CPU usage is a 100%, no processes running

[stressmonkey]

My CPU usage suddenly started oscillating between 5% and 100% causing the computer to lag very badly. This problem came on suddenly--I was using the computer the night before and then the next day I was hit with the lag.

Computer info:

IBM Lenovo ThinkpadR61 with Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx
Intel Duo Core 2GHz Processor T7300
2.5GB RAM (2GB Kingston DDR2 + 512MB DDR2 not sure what brand)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Intel 802.11abg wireless

everything was working perfectly until the CPU usage started to spike. It's very strange, spiking every few seconds.

Here is a picture of the System Monitor and htop output:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/WhrjEXVlDFdWhU0rg0hDUg?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/malikb33/SystemMonitor#

so what I did was do a clean install of Lucid and update the BIOS, but the problem is still there.

I had been running the computer with just one processor turned on, but because the lag is so much from the CPU usage, I turned on the other processor.

Here are pictures of the system monitor and htop with clean install of Lynx and updated BIOS:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/H21jRccJ42oST5-NUibhug?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/HrOu3iBanXuEM7B1YQkbrg?feat=directlink

any ideas of what the problem could be?!?!

[-humanaut-]

When your in system monitor hit view all processes and then hit CPU so the arrow is pointed down that should show you the culprit you could also use the top command from the terminal.

[stressmonkey]

in the htop picutures I posted, the processes are sorted by CPU usage.

here is a repost:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/HrOu3iBanXuEM7B1YQkbrg?feat=directlink


if you look at the htop picture, you can see I have it sorted by CPU usage. Use the magnify feature if the picture is to small to see clearly.

[stressmonkey]

it's a strange problem, the CPU usage should only total 20% if you added the usage of the processes listed in htop, but as you can see in the picture there is 93.5% in one processor and 28.1% in the other.

if you look at the system monitor picture:


http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/H21jRccJ42oST5-NUibhug?feat=directlink


you can see how they fluctuate every few seconds. It's so crazy, I have no idea what is wrong with my computer!!


Please let me know if you need any additional information!

[-humanaut-]

Do you have your system overclocked or anything? It looks really unstable I would try underclocking it a little bit if its not O.Ced Also power supply could be an issue thats knowin to cause spikes in cpu's. Oh yeah did you add extra ram to it? If so it could be the power to the ram is causing a drop-off in the power to the cpu.

[stressmonkey]

The computer is not overclocked--I don't know how to do that...

I did add extra RAM, an upgrade from 1gb (two 512mb sticks) to 2.5gb (2gb + 512mb), but the computer was stable for about 4 months until the CPU spiking started.

I will call in to IBM and see if they can tell me anything about the power supply and if it has gone bad.

[CharlesA]

Take out that stick of 512 and see what happens.

[-humanaut-]

I'd take out the extra ram you put in. It's could be a bad stick of ram or the system simple can't handle the extra power consumption.

[vagrale13]

Can you post result of

lspci -nn
sudo lshw -C cpu
uname -a
ps aux > prg.txtand post the content of the archive prg.txt where create to your /home/user folder

[stressmonkey]

ok we might be on to something, I took out the 512mb stick and the system seemed to calm down. Here are the htop and system monitor photos with 512mb taken out:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/j2dJrkbay_nZ3JpvN4zPTw?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9VsQLmBtLGX502Lwu5GxOQ?feat=directlink


here is what I got when I copy pasted

lspci -nn
sudo lshw -C cpu
uname -a
ps aux > prg.txt
into terminal.

wobis@wobis-laptop:~$ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 0c)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a02] (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a03] (rev 0c)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82566MC Gigabit Network Connection [8086:104d] (rev 03)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2834] (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2835] (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:283a] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:284b] (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:283f] (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2841] (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:2843] (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [8086:2845] (rev 03)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 [8086:2847] (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2830] (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2831] (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2832] (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:2836] (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev f3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2815] (rev 03)
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA IDE Controller [8086:2828] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:283e] (rev 03)
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection [8086:4227] (rev 02)
15:00.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II [1180:0476] (rev b6)
wobis@wobis-laptop:~$ sudo lshw -C cpu
*-cpu:0
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 6
bus info: cpu@0
version: 6.15.11
serial: 0000-06FB-0000-0000-0000-0000
slot: None
size: 2001MHz
capacity: 2001MHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 200MHz
capabilities: boot fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority cpufreq
configuration: id=1
*-logicalcpu:0
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 1.1
width: 64 bits
capabilities: logical
*-logicalcpu:1
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 1.2
width: 64 bits
capabilities: logical
*-cpu:1
physical id: 1
bus info: cpu@1
version: 6.15.11
serial: 0000-06FB-0000-0000-0000-0000
size: 800MHz
capacity: 800MHz
capabilities: vmx ht cpufreq
configuration: id=1
*-logicalcpu:0
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 1.1
capabilities: logical
*-logicalcpu:1
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 1.2
capabilities: logical
wobis@wobis-laptop:~$ uname -a
Linux wobis-laptop 2.6.32-23-generic #37-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jun 11 07:54:58 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux
wobis@wobis-laptop:~$ ps aux > prg.txt^C
wobis@wobis-laptop:~$ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 0c)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a02] (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a03] (rev 0c)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82566MC Gigabit Network Connection [8086:104d] (rev 03)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2834] (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2835] (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:283a] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:284b] (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:283f] (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2841] (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:2843] (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [8086:2845] (rev 03)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 [8086:2847] (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2830] (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2831] (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2832] (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:2836] (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev f3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2815] (rev 03)
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA IDE Controller [8086:2828] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:283e] (rev 03)
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection [8086:4227] (rev 02)
15:00.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II [1180:0476] (rev b6)
wobis@wobis-laptop:~$ sudo lshw -C cpu
*-cpu:0
description: CPU
product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00GHz
vendor: Intel Corp.
physical id: 6
bus info: cpu@0
version: 6.15.11
serial: 0000-06FB-0000-0000-0000-0000
slot: None
size: 2001MHz
capacity: 2001MHz
width: 64 bits
clock: 200MHz
capabilities: boot fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm ida tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority cpufreq
configuration: id=0
*-logicalcpu:0
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 0.1
width: 64 bits
capabilities: logical
*-logicalcpu:1
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 0.2
width: 64 bits
capabilities: logical
*-cpu:1
physical id: 1
bus info: cpu@1
version: 6.15.11
serial: 0000-06FB-0000-0000-0000-0000
size: 800MHz
capacity: 800MHz
capabilities: vmx ht cpufreq
configuration: id=0
*-logicalcpu:0
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 0.1
capabilities: logical
*-logicalcpu:1
description: Logical CPU
physical id: 0.2
capabilities: logical
wobis@wobis-laptop:~$ uname -a
Linux wobis-laptop 2.6.32-23-generic #37-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jun 11 07:54:58 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux
wobis@wobis-laptop:~$ ps aux > prg.txt


-------------------------------------------------------



I tried talking to IBM support but my warranty is expired and they were of no help.

Do you think that the 512mb stick of RAM was the problem? Someone also send me this bug report:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/537396


where people are mentioning what seems to be a very similar problem that I had.

[stressmonkey]

sorry vagrale13 (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=952139), I did not notice your comment to post the .txt file until after I made my reply. Here is the txt file:

USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
root 1 0.0 0.0 2772 1616 ? Ss 14:32 0:00 /sbin/init
root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kthreadd]
root 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [migration/0]
root 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [watchdog/0]
root 6 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [migration/1]
root 7 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ksoftirqd/1]
root 8 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [watchdog/1]
root 9 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [events/0]
root 10 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [events/1]
root 11 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [cpuset]
root 12 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [khelper]
root 13 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [netns]
root 14 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [async/mgr]
root 15 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [pm]
root 17 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [sync_supers]
root 18 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [bdi-default]
root 19 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kintegrityd/0]
root 20 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kintegrityd/1]
root 21 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kblockd/0]
root 22 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kblockd/1]
root 23 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kacpid]
root 24 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kacpi_notify]
root 25 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kacpi_hotplug]
root 26 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ata/0]
root 27 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ata/1]
root 28 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ata_aux]
root 29 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ksuspend_usbd]
root 30 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [khubd]
root 31 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kseriod]
root 32 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kmmcd]
root 35 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [khungtaskd]
root 36 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kswapd0]
root 37 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN 14:32 0:00 [ksmd]
root 38 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [aio/0]
root 39 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [aio/1]
root 40 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ecryptfs-kthrea]
root 41 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [crypto/0]
root 42 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [crypto/1]
root 45 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [pciehpd]
root 54 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [scsi_eh_0]
root 55 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [scsi_eh_1]
root 56 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kstriped]
root 57 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kmpathd/0]
root 58 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kmpathd/1]
root 59 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kmpath_handlerd]
root 60 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ksnapd]
root 61 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kondemand/0]
root 62 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kondemand/1]
root 63 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kconservative/0]
root 64 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kconservative/1]
root 313 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [jbd2/sda1-8]
root 314 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ext4-dio-unwrit]
root 315 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ext4-dio-unwrit]
root 348 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [flush-8:0]
root 374 0.0 0.0 2312 924 ? S 14:32 0:00 upstart-udev-bridge --daemon
root 377 0.0 0.0 2552 976 ? S<s 14:32 0:00 udevd --daemon
root 625 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [kpsmoused]
root 629 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [bluetooth]
root 645 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [i915]
root 671 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [pccardd]
root 672 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [iwl3945]
root 673 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [phy0]
root 706 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [ktpacpid]
syslog 770 0.0 0.0 34572 1544 ? Sl 14:32 0:00 rsyslogd -c4
root 844 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 14:32 0:00 [hd-audio0]
root 846 0.0 0.0 1788 560 tty4 Ss+ 14:32 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty4
root 850 0.0 0.0 1788 568 tty5 Ss+ 14:32 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty5
root 857 0.0 0.0 1788 564 tty2 Ss+ 14:32 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty2
root 858 0.0 0.0 1788 564 tty3 Ss+ 14:32 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty3
root 862 0.0 0.0 1788 564 tty6 Ss+ 14:32 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty6
root 865 0.0 0.0 2044 892 ? Ss 14:32 0:00 acpid -c /etc/acpi/events -s /var/run/acpid.socket
root 894 0.0 0.0 2372 904 ? Ss 14:32 0:00 cron
daemon 895 0.0 0.0 2244 428 ? Ss 14:32 0:00 atd
102 896 0.0 0.0 3240 1584 ? Ss 14:32 0:00 dbus-daemon --system --fork
root 898 0.0 0.0 4048 1880 ? S<s 14:32 0:00 /usr/sbin/bluetoothd --udev
root 906 0.0 0.2 18996 4124 ? Ssl 14:32 0:00 NetworkManager
root 908 0.0 0.1 18776 3256 ? Ssl 14:32 0:00 gdm-binary
avahi 912 0.0 0.0 2924 1536 ? S 14:32 0:00 avahi-daemon: running [wobis-laptop.local]
avahi 913 0.0 0.0 2924 548 ? Ss 14:32 0:00 avahi-daemon: chroot helper
root 915 0.0 0.1 4164 2308 ? S 14:32 0:00 /usr/sbin/modem-manager
root 945 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 14:32 0:00 [krfcommd]
root 961 0.0 0.1 20584 3248 ? Sl 14:32 0:00 /usr/sbin/console-kit-daemon --no-daemon
root 1026 0.0 0.1 20496 3780 ? Sl 14:32 0:00 /usr/lib/gdm/gdm-simple-slave --display-id /org/gnome/DisplayManager/Display1
root 1038 0.0 0.1 6696 2532 ? Ss 14:32 0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd -C /etc/cups/cupsd.conf
root 1043 0.0 0.1 4824 2360 ? S 14:32 0:00 /sbin/wpa_supplicant -u -s
root 1103 13.9 1.4 55852 29740 tty7 Ds+ 14:32 2:13 /usr/bin/X :0 -br -verbose -auth /var/run/gdm/auth-for-gdm-Eozz2h/database -nolisten tcp vt7
root 1150 0.0 0.0 1788 564 tty1 Ss+ 14:32 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty1
gdm 1170 0.0 0.0 3380 776 ? S 14:32 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session
root 1190 0.0 0.1 5560 2944 ? S 14:32 0:00 /usr/lib/upower/upowerd
rtkit 1193 0.0 0.0 22904 1212 ? SNl 14:32 0:00 /usr/lib/rtkit/rtkit-daemon
root 1197 0.0 0.1 6424 3912 ? S 14:32 0:00 /usr/lib/policykit-1/polkitd
gdm 1242 0.0 0.1 17248 3748 ? Ss 14:32 0:00 /usr/bin/gnome-screensaver
root 1257 0.0 0.1 18808 3060 ? Sl 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gdm/gdm-session-worker
wobis 1263 0.0 0.1 23980 2464 ? Sl 14:33 0:00 /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --daemonize --login
wobis 1281 0.0 0.3 25892 6748 ? Ssl 14:33 0:00 gnome-session
wobis 1315 0.0 0.0 3280 356 ? Ss 14:33 0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-agent /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session gnome-session
wobis 1318 0.0 0.0 3380 772 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session gnome-session
wobis 1319 0.0 0.0 3320 1484 ? Ss 14:33 0:00 /bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session
wobis 1322 0.0 0.2 7584 4320 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/libgconf2-4/gconfd-2
wobis 1329 0.0 0.4 88976 9192 ? Ss 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-settings-daemon/gnome-settings-daemon
wobis 1331 0.0 0.1 6508 2312 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd
wobis 1336 0.0 0.1 30276 2656 ? Ssl 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs//gvfs-fuse-daemon /home/wobis/.gvfs
wobis 1342 0.0 0.4 35048 9760 ? S 14:33 0:00 bluetooth-applet
wobis 1343 0.1 0.6 54264 13660 ? S 14:33 0:01 nm-applet --sm-disable
wobis 1346 0.0 0.2 94280 4688 ? S<sl 14:33 0:00 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog
wobis 1347 0.0 0.4 35736 9852 ? S 14:33 0:00 gnome-power-manager
wobis 1348 1.1 1.2 85876 25924 ? R 14:33 0:11 /usr/bin/compiz
wobis 1349 0.0 0.9 89008 19168 ? S 14:33 0:00 nautilus
wobis 1351 0.4 0.8 44520 17012 ? S 14:33 0:04 gnome-panel
wobis 1352 0.0 0.2 18528 6100 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1
wobis 1371 0.0 0.1 10748 2988 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/pulseaudio/pulse/gconf-helper
wobis 1374 0.0 0.1 17792 2944 ? Ss 14:33 0:00 /usr/bin/gnome-screensaver
wobis 1377 0.0 0.0 1828 516 ? Ss 14:33 0:00 /bin/sh -c /usr/bin/compiz-decorator
wobis 1378 0.0 0.1 6820 3008 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-trash --spawner :1.6 /org/gtk/gvfs/exec_spaw/0
wobis 1379 0.0 0.4 20376 9832 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/bin/gtk-window-decorator
wobis 1382 0.0 0.0 3816 1072 ? S 14:33 0:00 syndaemon -i 0.5 -k
wobis 1384 0.0 0.1 7756 3208 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-gdu-volume-monitor
root 1386 0.0 0.1 15632 3044 ? Sl 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/udisks/udisks-daemon
root 1387 0.0 0.0 5176 880 ? S 14:33 0:00 udisks-daemon: polling /dev/sr0
wobis 1389 0.0 0.1 41932 3568 ? Ssl 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/bonobo-activation/bonobo-activation-server --ac-activate --ior-output-fd=19
wobis 1392 0.0 0.1 7256 2392 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor
wobis 1394 0.0 0.1 16948 2360 ? Sl 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-afc-volume-monitor
wobis 1405 0.2 0.6 40616 13260 ? S 14:33 0:02 /usr/lib/gnome-panel/wnck-applet --oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_Wncklet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=18
wobis 1406 0.0 0.5 39212 11080 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-applets/trashapplet --oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_Panel_TrashApplet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=24
wobis 1411 0.0 0.6 49616 13004 ? Sl 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-applet/indicator-applet-session --oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_FastUserSwitchApplet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=21
wobis 1412 0.0 0.6 32060 13392 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-panel/clock-applet --oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_ClockApplet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=30
wobis 1414 0.0 0.6 49536 12636 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-applet/indicator-applet --oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_IndicatorApplet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=36
wobis 1417 0.0 0.4 23116 9028 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-panel/notification-area-applet --oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_NotificationAreaApplet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=42
wobis 1422 0.0 0.0 6180 1968 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-metadata
wobis 1423 0.0 0.2 24300 4280 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-application/indicator-application-service
wobis 1427 0.0 0.2 18840 4900 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-me/indicator-me-service
wobis 1428 0.0 0.2 17500 4328 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-messages/indicator-messages-service
wobis 1432 0.0 0.2 18100 4792 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-session/indicator-session-service
wobis 1433 0.0 0.2 85072 4564 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/indicator-sound/indicator-sound-service
wobis 1436 0.0 0.1 6376 2396 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-burn --spawner :1.6 /org/gtk/gvfs/exec_spaw/1
wobis 1438 0.1 0.5 37220 12060 ? S 14:33 0:01 /usr/lib/notify-osd/notify-osd
wobis 1446 0.0 0.6 38504 12920 ? S 14:33 0:00 palimpsest
wobis 1447 0.0 0.3 18912 7196 ? S 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-disk-utility/gdu-notification-daemon
wobis 1450 0.4 0.6 47516 13812 ? Sl 14:33 0:03 gnome-terminal
wobis 1451 0.0 0.0 1984 716 ? S 14:33 0:00 gnome-pty-helper
wobis 1452 0.0 0.1 5792 3176 pts/0 Ss 14:33 0:00 bash
wobis 1469 1.7 0.0 2648 1356 pts/0 S+ 14:33 0:15 htop
wobis 1470 0.0 0.7 31464 15224 ? S 14:33 0:00 python /usr/share/system-config-printer/applet.py
wobis 1471 0.0 0.5 34612 10992 ? Sl 14:33 0:00 /usr/lib/evolution/2.28/evolution-alarm-notify
wobis 1484 0.0 0.5 36936 11556 ? S 14:34 0:00 update-notifier
wobis 1534 0.0 0.0 1828 560 ? S 14:34 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/lib/firefox-3.6.6/firefox
wobis 1539 0.0 0.0 1828 568 ? S 14:34 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/lib/firefox-3.6.6/run-mozilla.sh /usr/lib/firefox-3.6.6/firefox-bin
wobis 1543 5.4 3.5 238348 71904 ? Sl 14:34 0:47 /usr/lib/firefox-3.6.6/firefox-bin
wobis 1579 12.6 0.8 44328 17932 ? S 14:34 1:48 gnome-system-monitor
wobis 1587 0.0 0.5 38756 10524 ? S 14:36 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-power-manager/gnome-inhibit-applet --oaf-activate-iid=OAFIID:GNOME_InhibitApplet_Factory --oaf-ior-fd=32
wobis 1592 0.0 0.1 5792 3180 pts/1 Ss 14:37 0:00 bash
root 1612 0.0 0.0 2748 1088 ? S< 14:37 0:00 udevd --daemon
root 1613 0.0 0.0 2748 1016 ? S< 14:37 0:00 udevd --daemon
root 1632 0.0 0.0 2228 992 ? S 14:38 0:00 /sbin/dhclient -d -sf /usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-client.action -pf /var/run/dhclient-wlan0.pid -lf /var/lib/dhcp3/dhclient-b2bdbc09-5e79-4127-9a8f-7c6e2c152b7f-wlan0.lease -cf /var/run/nm-dhclient-wlan0.conf wlan0
wobis 1728 0.0 0.1 9552 3532 ? S 14:41 0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-vfs-2.0/gnome-vfs-daemon
108 1731 0.0 0.2 16796 4344 ? Ssl 14:41 0:00 /usr/sbin/hald
root 1732 0.0 0.0 3528 1288 ? S 14:41 0:00 hald-runner
root 1756 0.0 0.0 3604 1244 ? S 14:41 0:00 hald-addon-input: Listening on /dev/input/event4 /dev/input/event1 /dev/input/event7 /dev/input/event2 /dev/input/event0 /dev/input/event5
root 1758 0.0 0.0 3604 1228 ? S 14:41 0:00 /usr/lib/hal/hald-addon-rfkill-killswitch
root 1759 0.0 0.0 3604 1236 ? S 14:41 0:00 /usr/lib/hal/hald-addon-leds
root 1767 0.0 0.0 3600 1192 ? S 14:41 0:00 /usr/lib/hal/hald-addon-generic-backlight
root 1772 0.0 0.0 3608 1236 ? S 14:41 0:00 hald-addon-storage: polling /dev/sr0 (every 2 sec)
root 1773 0.0 0.0 3616 1224 ? S 14:41 0:00 /usr/lib/hal/hald-addon-cpufreq
108 1774 0.0 0.0 3416 1168 ? S 14:41 0:00 hald-addon-acpi: listening on acpid socket /var/run/acpid.socket
wobis 1921 0.0 0.0 2712 1068 pts/1 R+ 14:48 0:00 ps aux

[stressmonkey]

here is the htop and System Monitor with the 512mb stick back in:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/yDwlSxuRwxscOmYKORxxIA?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/SK2W7d5vbA-hEpASqae5Rg?feat=directlink


and I loaded the pgr.txt file with the 512mb back in as an attachment.


there seems to be little difference in the system from having the 512mb stick removed and then putting it back in.

However, I did notice in the bug report that one of the users removed the battery for a minute and then started the computer back up and it solved the problem for her. ( you can find the posting at #32 of the bug report https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/537396 )

Do you guys think that solved the problem? Or was it like you were mentioning--that the RAM stick is bad?

[stressmonkey]

I guess this post can be marked as SOLVED, because everything is back to normal with my computer.

I think what happened was that one of the updates triggered something in my computer to use a ton of CPU usage. What was strange about it was that there was no process listed in 'htop' or system monitor that was eating so much processor power. When I took my battery out of the laptop to remove the 512mb memory stick, the problem went away.

I reinstalled the 512mb stick and now everything is running smooth, so it was not the RAM that was causing the issue.

Reading the debugging report

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/537396

at post #33, a user was experiencing similar problems with a sudden CPU spiking and 100% usage, and he took his battery out for 1 minute, and that fixed the problem. So if you have this problem, I guess the best bet is to do likewise.

Thanks a lot for the help everyone. This was my first time using the forum and I appreciate it very much!

[-humanaut-]

Strange that is was the battery.

[rablack]

I'm using 10.04 on a Dell Latitude X1. This "fix" has solved my problem too. It makes absolutely no sense, but I took my battery out, left the laptop unplugged for ten minutes (just to be sure) and when I switched it on, the strange 100% CPU with no process issue was gone!