desktopcouch keeps becoming zombie

Bug #768576 reported by PresuntoRJ
20
This bug affects 4 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
desktopcouch (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
Medium
Chad Miller

Bug Description

Binary package hint: desktopcouch

My system keeps freezing if I leave it alone for a long time, usually more than thirty minutes, enough for the screensaver to kick in, and many subsystems (desktopcouch-se, zeitgeist-datahub, ...) becomes zombie processes, rendering the box unusable... I have found out it is not a screensaver specific issue, since I can have anything in full screen (like a banshee session, playing some music, or gedit with a text) and force the screensaver to never load, that after a while (again, more than thirty minutes), the box will freeze.

I cannot kill X with Ctrl+Alt+Bckspc (which I have set previously), but I can still get to a shell via Ctrl+Alt+F2, then I can get log files, kill gdm-binary, and startx (startx wont start Unity completely, complaining I dont have enough hardware to run it, and get me to a Ubuntu-Classic session)

At least I have managed to post this bug with apport.

This happens every single time I am AFK with anything but Unity fullscreen

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: desktopcouch 1.0.7-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic-pae 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic-pae i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Thu Apr 21 17:00:54 2011
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release i386 (20101007)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: desktopcouch
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-04-10 (11 days ago)

Revision history for this message
PresuntoRJ (fabio-tleitao) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Eric Casteleijn (thisfred) wrote :

While the desktopcouch-service zombie process is an unfortunate bug that we're looking into, it is extremely unlikely to make your system freeze. (Basically it's a child process that does not get cleaned up properly, but it's not using anything much in the way of resources.)

Changed in desktopcouch (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
importance: Undecided → Medium
assignee: nobody → Chad Miller (cmiller)
Revision history for this message
PresuntoRJ (fabio-tleitao) wrote : Re: [Bug 768576] Re: desktopcouch keeps becoming zombie

ok, and what would be the father process in the system that actualy call
desktopcouch and end up freezing my system and leaving the zombies process ?

2011/4/25 Eric Casteleijn <email address hidden>

> While the desktopcouch-service zombie process is an unfortunate bug that
> we're looking into, it is extremely unlikely to make your system freeze.
> (Basically it's a child process that does not get cleaned up properly,
> but it's not using anything much in the way of resources.)
>
> ** Changed in: desktopcouch (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Confirmed
>
> ** Changed in: desktopcouch (Ubuntu)
> Importance: Undecided => Medium
>
> ** Changed in: desktopcouch (Ubuntu)
> Assignee: (unassigned) => Chad Miller (cmiller)
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/768576
>
> Title:
> desktopcouch keeps becoming zombie
>
> To unsubscribe from this bug, go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/desktopcouch/+bug/768576/+subscribe
>

--
Fábio Leitão
..-. .- -... .. --- .-.. . .. - .- --- ...-.-

Revision history for this message
Chad Miller (cmiller) wrote :

A zombie process holds no resources except a process ID and an unread integer exit-value, so it's not that process per se, but if the parent process spins out of control, it could explain both how it hasn't read the exit value of the child, and how a computer could become sluggish. So, the zombie would be a side-effect too.

Fábio, can you log in from another computer (with ssh, perhaps) and run "ps xauww" to see a list of running processes, and "dmesg" to see what the kernel is doing?

Also, perhaps before it freezes, flip to the console (Ctrl-Alt-F1) and run the same commands. (Alt-F7 to go back.)

If it's "beam" that is eating CPU, please attach ~/.cache/desktop-couch/desktop-couchdb.log.1

If it's "desktopcouch-service" that is eating CPU, please attach these three:
~/.cache/desktop-couch/log/desktop-couch-migration.log
~/.cache/desktop-couch/log/desktop-couch-dbus.log
~/.cache/desktop-couch/log/desktop-couch-replication.log

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