Etch is eating up memory!

Ptrs!OP · 07-12-2005, 01:08 PM

At this moment the computer is ok, no slow downs, so was when I did get that output I posted. But every now and then it just gets too loaded and I see the hard disk light that's going nuts and the system gets slow. I will try to keep an eye and next time it happens I'm going to repost the same thing. It's just that seeing this happen and almost all physical memory in use I thought these things were connected somehow (ex windows user - by the way it's been almost a year that I haven't touched windows, hehe).

Thanks for all the help to everybody!

Matir · 07-12-2005, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ptrs!OP

I don't know how to list the processes as they appear in KDE System Guard or Gnome System monitor, but there are plenty that are running under root, such as "getty" (there are 6 of them at this moment and can't kill them because they reappear), "kjournald" (7 of them) and X is using 160 MB of memory.

Any ideas?

On a side note, just killing processes you don't recognize can be a bad thing, leading to a very unstable system.

'getty' is the login manager for each of your 6 physical consoles (Ctrl+Alt+F1 to Ctrl+Alt+F6). kjournald is the kernel journal daemon, which handles journaling file systems (and their journals, of course). Killing that could (I believe) lead to filesystem or journal corruption.

I hope you don't see this as an attempt to chastize you for your actions, but as the friendly warning it really is.

Ptrs!OP · 07-12-2005, 01:33 PM

There are two ways to learn: one by actually making a mistake than can cost you something and the second one just by listenint to an advice. I didn't know what these processes were, so I just tried to kill them. Now that you told me I know I'm going to be more careful in the future, so thank you! By the way I was killing these processes and they just kept coming back so it seems that I was trying to do damage to my debian and just couldn't! This is amazing (thinking that I used to install windows every 5-6 months because something corrupted something else without me doing anything... Something more to add to the "Get the facts" campain!

Matir · 07-12-2005, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ptrs!OP
There are two ways to learn: one by actually making a mistake than can cost you something and the second one just by listenint to an advice. I didn't know what these processes were, so I just tried to kill them. Now that you told me I know I'm going to be more careful in the future, so thank you! By the way I was killing these processes and they just kept coming back so it seems that I was trying to do damage to my debian and just couldn't! This is amazing (thinking that I used to install windows every 5-6 months because something corrupted something else without me doing anything... Something more to add to the "Get the facts" campain!

getty is automatically restarted by the 'init' process. (Another one NOT to kill, lol). getty is pretty harmless to kill, but other processes might not be. Also, next time it gets slow, run 'dmesg' and see if there are any error messages near the end of it that might be related.

Ptrs!OP · 07-16-2005, 03:01 AM

Ok so now the computer is really slow. Even as I am typing the text appears with delay on screen or even the cursor doesn't blink regularly.
I have many applications open but such thing didn't occur with other linux distributions I have used under similar load:
dmesg:

Code:

x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 6
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 7
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 1-3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 7
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 5
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
cdrom: open failed.
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 8
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for Handspring Visor / Palm OS
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for Sony Clie 3.5
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for Sony Clie 5.0
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usbcore: registered new driver visor
drivers/usb/serial/visor.c: USB HandSpring Visor / Palm OS driver v2.1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 8
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 9
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 9
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 10
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 10
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 5
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 11
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 11
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 12
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 12
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 13
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 13
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 6
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 6
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 14
usb 1-3: device not accepting address 14, error -110
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 16
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 1-3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 16
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 17
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 1-3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 17
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 7
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 7
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 8
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 8
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 18
usb 1-3: device not accepting address 18, error -110
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 19
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 1-3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
NET: Registered protocol family 4
NET: Registered protocol family 3
NET: Registered protocol family 5
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: SiS delay workaround: giving bridge time to recover.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
usb 2-2: USB disconnect, address 3
usb 2-2: new full speed USB device using address 9
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 19
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 10
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 20
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 1-3:1.0: ttyACM2: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 10
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 11
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 21
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 21
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 22
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 22
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 23
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 23
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 24
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 24
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 25
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 25
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 26
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 26
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 27
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 27
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 28
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 28
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 29
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 29
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 11
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 20
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 12
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 12
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 13
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 13
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 30
usb 1-3: device not accepting address 30, error -110
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 32
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 1-3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 32
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 14
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 14
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 15
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 15
ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 1
ISOFS: changing to secondary root
usb 1-2: new full speed USB device using address 33
visor 1-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter detected
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB0
usb 1-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now attached to ttyUSB1
usb 1-2: USB disconnect, address 33
visor ttyUSB0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
visor ttyUSB1: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1
visor 1-2:1.0: device disconnected
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 16
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
usb 2-3: USB disconnect, address 16
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 34
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 1-3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 34
usb 1-3: new full speed USB device using address 35
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 1-3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
usb 1-3: USB disconnect, address 35
usb 2-3: new full speed USB device using address 17
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.1: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
drivers/usb/class/cdc-acm.c: Ignoring extra header
cdc_acm 2-3:1.3: ttyACM1: USB ACM device

vmstat 1:

Code:

procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- --system-- ----cpu----
 r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi    bo   in    cs us sy id wa
 2  0  69636   3500  12248 158856    0    1    98    15   56    30 12  2 85  0
 2  0  69636   3436  12252 158856    0    0     0    91 1623  2029 89  9  2  0
 1  0  69636   3436  12260 158856    0    0     0    16 1552  2293 84 14  2  0
 4  0  69636   3468  12260 158856    0    0     0     0 1250  2037 91  7  2  0
 2  0  69636   3468  12264 158856    0    0     0     9 1682  2211 91  7  2  0
 1  0  69636   3468  12264 158856    0    0     0     0 1230  1779 88  9  3  0
 2  0  69636   3468  12268 158856    0    0     0     4 1560  2075 91  7  2  0
 1  0  69636   3508  12268 158856    0    0     0     0 1581  2052 88  9  3  0
 2  0  69636   3508  12268 158860    0    0     0     0 1538  1922 88 10  2  0
 2  0  69636   3508  12272 158860    0    0     0     5 1467  1979 91  7  2  0
 1  0  69636   3508  12272 158880    0    0     0     0 1553  1947 91  7  2  0
 1  0  69636   3540  12276 158880    0    0     0     4 1151  1721 90  8  2  0
 1  0  69636   3540  12292 158884    0    0     0    88 1782  2177 90  7  3  0
 1  0  69636   3476  12296 158884    0    0     0    45 1344  1934 92  7  1  0
 1  0  69636   3476  12300 158888    0    0     0     3 1435  1844 85 12  3  0
 2  0  69636   3492  12300 158892    0    0     0     0 1754  2130 91  7  2  0
 1  0  69636   3492  12300 158892    0    0     0     0 1114  1736 92  7  1  0
 2  0  69636   3492  12308 158896    0    0     0    36 1704  2129 90  7  3  0
 3  0  69636   3492  12308 158896    0    0     0     0 1649  2093 91  7  2  0
 2  0  69636   3492  12320 158896    0    0     0    21 1377  1956 90  7  3  0
 2  0  69636   3492  12320 158904    0    0     0     0 1386  1981 89  9  2  0

At this moment I have open firefox with 3 tabs, thunderbird, amarok, kppp, korganizer, amule, synaptic, konsole and resource monitor, which indicates CPU 100%, physical memory 499.3MB/504.3MB and SWAP 68MB/989.2MB. I already had to end wine processes, because I am not using it but I saw something like wine pre-load which was using a lot of memory and another or two things saying wine something.

Noth · 07-16-2005, 10:03 AM

But if you look at the vmstat output there is no swap I/O and virtually no other disk I/O, your problem isn't with memory. You say the CPU is at 100%, so what is using all of the CPU?

Ptrs!OP · 07-16-2005, 04:46 PM

I have no idea what or why is using all that CPU! It has already been explained to me that in linux all memory is used no matter what I'm doing and that is to improve performance, so I'm not worrying anymore about it. But the CPU is working 100% since this morning, but I didn't not what was the program that I started that needs all this CPU. What I need to know is if it is a deamon, a program that I am manually starting or something that has to do directly with Debian. But it is weird and a bit disturbing all this slow down.

PTrenholme · 07-16-2005, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ptrs!OP
[snip]
and the processes that report more %MEM are
firefox (6.9%), amule (1.7%), XFree86 (1.7), kdeinit (2.9%)
[snip]

(Emphasis modified.)

Disclaimer: I've never used amule.

Since he's running amule, could his problems be from a "nice" setting on that process that's letting the people downloading from his system "hog" his disk drive. And, perhaps, his internet connection.