Ubuntu

process consumes all ram, reading X keyboard settings over and over again

Bug #330424 reported by Matt Wilkie
4
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
VLC media player
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned
Ubuntu
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

If I attempt to run OpenOffice, VLC, or K9copy (there may be others too, these are just the ones I've identified) the process rapidly consumes (>500mb in 1 minute) all available ram and renders the system unusable. If I turn swapoff the computer will recover after a time, having killed the offending process, and I can use the computer again. If swap is not turned off, even after 15 hours the computer is almost completely unresponsive even after 15 hours of disk thrashing.

Based on advice of johanbr on #ubuntu-ca I ran 'strace -p $k9copy_process_id 2>strace-k9copy.log'. The log is 22mb. I'll post the head and tail of 100 lines below. Johanbr said the process keeps re-reading the X keyboard settings over and over again and asked if I have an unusual keyboard configuration -- I don't believe so.

System > Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard preferences says keyboard "Dell" with USA layout. It is actually an IBM model SK-8820, however that model is not available in the IBM section. There are two dell models with similar model numbers: SK-8125, SK-8135.

From System > Preferences > Keyboard I changed the keyboard to Generic 101 key and applied system wide.
K9copy still consumes all available ram, or I presume it would if I let it. I killed it from System Monitor after it used >900mb and still hadn't shown a splash screen or window.

Also see https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/56166

My system vital statistics:

Ubuntu 8.10 amd64
Kernel 2.6.27-11-generic
Gnome 2.24.1
AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
115gb available disk space (of 290gb)
3GB of ram.

I believe the first ubuntu release installed on this computer was 5.10 but it may have been 6.04. It's been upgraded in-situ ever since. I regularly check and apply updates (weekly or better). I did not experience any problems of this sort until upgrading to 8.10 (yes this has been going on for several months now).

$ head -100 k9copy-strace.txt

Process 13422 attached - interrupt to quit
read(12, "mega> \t: \"\341\275\242\" U1F62 # GREEK S"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "AND OXIA\n<Multi_key> <apostrophe"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "omega> \t: \"\341\275\247\" U1F67 # GREEK "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " \"\341\275\254\" U1F6C # GREEK CAPITAL L"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "OMEGA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "iota> <U1F01> \t: \"\341\276\201\" U1F81 #"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "li> <Greek_alpha> \t: \"\341\276\202\" U1F"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA AND Y"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ad_psili> <Greek_alpha> \t: \"\341\276\204\""..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "# GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "EEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSIL"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "TAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_iota> <combining_grave> <U0314>"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "eek_ALPHA> \t: \"\341\276\214\" U1F8C # GR"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "OXIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI\n<Multi_k"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "<dead_iota> <Multi_key> <asciiti"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ft> <Greek_ALPHA> \t: \"\341\276\217\" U1F"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "OGEGRAMMENI\n<dead_iota> <dead_gr"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "REEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "eta> \t: \"\341\276\224\" U1F94 # GREEK SM"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "enleft> <Greek_eta> \t: \"\341\276\225\" U"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "D PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI\n"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "U1F97 # GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA W"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " WITH PSILI AND VARIA AND PROSGE"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "MENI\n<dead_iota> <dead_grave> <M"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "cute> <dead_psili> <Greek_ETA> \t"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "0314> <Greek_ETA> \t: \"\341\276\235\" U1F"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "GEGRAMMENI\n<dead_iota> <Multi_ke"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "<asciitilde> <U1F29> \t: \"\341\276\237\" "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "iota> <Multi_key> <parenleft> <G"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "L LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND VA"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_iota> <dead_acute> <U1F60> \t: \""..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AN"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "EGA WITH DASIA AND OXIA AND YPOG"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AN"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\" U1FA8 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " PROSGEGRAMMENI\n<Multi_key> <Gre"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_key> <parenleft> <Greek_OMEGA> "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, ": \"\341\276\254\" U1FAC # GREEK CAPITAL "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\n<Multi_key> <Greek_iota> <acute"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_iota> <Multi_key> <asciitilde> "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "EGA> \t: \"\341\276\257\" U1FAF # GREEK CA"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI\n<de"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ER ETA WITH OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMME"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "dead_diaeresis> <Greek_iota> \t: "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " U1FE1 # GREEK SMALL LETTER UPS"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " \t: \"\341\277\254\" U1FEC # GREEK CAP"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\"\341\277\270\" U1FF8 # GREEK CAPITAL LE"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "SCRIPT LATIN SMALL LETTER N\n<Mul"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ESIS\n<Multi_key> <underbar> <par"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ti_key> <U227C> <U0338> \t: \"\342\213\240\""..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " \"\342\221\255\" U246D # CIRCLED NUMBER "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "8 # CIRCLED LATIN CAPITAL LETTER"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\201\222\" U3052 # HIRAGANA LETTER GE"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " U3193 # IDEOGRAPHIC ANNOTATION "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "key> <parenleft> <2> <4> <parenr"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "renleft> <KP_3> <KP_1> <parenrig"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "3279 # CIRCLED HANGUL THIEUTH A\n"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "OGRAPH STUDY\n<Multi_key> <parenl"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\n<Multi_key> <parenleft> <4> <KP"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "U\n<Multi_key> <parenleft> <kana_"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "B39 # HEBREW LETTER YOD WITH DAG"..., 4096) = 3348
read(12, "", 4096) = 0
close(12) = 0
munmap(0x7f0711cb4000, 4096) = 0
select(8, [7], [7], NULL, NULL) = 1 (out [7])
writev(7, [{"\2\24\4\0\246\1\0\0\0\10\0\0000@@\0\3\24\2\0\246\1\0\0"..., 32}], 1) = 32
select(8, [7], [], NULL, NULL) = 1 (in [7])
read(7, "\1\0\0105\3\0\0\0!\0\0\0\1\0\1\1\377\377\377\377\0\0\0"..., 4096) = 76
read(7, 0x2597594, 4096) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable)
open("/usr/share/X11/locale/compose.dir", O_RDONLY) = 12
fstat(12, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=36156, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0711cb4000
read(12, "# $Xorg: compose.dir,v 1.3 2000/"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "9-1/Compose\t\tes_ES.ISO8859-1\niso"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "9-15\niso8859-2/Compose\t\tro_RO.IS"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "TF-8/Compose\t\tde_CH.UTF-8\nen_US."..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "p_AN.UTF-8\npt_BR.UTF-8/Compose\t\t"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "se:\t\tde_LU.ISO8859-1\niso8859-15/"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "9-10/Compose:\t\tlg_UG.ISO8859-10\n"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "g5HKSCS\nzh_TW.big5/Compose:\t\tzh_"..., 4096) = 4096
close(12) = 0
munmap(0x7f0711cb4000, 4096) = 0
access("/usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose", R_OK) = 0
open("/usr/share/X11/locale/en_US.UTF-8/Compose", O_RDONLY) = 12
close(12) = 0
geteuid() = 1000
getegid() = 1000
open("/home/matt/.XCompose", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/share/X11/locale/compose.dir", O_RDONLY) = 12
fstat(12, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=36156, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0711cb4000
read(12, "# $Xorg: compose.dir,v 1.3 2000/"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "9-1/Compose\t\tes_ES.ISO8859-1\niso"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "9-15\niso8859-2/Compose\t\tro_RO.IS"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "TF-8/Compose\t\tde_CH.UTF-8\nen_US."..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "p_AN.UTF-8\npt_BR.UTF-8/Compose\t\t"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "se:\t\tde_LU.ISO8859-1\niso8859-15/"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "9-10/Compose:\t\tlg_UG.ISO8859-10\n"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "g5HKSCS\nzh_TW.big5/Compose:\t\tzh_"..., 4096) = 4096
close(12) = 0

$ tail -100 k9copy-strace.txt

read(12, "ulti_key> <parenleft> <Greek_alp"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "K SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "D VARIA\n<Multi_key> <grave> <par"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "Multi_key> <parenleft> <Greek_AL"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "I\n<Multi_key> <parenright> <Gree"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "e> <dead_psili> <Greek_epsilon> "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " <Greek_EPSILON> \t: \"\341\274\232\" U1F1"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "te> <dead_dasia> <Greek_EPSILON>"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_key> <acute> <U1F20> \t: \"\341\274\244\" "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI\n<Multi"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "> \t: \"\341\274\253\" U1F2B # GREEK CAPIT"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "K CAPITAL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "TTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND VARIA\n<"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "lti_key> <apostrophe> <dead_dasi"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "<dead_psili> <Greek_IOTA> \t: \"\341\274"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "CAPITAL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA A"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "i_key> <asciitilde> <parenleft> "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "MALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI A"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASI"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "REEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH D"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "POMENI\n<Multi_key> <asciitilde> "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\341\275\233\" U1F5B # GREEK CAPITAL LET"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "mega> \t: \"\341\275\242\" U1F62 # GREEK S"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "AND OXIA\n<Multi_key> <apostrophe"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "omega> \t: \"\341\275\247\" U1F67 # GREEK "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " \"\341\275\254\" U1F6C # GREEK CAPITAL L"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "OMEGA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "iota> <U1F01> \t: \"\341\276\201\" U1F81 #"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "li> <Greek_alpha> \t: \"\341\276\202\" U1F"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA AND Y"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ad_psili> <Greek_alpha> \t: \"\341\276\204\""..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "# GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "EEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSIL"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "TAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_iota> <combining_grave> <U0314>"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "eek_ALPHA> \t: \"\341\276\214\" U1F8C # GR"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "OXIA AND PROSGEGRAMMENI\n<Multi_k"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "<dead_iota> <Multi_key> <asciiti"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ft> <Greek_ALPHA> \t: \"\341\276\217\" U1F"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "OGEGRAMMENI\n<dead_iota> <dead_gr"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "REEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "eta> \t: \"\341\276\224\" U1F94 # GREEK SM"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "enleft> <Greek_eta> \t: \"\341\276\225\" U"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "D PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI\n"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "U1F97 # GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA W"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " WITH PSILI AND VARIA AND PROSGE"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "MENI\n<dead_iota> <dead_grave> <M"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "cute> <dead_psili> <Greek_ETA> \t"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "0314> <Greek_ETA> \t: \"\341\276\235\" U1F"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "GEGRAMMENI\n<dead_iota> <Multi_ke"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "<asciitilde> <U1F29> \t: \"\341\276\237\" "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "iota> <Multi_key> <parenleft> <G"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "L LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND VA"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_iota> <dead_acute> <U1F60> \t: \""..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AN"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "EGA WITH DASIA AND OXIA AND YPOG"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AN"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\" U1FA8 # GREEK CAPITAL LETTER"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " PROSGEGRAMMENI\n<Multi_key> <Gre"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_key> <parenleft> <Greek_OMEGA> "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, ": \"\341\276\254\" U1FAC # GREEK CAPITAL "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\n<Multi_key> <Greek_iota> <acute"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "_iota> <Multi_key> <asciitilde> "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "EGA> \t: \"\341\276\257\" U1FAF # GREEK CA"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI\n<de"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ER ETA WITH OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMME"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "dead_diaeresis> <Greek_iota> \t: "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " U1FE1 # GREEK SMALL LETTER UPS"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " \t: \"\341\277\254\" U1FEC # GREEK CAP"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\"\341\277\270\" U1FF8 # GREEK CAPITAL LE"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "SCRIPT LATIN SMALL LETTER N\n<Mul"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ESIS\n<Multi_key> <underbar> <par"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "ti_key> <U227C> <U0338> \t: \"\342\213\240\""..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " \"\342\221\255\" U246D # CIRCLED NUMBER "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "8 # CIRCLED LATIN CAPITAL LETTER"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\201\222\" U3052 # HIRAGANA LETTER GE"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, " U3193 # IDEOGRAPHIC ANNOTATION "..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "key> <parenleft> <2> <4> <parenr"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "renleft> <KP_3> <KP_1> <parenrig"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "3279 # CIRCLED HANGUL THIEUTH A\n"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "OGRAPH STUDY\n<Multi_key> <parenl"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "\n<Multi_key> <parenleft> <4> <KP"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "U\n<Multi_key> <parenleft> <kana_"..., 4096) = 4096
read(12, "B39 # HEBREW LETTER YOD WITH DAG"..., 4096) = 3348
read(12, "", 4096) = 0
close(12) = 0
munmap(0x7f06fa169000, 4096) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, [], 8) = 0
+++ killed by SIGKILL +++
Process 13422 detached

See original description
Tags: gbj-uk-0902
Matt Wilkie (maphew)
description: updated
Revision history for this message
Nick Booker (nmbooker) wrote :

The trace references files from the X locales, so I've assigned to xorg.

Revision history for this message
Bryce Harrington (bryce) wrote :

Please attach the output of `lspci -vvnn`, and attach your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file from after reproducing this issue. If you've made any customizations to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf please attach that as well.

Changed in xorg:
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

the wacom tablet was added a month ago, long after this problem started.

Revision history for this message
Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

For the previous xorg log I killed the runaway process (k9copy) when it had consumed 98% of the ram. I am running it again now and am letting it take the full course. The display is now frozen, the mouse cursor does not respond to movement, even the keyboard has stopped responding to caps and numlock (the LEDs do not light/unlight). The hard drive light is on steady and I can hear the drive going like crazy. It has been in this state for about 30 minutes. I'm about to leave for work and will report back in about 10 hours or so.

Revision history for this message
Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

I waited 13 hours, with no visible change from this morning: screen blank, no response to mouse or stylus movement (though both devices' LEDs light up when moved), hard drive light steady and audibly chugging away. I was mistaken about there being no keyboard response: there was, only with about a 30 second delay before the LEDs responded. [ctrl-alt-backspace] and [ctrl-alt-F#] did not seem to do anything: I did not observe any change in drive activity and after 5 minutes there was no change to the display.

I pushed the power button for 5 seconds, the machine powered off. I waited a few minutes before turning it back on again. The system booted normally and appears functional, so long as I stay away from vlc, k9copy, and open office. I haven't tried very hard to see what other programs might trigger the runaway memory.

Please, what do I need to do to get to the bottom of this?

thank you.

Revision history for this message
Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

result of 'strace -o k9copy-strace.txt k9copy', allowed to run for half a minute or so.

Revision history for this message
Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

result of 'strace -o vlc-strace.txt vlc', allowed to run for half a minute

Revision history for this message
Bryce Harrington (bryce) wrote :

> The trace references files from the X locales, so I've assigned to xorg.

Hmm, evidence so far is pretty tenuous that this is an X bug. It's the applications that are gobbling up the memory. I suppose it's possible an X call is doing this, but more likely the application (or a common library) is at fault. I'd recommend you troubleshoot it through one of the applications. If you can trace it more definitively to an X-related function, definitely feel free to assign it to the appropriate X package (probably not 'xorg', it's just a meta-package really).

Revision history for this message
Rémi Denis-Courmont (rdenis) wrote :

I cannot reproduce the problem with VLC. The syscall trace is totally worthless, as the crash is obviously occuring in another thread that the main one.

Changed in vlc:
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

Thank you for trying to reproduce the problem. Do you have any suggestions for what can be done to identify the thread that *is* causing the crash?

And, a correction: Open Office doesn't start the runaway ram consumption anymore. Perhaps it only appeared to be involved earlier. I observed oo with my son, and he may have attempted to start vlc/k9copy earlier and I didn't notice.

Revision history for this message
Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

Virtualbox OSE also goes haywire with ram useage; I let it use up over 2gb before killing the process (no point in letting it get to the point of thrashing my hard drive for hours on end IMO). The strace for vbox looks the same as for vlc and k9copy.

I've now run every program in the main menu from Accessories through the end of Other, plus Sound & Video, and not counting Games. There are 40 or so more programs to test, most of them games, before I've testing every program installed with a menu entry. I'll try and do the rest within the next day or so.

Revision history for this message
Nick Booker (nmbooker) wrote :

OK, I think it's worth trying to find out which libraries are in common between the applications that are causing trouble.

Could you post the files resulting from:
 ldd /usr/bin/vlc > vlc.ldd
 ldd /usr/bin/k9copy > k9copy.ldd
 ldd /usr/bin/virtualbox > virtualbox.ldd

This might help narrow down our search. Could you also attach the strace from virtualbox?

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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

Output of 'sudo strace -o vbox-strace.txt /usr/bin/virtualbox' is attached. I killed virtualbox process after it had consumed ~560mb of ram without showing any interface elements (e.g. splash screen, menu).

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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

cervisia does it too.

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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

and kdesvn

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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

and kompare

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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

and assistant-qt4

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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

and designer-qt4, linguist-qt4 (this one shows a splash screen). I've now gone through every program that isn't a game. It seems pretty clear kde apps are more likely to be included in the problem group than others. Hopefully this is enough of a cross section to identify the involved library(ies). I'll stop adding strace logs now unless asked for.

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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

KDE-based games which work are: kbounce, kmahjong, klotski, kpatience.
Other KDE-based apps which work are: kimagemapeditor, klinkstatus, kmdr-editor, kxsldbg, kompozer, kfilereplace, digikam, kexi, kword, kspread.

Other problem games are:
- katomic
- klines
- kgoldrunner - crashes and spawns drkonqi, which in turns eats all ram. If started with sudo, kgoldrunner runs normally.
- kolf - gets to point of showing a window frame and menu bar before runaway-ram starts.
- ktuberling

I've now tested all of the programs available from the menu.

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xteejx (xteejx-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. The issue that you reported is one that should be reproducible with the live environment of the Desktop CD of the development release - Lucid Lynx. It would help us greatly if you could test with it so we can work on getting it fixed in the next release of Ubuntu. You can find out more about the development release at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/. Thanks again and we appreciate your help.

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xteejx (xteejx-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Probably not a VLC problem. Until the cause is determined I will mark this task invalid.

Changed in vlc:
status: Incomplete → Invalid
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Matt Wilkie (maphew) wrote :

I've dist-upgraded to 9.04 and now the problem has, thankfully, disappeared.

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xteejx (xteejx-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

This bug report is being closed due to your last comment regarding this being fixed with an update. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.

Changed in ubuntu:
status: Incomplete → Invalid
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