From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat May 27 05:02:59 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2AE8916A59B for ; Sat, 27 May 2006 05:02:59 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from shawnh@f2s.com) Received: from outmail.freedom2surf.net (outmail1.freedom2surf.net [194.106.33.237]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C789A43D4C for ; Sat, 27 May 2006 05:02:58 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from shawnh@f2s.com) Received: from freeBSD (i-83-67-13-3.freedom2surf.net [83.67.13.3]) by outmail.freedom2surf.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4259D594D18 for ; Sat, 27 May 2006 01:13:35 +0100 (BST) Date: Sat, 27 May 2006 01:14:13 +0100 From: Shawn To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Message-ID: <20060527011413.738aecd3@freeBSD> X-Mailer: Sylpheed-Claws 2.2.0 (GTK+ 2.8.17; i386-portbld-freebsd6.1) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Strange pauses and cpu usage - FreeBSD 6.1 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 27 May 2006 05:03:03 -0000 I'm having a strange problem with cpu usage with my Athlon XP. Every so often there seems to be a pause where the system comes under heavy load for no apparent reason. If xmms was playing then I get a buzz sound and the mouse pointer stops just for a split second, the same with mplayer and vlc. Using Opera or firefox also seems to have a strange effect where the mouse pointer freezes while pages load, and if there is an animated gif on the page the cpu usage goes to 100%. The jabber client Gajim also makes the cpu get stuck at 100%. When I used gnome, nautilus did the same thing until i stopped and started the process in the system monitor. I have searched around and found this tip from the handbook but it had no effect. hint.apic.0.disabled="1" in /boot/loader.conf This happens with the generic kernel and the one i compiled for myself. It also lasts for a random amount of time, sometimes it is barely noticeable and sometimes it happens for over a second. Running neverwinter nights makes the system pause for 10-20 seconds seemingly randomly. Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated!