs those 90 > seconds because of the length of time needed to respond to the Xorg and > KDE setup commands. > > This computer sometimes will function properly once Xorg and KDE are > running. When it does not, one warm re-boot will usually work; > otherwise if the laptop hangs I will have to switch it off, do a cold > boot, and later a warm re-boot. > > The laptop also has a dual-core Intel CPU and a 1 GB memory module. The > operating system is Lenny, a new installation using the Lenny beta2 > installer. The XFS file system is also used, and consequently LILO > rather than GRUB. For the laptop the df command returns the following: > > Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on > /dev/sda2 1.9G 156M 1.8G 9% / > tmpfs 502M 0 502M 0% /lib/init/rw > udev 10M 128K 9.9M 2% /dev > tmpfs 502M 6.1M 496M 2% /dev/shm > /dev/sda1 51M 21M 30M 41% /boot > /dev/mapper/sda9_crypt > 282G 1.7G 280G 1% /home > /dev/sda5 953M 4.4M 948M 1% /tmp > /dev/sda7 9.4G 2.2G 7.2G 24% /usr > /dev/sda6 2.8G 899M 2.0G 32% /var > > The swap space is also 2 GB. The swap and home partitions are also both > encrypted, the former with a random pass phrase, the later with one I > created. The desktop uses LVM2 for most partitions; whereas the laptop > does not. While syslog records some swapping out of memery, it does not > seem to me untoward. > > It appears that in both computers there is enough memory and swap space > to obviate "legitimate" thrashing; so it occurs to me that it may be > caused by a virus or some such. So far only the desktop has clamav > installed. (Are there other anti-virus or spyware packages?) > > I would like to install clamav on the laptop, but ran into trouble when, > using aptitude, I tried to upgrade the installed Lenny packages for the > first time, about 33 of them, including a new kernel (2.6.25-2-686 to > replace 2.6.24) and tzdata. The package setup only got as far as > tzdata, when the machine hung. To get the machine going again I had to > turn it off using the on/off button and do a cold boot without a proper > shutdown. > > Then, when I ran aptitude again it returned the message that aptitude > had been interrupted, and to get it running again I had to run "dpkg > --reconfigure -a". I tried to do so several times; each time it tried > to set up tzdata, only getting as far as to say what the current time > zone is before hanging up the machine. Is this problem connected with > the thrashing problem? > > (I must say that upgrading tzdata has always caused trouble, it is never > set up on the first attempt. On this laptop is the first time I have > been unable to complete an interrupted package upgrade by running "dpkg > --reconfigure -a".) > > So now I am in a situation where I can (usually) run both computers > after by brute force I can get them to stop thrashing. I would like > however to be able to stop the thrashing before it starts. I would also > like to be able to upgrade and load new packages on the desktop. > > Regards, Ken Heard > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEARECAAYFAkjVC3IACgkQlNlJzOkJmTe1IACffDoYCV7S49AWN0FnR/egxpyP F2AAnROUTpAmDqUthARe2x3jAhuuRdNB =9hkW -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
