Cpu load at 59% when idle

stubbe · 08-23-2006, 10:05 PM

I'm using Ubuntu Dapper 6.06

My CPU is Intel Core Duo 1.66ghz

The indicator I use is Gnome Applets. Each time I logon to Gnome, the indicator (2 of them) are showing 59%. No background apps, no opened apps, just fresh logon. Is this normal?

gilead · 08-23-2006, 10:34 PM

Can you open a terminal window and run the top command? Press the F (shift f) key, then the k key and press enter to sort by CPU usage. Most versions of top also support shift p to select sorting by CPU usage. What is displayed at the top of the list?

stubbe · 08-23-2006, 11:43 PM

this is top output :

http://www.cxc3d.com/misc/top.jpg

stubbe · 08-23-2006, 11:45 PM

this is gnome applet cpu frequency monitor applet :

http://www.cxc3d.com/misc/cpuload.jpeg

gilead · 08-23-2006, 11:49 PM

According to top, your CPU usage is minimal. Unless something has stopped running since you were using the Gnome Applets I'd think they were measuring something else. That's only a guess - I don't run gnome here.

I'd keep an eye on the Gnome Applets and if it happens again I'd run top again. If the Gnome Applets are always reporting high CPU usage while top is reporting low usage, I'd say the Gnome Applets were wrong. Maybe their man pages can provide some info on whether they need configuring.

stubbe · 08-24-2006, 12:11 AM

whew! thanks. That's a relief.

Fireball7 · 08-24-2006, 02:51 AM

Could it possibly be the CPU is still tied up in starting the system and hasn't leveled off yet? Just a thought.

stubbe · 08-24-2006, 03:11 AM

how's that possible? And how to fix it? I do feel my laptop is warmer when working in ubuntu than in windows

stubbe · 08-24-2006, 03:36 AM

I started gnome-system-monitor and its reding said only about %1 or a little more than that. Sorry this is a dumb thread indeed.

But what does cpu frequency equals to?

HappyTux · 08-24-2006, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stubbe

I started gnome-system-monitor and its reding said only about %1 or a little more than that. Sorry this is a dumb thread indeed.

But what does cpu frequency equals to?

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -i mhz will tell you the speed the processor is running at.

joho · 09-24-2006, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stubbe

how's that possible? And how to fix it? I do feel my laptop is warmer when working in ubuntu than in windows

I just installed SuSE:s SLED10 (which is on par with SuSE Linux 10) on a Fujitsu Siemens Laptop (E8110) featuring an Intel Core Duo 2500.

I see a constant CPU usage (on core one) of around 50% (sometimes peaking around 80%, but I suspect that may be actual load). Core two is idling at 0%.

If I do a "ps ax", I see events/0 being the culprit. The machine also gets notably warmer than when running Windows XP SP2.

I've tried scaling/throttling/whatever.. to no avail. Something isn't letting something go.. thus creating a load. I cannot believe core one should idle at 50% ..

-joho

Fireball7 · 09-25-2006, 11:29 AM

What version of the kernel are you running? Is the kernel compiled to support dual core technology?

joho · 09-26-2006, 01:15 PM

Linux joho-lt-fs 2.6.16.21-0.15-smp #1 SMP Tue Jul 25 15:28:49 UTC 2006 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

This is SLED10 from Novell, I assume they compile their SMP-kernel to handle Intel Core Duo CPU:s.