Re: Kernel (VM) swap problem in Hoary

On Tue, 2005-05-31 at 21:44 +0100, James Wilkinson wrote:
> Paul M. Bucalo wrote:
> > I've had this same problem in FC 3 and couldn't (well, really wasn't
> > smart enough) to resolve it: kernel wastes up to 98% of available RAM to
> > cache and hold dirty pages too long while memory is desperately needed
> > for applications. Then, extensive swap-thrashing that leaves the system
> > nearly useless for up to 30 minutes. It seems to be more an issue on the
> > desktop with 2.6 kernels.
> > 
> > There are numerous configuration files in /proc/sys/vm that control this
> > issue. I've just not found the magic numbers that should work best for
> > my system. I'm running with 256 MB RAM and an AMD K6-2/500 MHz
> > processor. (Btw, 'readahead' is active.) 
> 
> You've played with the swappiness setting (in /proc/sys/vm)? 

Yes, to a certain extent. I get varying results with each different
system. I have had at 10 on an FC3 run on the same machine. It prolonged
the inevitable, is all. I currently have it at 90, and I can't seem to
make the thrashing come no matter what I open up. The trade of is
performance, of course...especially on a slow system as this one. I
definitely don't see a clear answer for all desktops, but I wouldn't
mind just a little clarity as to where I should go to make improvements,
you know? :0/ When working on an older, slower box, one assumes
performance is not the first priority. Coming to a standstill for 30
minutes to gain some relatively euphoric moments of computing time
doesn't strike me as good choice. I could be wrong. :0)

> You
> probably want to decrease that. Googling for it turns up

Re: ALSA has fallen and can't get up!

> On Sun, May 29, 2005 at 03:53:13PM -0400, Lee McLain wrote:
> >      XMMS will only play using the eSound output plugin.
> 
> Well at least ALSA's working.

   I guess...I find it really strange that it will play via eSound
plugin but NOT the ALSA plugin.

> 
> >      MPlayer won't play any sound.
> 
   This is what I get when I play a file.  There is the dump messages
and the error dump.
Error:
------
Linux RTC init error in ioctl (rtc_irqp_set 1024): Permission denied
The selected video_out device is incompatible with this codec.
[AO OSS] audio_setup: Can't open audio device /dev/dsp: Device or resource busy
New_Face failed. Maybe the font path is wrong.
Please supply the text font file (~/.mplayer/subfont.ttf).
subtitle font: load_sub_face failed.

Dump
------
MPlayer 1.0pre7-3.3.5 (C) 2000-2005 MPlayer Team
CPU: Intel  (Family: 6, Stepping: 8)
Detected cache-line size is 64 bytes
CPUflags:  MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 0 3DNow2: 0 SSE: 1 SSE2: 1
Compiled for x86 CPU with extensions: MMX MMX2 SSE SSE2

Re: ALSA has fallen and can't get up!

On Tue, May 31, 2005 at 07:46:30PM -0400, Lee McLain wrote:
>    I guess...I find it really strange that it will play via eSound
> plugin but NOT the ALSA plugin.

Then esd is using oss directly and not using alsa's oss emulation.

> [AO OSS] audio_setup: Can't open audio device /dev/dsp: Device or resource busy
^^ makes sense if esd is using oss directly.

> > Please paste the output from ,,cat /proc/asound/modules'', ,,amixer'',
> > and ,,lsof /dev/dsp* /dev/snd/*''.
> > 
>    All of these files come up 0 bytes...there is nothing to paste.

Please attach output from ,,lspci -v'' and ,,lsmod''.

--

-- 
Daniel T. Chen          crimsun <at> fungus.sh.nu
GPG key:   www.sh.nu/~crimsun/pubkey.gpg.asc

On Tue, May 31, 2005 at 07:46:30PM -0400, Lee McLain wrote:
>    I guess...I find it really strange that it will play via eSound
> plugin but NOT the ALSA plugin.

Then esd is using oss directly and not using alsa's oss emulation.

> [AO OSS] audio_setup: Can't open audio device /dev/dsp: Device or resource busy
^^ makes sense if esd is using oss directly.

(Update) kcore file 1GB HD space (need help) !!

Hi,
thanks for the clarification. But what about the  two core files I have in 
the /dev directory and ./dev directory with a 1GB size (permission 
inaccessible). Are they related to the virtual file system ????

Thanks

Holger

> Hi everyone,
> I have discovered recently that I have a kcore file on Kubuntu with a file 
> size of 1 GB in my /proc file system. I realized that for a while the 
> harddrive was constantly writing and that the harddrive space decreased 
> rapidly. This happend also in UBUNTU once resulting in filling up the 
> harddrive space to 95% with bad results. Now I need to know how I can delete 
> this file from the proc file system and how I can make sure that this is not 
> any more happen as this is the result of a crash core dump ????
> 
> Can anybody help ??
> 
> Thanks in advanced
> 
> Holger 
> 
> “/proc/kcore” is an image of the memory (RAM) of your system!  Don't try
> to delete it ever!  The core dumps are named “core” not “kcore” and they
> are disabled by default in Ubuntu. (The file is 1GB in size because you
> have 1GB of RAM.)

> All the files in “/proc” are virtual.  In other words: they don't

RE: Kernel Images (i686) -- INSTALL

> -----Original Message-----
> From:René L. Reingard
> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 12:39 AM
> To: Ubuntu Help and User Discussions
<snip>
> >          run:      uname -m
> > This command will tell you which kernel version will give you best the
> > performance for YOUR **Intel** motherboard/cpu combo
<snip>
> Hi Randy
> That command is just great, plain understandable result!
> And what to do next?
> I got as answer "i686" but know my laptop is running with i386.
> Which packages to install and which to deinstall?
> What are the exact steps to follow? Please.
<snip>

Rene,

I may not be the best person to ask.
Most on this list know more than I.

However, here's what I did:

1) Go to the System menu, select Administration, and load Synaptic Package
Manager.

2) After Synaptic is loaded and the GUI is on-screen, click on  Reload  (to
update Synaptic).

Fwd: Re: Ubuntu. What would you do if you had a billion dollars - found a new distro?

----------  Forwarded Message  ----------

Subject: Re: Ubuntu. What would you do if you had a billion dollars - found a 
new distro?
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 09:07 am
From: Darrin Ritter <darrinritter <at> optusnet.com.au>
To: scriptor <at> tpg.com.au
Cc: linuxsa <at> linuxsa.org.au

paul wrote:
>http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3275743a28,00.html
>
>Paul C

Just ordered my copy

DVR
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Regards,
Brian

no sound in tvtime

I downloaded tvtime from the debian site and installed it. The video
works fine with a Hauppage/Bt878, but there is no sound.

The sound works fine for all other applications, just not tvtime.

lspci says the sound chip is a Yamaha Corporation DS1L Audio.

Any suggestions on how to fix it?

    Thanks,

    John

--

-- 

John Conover, conover <at> rahul.net, http://www.johncon.com/

Re: Kernel Images (i686) -- INSTALL

<div>
<p>If you you have nvidia make sure you get the additional package for 686
non-os packages. I'm not at home so I can't tell you the exact name.
just do :<br><br>
apt-cache search nvidia<br><br><br></p>
<div>
<span class="gmail_quote">On 6/1/05, Randy Forston &lt;<a href="mailto:rforston <at> earthlink.net">rforston <at> earthlink.net</a>&gt; wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote">
&gt; -----Original Message-----<br>&gt; From:Ren&eacute; L. Reingard<br>&gt; Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 12:39 AM<br>&gt; To: Ubuntu Help and User Discussions<br>&lt;snip&gt;<br>&gt; &gt;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;run:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;uname -m<br>&gt; &gt; This command will tell you which kernel version will give you best the
<br>&gt; &gt; performance for YOUR **Intel** motherboard/cpu combo<br>&lt;snip&gt;<br>&gt; Hi Randy<br>&gt; That command is just great, plain understandable result!<br>&gt; And what to do next?<br>&gt; I got as answer "i686" but know my laptop is running with i386.
<br>&gt; Which packages to install and which to deinstall?<br>&gt; What are the exact steps to follow? Please.<br>&lt;snip&gt;<br><br><br>Rene,<br><br>I may not be the best person to ask.<br>Most on this list know more than I.
<br><br><br>However, here's what I did:<br><br>1) Go to the System menu, select Administration, and load Synaptic Package<br>Manager.<br><br>2) After Synaptic is loaded and the GUI is on-screen, click on&nbsp;&nbsp;Reload&nbsp;&nbsp;(to<br>update Synaptic).
<br><br>3) Once Synaptic is thru updating itself, scroll down to the listings to<br>linux-686.&nbsp;&nbsp; You'll notice the description for this item states that it's<br>the complete linux kernel for PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/PIV and that the version
<br>of the kernel is at 2.6.10-7. Highlight and select this item<br><br>4) After you've selected linux-686, click update, and Synaptic goes to work.<br><br>5) When done, quit Synaptic, then reboot the system.<br><br>Two Caveats:
<br>1) this assumes you're already running Hoary (on i386 kernel)<br>2) you may need to reinstall your graphics driver (I didn't have an issue).<br><br><br>Ubuntu community; could you correct me if any of this is wrong??<br>
If you're already running Hoary - (but with the i386 kernel), linux-686 is<br>the correct and complete choice to upgrade Hoary to the i686 kernel, yes???<br><br><br>Thanks,<br>Randy<br><a href="mailto:rforston <at> earthlink.net">
rforston <at> earthlink.net</a><br><br><br>--<br>ubuntu-users mailing list<br><a href="mailto:ubuntu-users <at> lists.ubuntu.com">ubuntu-users <at> lists.ubuntu.com</a><br><a href="http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users">
http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users</a><br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br><br><br>-- <br>Regards,<br>Russ
</div>

Firefox & Spellbound & Hoary

Anyone managed to get the Firefox extension "Spellbound" installed in
Hoary lately?

I did:

sudo -H firefox

and attempted to install the spellbound_lib_linux_1.0.2.xpi.
It fails with:
###
Firefox could not download the file at
http://exchangecode.com/spellbound/downloads/spellbound_lib_linux_1.0.2.xpi
because: Script error
###

The terminal reports:
###
*** getItemProperty failing for lack of an item. This means
getResourceForItem failed to locate a resource for aItemID (item ID =
http://exchangecode.com/spellbound/downloads/spellbound_lib_linux_1.0+.xpi,
property = internalName)nal reports this:
###

Downloading and manually installing gets Spellbound working right up
until you actually try to spell check something.

Anyone have a suggestion?

--

-- 
Kevin C. Smith

Re: graphics card

Skip ATI.
NVidia has been supporting linux for along time with official drivers.
Ati just jumped on the band wagon and are WAY BEHIND!!
In benchmarks an FX 5200 ($60 nvidia card) beats out a X800 ($400 ATI
card) because the ATI drivers are so new and buggy.
Support the companies that support linux, Nividia being one of them!!