Slow issue - New Linux Mint 18

[Zurd]

Hi, just installed the latest Linux Mint 18, it's a clean install, I formatted before.

I've been using Mint since version 15, always worked quite good but now I have an issue, the mouse is stopping for a fraction of a second and so is the keyword when I type. Something is using my CPU which causes a lag problem. After a reboot, the whole system is responsive and fast but after a few minutes, let's say 5-10, the problem starts appearing.

in top, Xorg says it's taking 25% of the CPU, then it's firefox with 10% and that's it. I know my computer's good, it's an i7-3770K @ 3.50 Ghz with 16 GBs of RAM. I also use it in a dual-boot setting with Windows and there's no problem in Windows. I used to have Linux Mint 17 and it was also fine.

I'm using Mate and haven't touched any of the Desktop effets, it's just a default installation. I've installed the NVIDIA proprietary drivers and I've updated all the packages there was. In Desktop Settings / Windows, it's Marco + Compositing, the one by default. I've tried the other but still the same problem.

Is there any slow issue known in Linux Mint 18 and a solution?

[Hoser Rob]

You could try going into settings > window manager tweaks > compositing and making sure all desktop effects are disabled. Or similar ... I don't use Mate anymore but it's something like that and I don't remember if the eye candy is on by default .

Beyond that there's not enough info there. Copy/paste these into the terminal and copy/paste the text output:

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sudo lshw -C video

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glxinfo | grep OpenGL

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inxi -Fxz

[Zurd]

I don't have any eye candy in Mate, it's a really simple GUI.

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sudo lshw -C video
  *-display               
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: GK106 [GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost]
       vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       version: a1
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=nvidia latency=0
       resources: irq:32 memory:f6000000-f6ffffff memory:e8000000-efffffff memory:f0000000-f1ffffff ioport:e000(size=128) memory:f7000000-f707ffff

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glxinfo | grep OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 361.42
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.50 NVIDIA
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile
OpenGL core profile extensions:
OpenGL version string: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 361.42
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.50 NVIDIA
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: (none)
OpenGL extensions:
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.2 NVIDIA 361.42
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.20
OpenGL ES profile extensions:

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inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: z Kernel: 4.4.0-31-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.3.1)
           Desktop: MATE 1.14.1 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.1) Distro: Linux Mint 18 Sarah
Machine:   System: Gigabyte product: N/A
           Mobo: Gigabyte model: Z77X-UD5H v: x.x Bios: American Megatrends v: F14 date: 08/22/2012
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7-3770K (-HT-MCP-) cache: 8192 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 28027
           clock speeds: max: 3900 MHz 1: 1891 MHz 2: 1714 MHz 3: 1730 MHz 4: 1663 MHz 5: 1623 MHz 6: 1600 MHz
           7: 1600 MHz 8: 1676 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GK106 [GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.3 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
           Resolution: 2560x1080@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST/PCIe/SSE2
           GLX Version: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 361.42 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 NVIDIA GK106 HDMI Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-31-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel 82579V Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: f040 bus-ID: 00:19.0
           IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR922X Wireless Network Adapter driver: ath9k bus-ID: 07:00.0
           IF: wlp7s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-3: Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx port: b000 bus-ID: 08:00.0
           IF: enp8s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 17848.2GB (14.7% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: M4 size: 256.1GB temp: 0C
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: Mass_Storage size: 17592.2GB temp: 0C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 66G used: 9.2G (15%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 17.14GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0C mobo: 27.8C gpu: 0.0:48C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 264 Uptime: 3 min Memory: 1029.8/16007.8MB Init: systemd Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.421) inxi: 2.2.35

[Zurd]

Took a long time to start slowing down this time. Uptime of 1h32 right now but it started slowing down at around 1h15.

I didn't do anything special before it started to crap out. Even if I close all applications, it still lags and I need to reboot.

[chris42]

As mentioned in the firefox and chrome freeze thread, I have the same problem, but running a Mint 18 Cinnamon. My one is an upgrade from 17.3.

I noticed a new thing, in every stutter, the "cinnamon --replace" uses 100% CPU and locks the system. As with my previous poster, it goes away after a reboot, but then comes back.

Happy to provide any info, if needed.

Regards
Chris

[Zurd]

Could you provide the link for that thread?

NOt sure if things are getting better but I have a 2 hours uptime right now and no lag!

[chris42]

I am still experiencing it and it seems to become worse when I use a lot of standby.

The link to the other thread is viewtopic.php?f=47&t=225998

[Zurd]

Thanks for the link! However, I don't think I have the same issue.

I'm not at 5h25 of uptime and no lag. Maybe it was BOINC going crazy, I suspended all activity and it seems to be working fine now.

[Zurd]

Uptime of 7h24 and the lag just started. So it's not an issue with BOINC

[caz]

I haven't got an answer for this but just to compare one Mint Mate 18 install with another one the top command for my machine says that Xorg is using 2% and FireFox 7%, quite a difference to your machine. The amounts do vary but on the whole my machine appears to be using less of the CPU.

I don't have BOINC installed. As an experiment it might be worth removing it for a few days to see how things go.

I have a AMD FX(tm)-6100 Six-Core Processor × 6
16 GBs of RAM
GTX 970 Graphics card

If you want any other comparisons let me know.

[Zurd]

That is exactly my problem! Xorg is taking an average of 30% CPU usage.

I formatted again and installed Cinammon instead of Mate. However I still have the same problem (and no BOINC installed)!

Xorg should be taking 1-5%:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting/HighCPU

I don't have a GPU lockup.

glxinfo is fine:

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glxinfo | grep render
direct rendering: Yes
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST/PCIe/SSE2

However in /var/log/Xorg.log.0, there's these lines showing every half a second or so:

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[  1761.183] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): connected
[  1761.183] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): Internal TMDS
[  1761.183] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): 340.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[  1761.183] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 
[  1761.273] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): connected
[  1761.273] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): Internal TMDS
[  1761.273] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): 340.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[  1761.273] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 
[  1761.866] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): connected
[  1761.866] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): Internal TMDS
[  1761.867] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): 340.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[  1761.867] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 
[  1761.957] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): connected
[  1761.957] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): Internal TMDS
[  1761.957] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): 340.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[  1761.957] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 
[  1762.551] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): connected
[  1762.551] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): Internal TMDS
[  1762.551] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): LG Electronics LG ULTRAWIDE (DFP-1): 340.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
[  1762.551] (--) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 

[Zurd]

I went into Driver Manager and used the driver for intel-microcode, it's a processor microcode firmware for Intel CPUs. But same problem, Xorg is taking too much CPU.

I switched from Nvidia driver to nouveau, that worked in making Xorg run smooth, however:
1) When I boot, it takes a long time, the screen is black for over a minute
2) I'm stuck in 1920x1080 but I have an ultra widescreen which needs 2560x1080
3) It filled /var/log/kern.log and /var/log/syslog at 31GB each in just a few hours*
4) It froze my computer after it went into sleep mode

*The error line was:
Aug 4 18:33:58 z kernel: [19180.792425] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: fifo: PBDMA0: 04000000 [ACQUIRE] ch 6 [023f899000 cinnamon[4278]] subc 0 mthd 001c data 00001004
I had to boot into recovery mode which mounted /dev/sda5 in read-only, I have to use mount -o remount,rw /dev/sda5 and then echo "" > /var/log/kern.log

nouveau driver is a solution but way too buggy to use.

If I log out and log back in, Xorg resets and I'm able to re-use my computer normally.

Anyone has anything else I can try? Else I'm just going to go back to 17.2 and wait 6 months for a new release that might fix the issue.

[richyrich]

Next time it starts to slow, check your temps. You can use the following easy command in the terminal:
(small case S)
inxi -s

[Zurd]

uptime of 4 hours and it started slowing. There's like a slow lag of a fraction of a second every second. Sometimes a key on the keyboard won't register or a click.

I'm sure at 100% it's not a temperature problem because my dual-boot computer in Windows is just fine but here's the result!

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inxi -s
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 56.0C mobo: 27.8C gpu: 43C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A

Nothing special in kern.log, syslog or dmesg.

[Zurd]

So I went ahead and installed Linux Mint 17.2. Since I had this version before and it was working fine. Turns out that after 5h of uptime, Xorg is also taking up to 30% of my CPU! So now I really have to find out why it's lagging!

I thought it would be the nvidia driver because in LM 18, in glxinfo it said:
OpenGL version string: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 361.42
And in LM 17.2, it's:
OpenGL version string: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 352.63
However both version produces the same problem.

Seems like I have to contact the mailing list of Xorg for help.

[Zurd]

Took me a while to find a solution! I formatted my computer 5 times to try different things.

Problem is with the ultra wide-screen monitor. Solution is to format the computer with a regular 16:9 screen, install nvidia drivers and linux mint updates. Then switch off the computer and boot with the ultra wide-screen monitor.

More details here:
https://lists.x.org/archives/xorg/2016- ... 58244.html