[gentoo-amd64] controlling processor peaks

[gentoo-amd64] controlling processor peaks

[Mark Creamer]

I have a fresh install of 2005.0. PC specs are AMD Athlon 64 3200, 2 GB 
RAM. I'm noticing that certain applications will monopolize the CPU for 
a moment and then drop off. But during that time, mouse is hung, and 
nothing else will work or will work sporadically.

An example would be opening PAN newsgroup reader, and selecting a group 
that has a large number of messages. Until all the message headers are 
loaded into the reader, even if that's only a few seconds, I can't do 
anything.

How can I tune Gentoo so the processor doesn't peak for one app like this?

Thanks!
Mark
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Re: [gentoo-amd64] controlling processor peaks

[Allan Wang]

On Sat, 2005-07-23 at 18:36 +0000, Mark Creamer wrote:
> I have a fresh install of 2005.0. PC specs are AMD Athlon 64 3200, 2 GB 
> RAM. I'm noticing that certain applications will monopolize the CPU for 
> a moment and then drop off. But during that time, mouse is hung, and 
> nothing else will work or will work sporadically.
> 
> An example would be opening PAN newsgroup reader, and selecting a group 
> that has a large number of messages. Until all the message headers are 
> loaded into the reader, even if that's only a few seconds, I can't do 
> anything.
> 
> How can I tune Gentoo so the processor doesn't peak for one app like this?
> 
> Thanks!
> Mark

Hmm, I've seen this problem with machines that don't have DMA on, if
you're using IDE hard drives, what's the output of hdparm /dev/hda or
whatever the drive is?

Allan

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Re: [gentoo-amd64] controlling processor peaks

[Mark Creamer]

Here's the output:

/dev/hda:
 multcount    = 16 (on)
 IO_support   =  0 (default 16-bit)
 unmaskirq    =  0 (off)
 using_dma    =  0 (off)
 keepsettings =  0 (off)
 readonly     =  0 (off)
 readahead    = 256 (on)
 geometry     = 30515/255/63, sectors = 251000193024, start = 0



Allan Wang wrote:

>On Sat, 2005-07-23 at 18:36 +0000, Mark Creamer wrote:
>  
>
>>I have a fresh install of 2005.0. PC specs are AMD Athlon 64 3200, 2 GB 
>>RAM. I'm noticing that certain applications will monopolize the CPU for 
>>a moment and then drop off. But during that time, mouse is hung, and 
>>nothing else will work or will work sporadically.
>>
>>An example would be opening PAN newsgroup reader, and selecting a group 
>>that has a large number of messages. Until all the message headers are 
>>loaded into the reader, even if that's only a few seconds, I can't do 
>>anything.
>>
>>How can I tune Gentoo so the processor doesn't peak for one app like this?
>>
>>Thanks!
>>Mark
>>    
>>
>
>Hmm, I've seen this problem with machines that don't have DMA on, if
>you're using IDE hard drives, what's the output of hdparm /dev/hda or
>whatever the drive is?
>
>Allan
>
>  
>

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Re: [gentoo-amd64] controlling processor peaks

[Allan Wang]

On Sat, 2005-07-23 at 19:41 +0000, Mark Creamer wrote:
> Here's the output:
> 
> /dev/hda:
>  multcount    = 16 (on)
>  IO_support   =  0 (default 16-bit)
>  unmaskirq    =  0 (off)
>  using_dma    =  0 (off)
>  keepsettings =  0 (off)
>  readonly     =  0 (off)
>  readahead    = 256 (on)
>  geometry     = 30515/255/63, sectors = 251000193024, start = 0
Yup, just as I thought, you have dma off. You'll need to run lspci and
find the IDE controller for your motherboard. Then in your kernel
configuration, enable support for that ide controller (device drivers ->
ide/atapi support), and reboot. It should be nice and fast afterwards.

Allan

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Re: [gentoo-amd64] controlling processor peaks

[Mark Creamer]

Allan Wang wrote:

>On Sat, 2005-07-23 at 19:41 +0000, Mark Creamer wrote:
>  
>
>>Here's the output:
>>
>>/dev/hda:
>> multcount    = 16 (on)
>> IO_support   =  0 (default 16-bit)
>> unmaskirq    =  0 (off)
>> using_dma    =  0 (off)
>> keepsettings =  0 (off)
>> readonly     =  0 (off)
>> readahead    = 256 (on)
>> geometry     = 30515/255/63, sectors = 251000193024, start = 0
>>    
>>
>Yup, just as I thought, you have dma off. You'll need to run lspci and
>find the IDE controller for your motherboard. Then in your kernel
>configuration, enable support for that ide controller (device drivers ->
>ide/atapi support), and reboot. It should be nice and fast afterwards.
>
>Allan
>
>  
>
Thanks Allan, I'll try that. Best regards
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Re: [gentoo-amd64] controlling processor peaks

[Mark Creamer]

Wow, what a difference. Thanks again Allan!!


Mark Creamer wrote:

> Allan Wang wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 2005-07-23 at 19:41 +0000, Mark Creamer wrote:
>>  
>>
>>> Here's the output:
>>>
>>> /dev/hda:
>>> multcount    = 16 (on)
>>> IO_support   =  0 (default 16-bit)
>>> unmaskirq    =  0 (off)
>>> using_dma    =  0 (off)
>>> keepsettings =  0 (off)
>>> readonly     =  0 (off)
>>> readahead    = 256 (on)
>>> geometry     = 30515/255/63, sectors = 251000193024, start = 0
>>>   
>>
>> Yup, just as I thought, you have dma off. You'll need to run lspci and
>> find the IDE controller for your motherboard. Then in your kernel
>> configuration, enable support for that ide controller (device drivers ->
>> ide/atapi support), and reboot. It should be nice and fast afterwards.
>>
>> Allan
>>
>>  
>>
> Thanks Allan, I'll try that. Best regards


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