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System Monitor questions
While checking out all the possibilities of the Gnome panels I've put the system monitor on my panel and I'm very surprised to see that after login it indicates a memory use of 90%, 40% of which is cache. I've got 504Mb RAM (according to the resource monitor, 512 according to the specs) and another 500+ Swap. Am I really using all that memory???
It appears not, because if I open the resource manager and go to the Resource Monitor tab it indicates I'm using about 140Mb RAM and some 270 swap. So what exactly does the 90% indicated on my panel mean? The Resource Monitor also indicates the device usage, which includes a /dev/shm type: tmpfs, size 252Mb used: 0% It doesn't appear to be a partition, but what exactly is it? In the Process listing tab I can choose to display only active processes, but it never displays any as active. However, the system monitor is running on the panel, I'm listening to music so both the sound server and Xmms are active and I'm writing this message. What does it take for a process to be listed as active? |
This gets asked about once a week. Linux uses memory different than windoze does. It will use as much memory as it can to cache things it uses a lot. That way it doesn't have to wait on the hard drive to get data. I have 1GB in mine and it fills up pretty regular. It does this to make the system more efficient.
Remember, Linux started out as a server OS. That is why it is more stable, secure and runs as efficient as possible. Windoze, just runs, well, most of the time anyway. If you notice that you are using more than about 30MBs of swap then you may need more memory. Other than that, don't worry about the memory usage. You have plenty for most Linux apps. Later :D :D :D :D |
Still, that doesn't explain the difference between the 90% indicated and the less than 50% it actually uses...
as I wrote, my system is using some 270Mb swap (you say 30+) but only 140 out of 512 Ram. Did you miss a zero there? |
A lot of that depends on what applications you are using. If you are using something that is large and uses a lot of memory then it will use a lot more swap. You may want to search for memory cache and then put my name in the box on the right for user name. I, and others, have discussed this issue at length.
It appears that what you have is normal. Linux is different. It makes hardware do as much work as possible which makes the software faster and makes the user happier. I did a quick search for ya: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...readid=260022& http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...readid=185925& There are others. There is one that I read a long time ago that links to a site that explains it better. I didn't respond so I have no clue which one it was. It's in there with the other several hundred thousand threads. Type in free and see what it reports. Another good one is to type in top and then hit the "m" key to sort the list by memory usage. That will tell you what is actually used like this: Code:
root@smoker / # freeCode:
top - 12:30:08 up 85 days, 6:06, 4 users, load average: 0.40, 0.91, 0.92Post what you get to those. I'll look at it and see what I see. Later :D :D :D :D |
I'm on a dial-up as well, and I have a cahce of 90000kb, and find it to be small. Is that the cache the system monitor refers to? I'm not worried about the memory usage. The system responds great, and as long as it keeps responding it's fine with me. I'm curious to know a little more about how it all works though and I'll take a hard look at the links you posted.
Her's my top: Code:
top - 22:39:14 up 12:04, 2 users, load average: 0.03, 0.08, 0.03oh, and free: Code:
total used free shared buffers cached |
Everything I see looks normal. You have over 300MBs just in cache and in buffers. That is where the speed increase comes from. That is fine and looks normal. You are actually only using about 170MBs for the system. That's about right. I must admit I have a lot of stuff running on mine. I have 90 processes running as I type.
It may also be noted that some things are run purely in memory. Most of the stuff in /sys are in memory but are very small. You can test this by booting from a CD and mounting the partition and looking at what all disappears. All the temp and fan stuff and other sensor data is gone. 512MBs is a sweet spot for Linux with a GUI running. I had 512 in mine for a long time and I use KDE. It is a little faster with 1GB but not a whole lot. If you where running a server or doing some mean things with GIMP, same as photoshop, or something more may be needed. Most likely for what you are doing, you will be fine for quite some time. I have seen people running very well with 64MBs of memory. I had 128MBs in my old 400MHz system. It has since died. No more booting. :cry: It all appears to be mormal. As for the uptime. There is a system I saw on TV that a ISP uses. It was used for one of their connection points. The system people like you and me connect to the net with. It had been running for over 5 years with no reboot. I seriously doubt windoze could do that. According to the guy that ran it, the only time they messed with it was to add users or delete users and the occasional security fix. If you have your system configured properly it can run for ages. I run Gentoo on a compiled kernel. I have a CyberPower 1250 UPS to help with power problems, other than that, I just run Linux. It's supper time. I wonder which critter I will eat this time. I have already had Mr Piggy and Ms cow. :scratch: Later :D :D :D :D |
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