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Date:      Fri, 8 Dec 2000 07:09:53 -0500
From:      Garance A Drosihn <drosih@rpi.edu>
To:        Donn Miller <dmmiller@cvzoom.net>, Nevermind <never@nevermind.kiev.ua>
Cc:        freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Heavy disk activity and "freezes" w/ latest commits
Message-ID:  <p04330117b656751d338f@[128.113.24.47]>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0012080424140.94797-100000@lcl12.cvzoom.net>
References:  <Pine.BSF.4.21.0012080424140.94797-100000@lcl12.cvzoom.net>

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At 4:27 AM -0500 12/8/00, Donn Miller wrote:
>On Fri, 8 Dec 2000, Nevermind wrote:
>
>  > I've got the same problem, it seems to me it started on
>  > 4.2-BETA.  XFree freezes while I'm making something like
>  > 'rm -rf /usr/obj' or copying big amount of files. I've
>  > tried to use soft-updates, it helped a little but
>  > sometimes it starts again.
>
>Hmmm...  actually mine was working pretty well when we were
>at 4.2-BETA.  Mine just started after I cvsupped and built
>kernel/world on Weds.  Sometimes disk activity makes my mouse
>pointer jumpy in X.  Or, my mouse will sometimes "stick" for
>maybe 0.5 secs and then jump really fast.  This is when the
>disk writes/reads occur in large bursts.

I have seen something which may be related to this, but I
haven't said anything because, well, because I was going
to look into it more and then I forgot about it...

In my case, the problem is when copying huge files around.
I use vmware, and virtual disks in vmware.  When creating
a new virtual machine, I sometimes just copy a "virtual
disk" (a 1-gig file) to a new name, and use that as the
starting point for the second virtual machine.

While that copy is happening, responsiveness of the system
nosedives.  System is a dual-CPU 650 MHz p3, the disk is
on a ATA controller.  Softupdates is on.  I figured that
copying a 1-gig file is probably a rare event, so I didn't
consider it too important to investigate.

I have done several buildworlds on this system without
noticing a problem, but that may not mean anything.  I have
enough machines in my office that I can do a buildworld on
one, and keep myself busy with other projects on the other
machines.  Responsiveness could be pathetic and I wouldn't
know about it...

If this *is* at all related to what you're seeing, I know
this was happening to me before 4.2-release.
-- 
Garance Alistair Drosehn            =   gad@eclipse.acs.rpi.edu
Senior Systems Programmer           or  gad@freebsd.org
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute    or  drosih@rpi.edu


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