[EN] siduction 13.2.1 : mount issues and short freezes

[absolut]

hi all!

after an unsuccessful installation of systemd on my quite old siduction install, where the init levels / systemd targets did not work appropriately, i decided to make a clean install. for that i used the recent siduction 13.2.1 kde 64 bit iso.

after install, i ran a dist-upgrade, which updated quite a lot (including systemd, lightdm, nouveau, etc)
then, installed iceweasel-aurora, icedove, gimp and other smaller stuff.

there are two problems that i have encountered, which i do not know how to solve properly:

1) i've been mounting my NAS via fstab / cifs for multiple months without problems. with systemd, on reboot or shutdown i am experiencing lags of ~120 seconds, where nothing is shown on the tty. after the lag the system finally reboots/halts.
I worked around this by commenting out corresponding NAS entries in my /etc/fstab:

Code: [Select]

#//[192.xxx.yyy.zzz]/documents  /media/nas_documents cifs   iocharset=utf8,user,uid=absolut,gid=users,rw,suid,noperm,credentials=/path/to/credentialsfile   0  0
does anybody have a good solution, on how to handle NAS mounts without such lags on reboot/shutdown?

[UPDATE] on the desktop computer at work I can reproduce this behavior: 120 seconds lags due to mounted NAS partitions...


2) the second problem is more subtile: I am experiencing short freezes when moving the mouse, which i did not have during the live-session or before the dist-upgrade... i do not know where to dig, any help or pointers are very welcome.

fstab with ssd and discard options

Code: [Select]

UUID=[my-uuid]     /    ext4         defaults,relatime,errors=remount-ro,discard   0    1
UUID=[my-uuid-2]     none                 swap         sw                                            0    0   
UUID=[my-uuid-3]     /home                ext4         defaults,relatime,errors=remount-ro,discard   0    2
inxi -v3

Code: [Select]

System:    Host: sidbox Kernel: 3.14-0.towo.3-siduction-amd64 x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 4.8.2)
           Desktop: KDE 4.12.4 (Qt 4.8.6) Distro: siduction 13.2.1 December - kde - (201401272125)
Machine:   System: . product: .
           Mobo: N/A model: A-N78HD(MCP78) Bios: Phoenix v: 6.00 PG date: 07/10/2008
CPU:       Dual core AMD Athlon 4450e (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 svm) bmips: 4000
           Clock Speeds: 1: 1000 MHz 2: 1000 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA G92 [GeForce GT 230 OEM] bus-ID: 02:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.15.0.901 drivers: nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1680x1050@59.9hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on NV92 GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.0 Direct Rendering: Yes
Network:   Card: NVIDIA MCP77 Ethernet driver: forcedeth port: d800 bus-ID: 00:0a.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:18:38:04:a8:0e
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1128.2GB (52.4% used) 1: model: SAMSUNG_SSD_830
           2: model: WDC_WD10EACS
Info:      Processes: 171 Uptime: 7 min Memory: 621.0/3958.9MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 4.8.2
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.01) inxi: 2.1.12
please tell me, if you need any additional info
thanks in advance
absolut

[devil]

Can we see systemd-analyze blame for that box?


greetz
devil

[absolut]

here is the    systemd-analyze blame

NOTE: the /etc/fstab NAS entries are commented out and have not been mounted previously.

NOTE2: the short mouse cursor freezes occur not directly after booting into kde, but later, after launching icewasel, icedove, or other applications..... can the discard option for the SSD cause such freezes?

Code: [Select]

absolut@sidbox: ~ $ systemd-analyze blame
         15.946s systemd-udev-settle.service
          2.201s vboxdrv.service
          1.459s acpi-support.service
          1.303s acpi-fakekey.service
           810ms lm-sensors.service
           699ms lvm2-activation-early.service
           597ms loadcpufreq.service
           466ms ModemManager.service
           461ms networking.service
           458ms NetworkManager.service
           416ms dirmngr.service
           372ms cron.service
           361ms bootlogs.service
           296ms keyboard-setup.service
           294ms ntp.service
           286ms glances.service
           282ms rpcbind.service
           273ms console-setup.service
           260ms resolvconf.service
           259ms vnstat.service
           253ms avahi-daemon.service
           251ms gpm.service
           236ms systemd-logind.service
           227ms mdadm.service
           226ms preload.service
           223ms irqbalance.service
           187ms kbd.service
           183ms ifplugd.service
           181ms screen-cleanup.service
           155ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
           155ms motd.service
           142ms systemd-fsck-root.service
           130ms smartmontools.service
           126ms polkitd.service
           114ms mdadm-raid.service
           112ms kdm.service
           109ms lightdm.service
           107ms console-kit-log-system-start.service
           106ms alsa-restore.service
            85ms hddtemp.service
            77ms systemd-modules-load.service
            77ms hdparm.service
            68ms rc-local.service
            64ms lvm2-activation.service
            56ms systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\x2duuid-970de4e1\x2d1ca8\x2d430d\x2da644\x2d03bc2cb47d98.service
            55ms media-data.mount
            50ms dns-clean.service
            44ms systemd-user-sessions.service
            41ms dev-hugepages.mount
            41ms cpufrequtils.service
            36ms pppd-dns.service
            36ms saned.service
            33ms dev-mqueue.mount
            32ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
            31ms console-kit-daemon.service
            31ms systemd-journal-flush.service
            31ms systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service
            30ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
            27ms sys-kernel-debug.mount
            26ms vboxweb-service.service
            24ms systemd-sysctl.service
            22ms vboxballoonctrl-service.service
            19ms home.mount
            19ms systemd-remount-fs.service
            18ms keymap.service
            16ms upower.service
            16ms vboxautostart-service.service
            16ms udisks.service
            15ms systemd-udevd.service
            11ms run-user.mount
             9ms dev-disk-by\x2duuid-9e17527c\x2dbe5e\x2d47fa\x2d9211\x2d271ee3c46af0.swap
             8ms run-lock.mount
             5ms systemd-random-seed-load.service
             3ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount


[absolut]

here is another systemd-analyze blame, this time with the NAS entries functional in the /etc/fstab

regarding NOTE2 previously, the mouse cursor freezing happens this time also, only after loading icedove/iceweasel... they did not occur earlier, when only dolphin, okular and libreoffice were running...

Code: [Select]

absolut@sidbox: ~ $ systemd-analyze blame
          5.969s systemd-udev-settle.service
          2.045s vboxdrv.service
          1.464s acpi-support.service
          1.373s acpi-fakekey.service
           840ms lm-sensors.service
           561ms networking.service
           512ms loadcpufreq.service
           504ms NetworkManager.service
           452ms ModemManager.service
           395ms cron.service
           381ms bootlogs.service
           377ms dirmngr.service
           317ms keyboard-setup.service
           297ms irqbalance.service
           294ms avahi-daemon.service
           286ms ntp.service
           278ms glances.service
           268ms console-setup.service
           268ms systemd-logind.service
           255ms alsa-restore.service
           250ms gpm.service
           241ms vnstat.service
           212ms mdadm.service
           199ms systemd-fsck-root.service
           191ms preload.service
           188ms rpcbind.service
           166ms mdadm-raid.service
           161ms smartmontools.service
           158ms lightdm.service
           153ms lvm2-activation-early.service
           147ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
           144ms kbd.service
           137ms resolvconf.service
           135ms systemd-modules-load.service
           126ms screen-cleanup.service
           124ms ifplugd.service
           121ms polkitd.service
           117ms hddtemp.service
           116ms dns-clean.service
           107ms motd.service
           104ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
           102ms saned.service
           101ms console-kit-log-system-start.service
            88ms cpufrequtils.service
            72ms kdm.service
            63ms lvm2-activation.service
            51ms media-data.mount
            47ms systemd-fsck@dev-disk-by\x2duuid-970de4e1\x2d1ca8\x2d430d\x2da644\x2d03bc2cb47d98.service
            47ms hdparm.service
            39ms systemd-journal-flush.service
            38ms dev-hugepages.mount
            33ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
            31ms systemd-sysctl.service
            30ms console-kit-daemon.service
            28ms dev-mqueue.mount
            26ms pppd-dns.service
            22ms sys-kernel-debug.mount
            22ms home.mount
            21ms keymap.service
            21ms vboxweb-service.service
            20ms systemd-user-sessions.service
            17ms upower.service
            17ms rc-local.service
            16ms systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service
            14ms systemd-remount-fs.service
            14ms vboxautostart-service.service
            13ms vboxballoonctrl-service.service
            12ms systemd-udevd.service
            10ms run-user.mount
             9ms udisks.service
             8ms dev-disk-by\x2duuid-9e17527c\x2dbe5e\x2d47fa\x2d9211\x2d271ee3c46af0.swap
             8ms run-lock.mount
             4ms systemd-random-seed-load.service
             3ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount


[absolut]

okay, lets not consider the mounting of NAS shares anymore, it has been all over the internet for quite some time, and is not yet solved... i am currently avoiding this problem by mounting the NAS shares on boot and unmounting these manually (via terminal)...


the mouse pointer short freezes are still present on my desktop at home. could this be a graphics driver issue? (currently using nouveau). i do not experience such freezes on my desktop at work, which has an ATI radeon graphics card.

[absolut]

okay, here are more news....

after installing the closed source nvidia-driver i am still experiencing the freezing mouse cursor issue.
this is not a nouveau nor nvidia driver issue.

i am lost... can anybody help me out?

[dibl]

If you can open top in a terminal window, it might tell you what is sucking the CPU cycles when the mouse freezes, if you are lucky.

[absolut]

hi, dibl!

i've started htop, moved the mouse around (producing this freezing / stuttering motion of the cursor) and made a screenshot (see attached). interestingly, it is lightdm appearing on top of the list...  could it be the issue?

any further ideas?

[dibl]

Yes -- you've got dolphin + kwin + yakuake really pulling on the CPU. And is it really running only at 1 GHz?  If that is the top speed of the CPU, that's really not enough horsepower to support a modern KDE 4 desktop. You probably need to consider RazorQT or LXDE on that hardware -- sorry.  I have a netbook with similar specs:

Code: [Select]

don@tosh205:~$ inxi -v2
System:    Host: tosh205 Kernel: 3.14-0.towo.3-siduction-686 i686 (32 bit)
           Desktop: LXDE (Openbox 3.5.2)
           Distro: siduction 12.1 Desperado - lxde - (201205212227)
Machine:   System: TOSHIBA product: TOSHIBA NB205 v: PLL20U-00201D
           Mobo: TOSHIBA model: KAVAA v: 1.00
           Bios: TOSHIBA v: V1.90 date: 01/15/2010
CPU:       Single core Intel Atom CPU N280 (-HT-) clocked at 1333 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller
           Display Server: X.Org 1.15.0.901 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1024x600@60.0hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 945GME x86/MMX/SSE2
           GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 10.1.0

At one time, in sidux days, I installed KDE on it, but it is too slow to run KDE 4.  Today it is a good little LXDE system -- it works good in that configuration.

[absolut]

hi dibl,

my CPU is a dual-core with up to 2.3 GHz. inxi just shows the *current* and not the *maximum* possible frequency of the cpu. (at least in my case). i just tested zipping a big file and the CPU frequency instantly went from 1GHz to the maximum 2.3GHz

cpufreq-info is much more detailed in this regard:

Code: [Select]

LANG=C cpufreq-info
cpufrequtils 008: cpufreq-info (C) Dominik Brodowski 2004-2009
Report errors and bugs to cpufreq@vger.kernel.org, please.
analyzing CPU 0:
  driver: powernow-k8
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0 1
  maximum transition latency: 109 us.
  hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 2.30 GHz
  available frequency steps: 2.30 GHz, 2.20 GHz, 2.00 GHz, 1.80 GHz, 1000 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative, powersave, userspace, ondemand, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 2.30 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1000 MHz (asserted by call to hardware).
  cpufreq stats: 2.30 GHz:2.53%, 2.20 GHz:1.77%, 2.00 GHz:3.17%, 1.80 GHz:11.95%, 1000 MHz:80.59%  (29036)
analyzing CPU 1:
  driver: powernow-k8
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 0 1
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 0 1
  maximum transition latency: 109 us.
  hardware limits: 1000 MHz - 2.30 GHz
  available frequency steps: 2.30 GHz, 2.20 GHz, 2.00 GHz, 1.80 GHz, 1000 MHz
  available cpufreq governors: conservative, powersave, userspace, ondemand, performance
  current policy: frequency should be within 1000 MHz and 2.30 GHz.
                  The governor "ondemand" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency is 1000 MHz (asserted by call to hardware).
  cpufreq stats: 2.30 GHz:2.53%, 2.20 GHz:1.77%, 2.00 GHz:3.17%, 1.80 GHz:11.95%, 1000 MHz:80.59%  (29036)

[dibl]

You could try changing the governor to performance, and see whether it still freezes.

[absolut]

good idea, i will try this later at home and report back.

[absolut]

after executing

Code: [Select]

echo performance > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governorthe free stuttering mouse motion seems to be resolved.

what i really do not like in this situation is the fact that it was working fine on my old siduction with sysvinit (instead of systemd), and the same kde, kdm, nvidia-drivers...

i wonder if lightdm might be a culpit here?


[UPDATE]
well, full speed on the cpu results in much more heat and thus loud fans. this is not a solution, thus i have put the governour back to the ondemand setting.

[dibl]

I guess we have learned that the issue is CPU cycles, and what is using them.  I don't know what else can be done, except change the DE to QT or LXDE.

[absolut]

another bit to the puzzle:

my lenovo x301 with a low-voltage CPU 800-1400MHz and intel graphics card is running kde & lightdm without any mouse cursor problems.

i don't think the problem on my desktop at home is only related to the CPU frequency, but to graphics cards / drivers / or other stuff, such as graphics libraries or interfaces that deal with that...