CPU problems when posting

[racoll]

So I open a page to make a new post, and instantly the CPU is flooded by both Firefox and an app called "Xorg".

This makes the machine unresponsive and almost unusable (a quad core i7 with 8GB ram!).

The web in general is a lot slower (due to again both FF and Xorg), but when on the forum, it's a big problem. I now have to write in a text editor. Even when I kill FF, Xorg continues to slow things down until I reboot the machine.

Funny thing is, this problem seemed to start when I installed FF 4.0 (upgrade to 4.01 hasn't helped), but reverting back to FF 3.6 hasn't helped either.

I'm not assuming that there is a problem with PC here, and is likely OS specific, but this issue seems to be worst on the forum.

Google doesn't reveal much, as most threads are really old. I don't really know enough about Xorg to know what to do about it.

Not expecting anyone to be able to provide any answers, but troubleshooting advice is appreciated.


OS: Ubuntu 10.04

Browser: Firefox 4.01

[Jools]

I will look into it, but it's not an environment I test on.

Jools

[MatsP]

XOrg is the "Open Source XWindows Server" - that is, the part of your system that handles all parts of your windows, menus and other screen drawing operations.

I'm pretty certain that PC isn't at all responsible (aside from possibly triggering something that is "broken" in the driver) for what happens in or to XOrg.

What graphics card do you have in the machine?
Have you tried updating the driver?

I take it you are running the 64-bit version of Linux (as it would rather be a waste to have 8GB RAM if you don't!)

--
Mats

[Jools]

Might be an idea trying an alternative browser at least to identify where the issue lies. Chrome is avialable on your platform. The others have names like Dillo, Epiphany and Iceweasel. Can't say I've ever heard of them.

Jools

[Jools]

Alex (sidguppy) also reported issues with CPU at the posting stage which appeared to be caused by the proliferation of animated gifs to the right side of the posting screen. Not a problem for the majority, but you might want to test it in this case.

They can be switched off via your usp >> board preferences >> edit posting options >> enable smilies by default.

Jools

[racoll]

What graphics card do you have in the machine?
Have you tried updating the driver?

It's an ATI Radeon HD 5000. I have updated the drivers, but it's not a simple procedure, so I'm not 100% sure I did it correctly.

I take it you are running the 64-bit version of Linux

Yes.

Might be an idea trying an alternative browser at least to identify where the issue lies. Chrome is avialable on your platform.

Installed Chrome, but the problem persists.

They can be switched off via your usp >> board preferences >> edit posting options >> enable smilies by default.

Strange. I changed that option to "no", but the smilies are still there...

In addition to trying these things, I have also disabled all addons and plugins in FF, but that hasn't helped either.

Thanks for your suggestions though chaps.

[MatsP]

Does it go away when you quit firefox/chrome?

Is it ONLY when you are using Planet Catfish? On all pages or only forum pages?

If it was me, I'd run oprofile on it to see where it's spending time. But I can't even find a good place to tell you how to do a simple oprofile run, so I don't think I can ask you to do that... ;)

--
Mats

[racoll]

Does it go away when you quit firefox/chrome?

Usually, but sometimes XOrg runs "hot" with other programs, even after the browser is closed.

Is it ONLY when you are using Planet Catfish? On all pages or only forum pages?

It seems to be quite high for general Web browsing, but nothing persisent or too problematic. It's okay for the rest of PC, but the posting page (below) is where suddenly the CPU goes mental. If I switch to another tab or window, the CPU drops back to normal. Even on the same page, if I scroll up and look at the post preview, the problem goes away. It looks like it's definitely the text input area or smilies on the screen causing the problem.

run oprofile on it to see where it's spending time.

That looks a little bit complicated. I'm by no means a Linux expert!

[racoll]

Seems the problem is with the smilies*. Ad-blocking them out fixes it.

*I realise it's not the smilies themselves, just how my hardware/software setup deals with them.

[MatsP]

This sort of thing can be quite hard to manage in a graphics driver. It doesn't seem right that it should be that bad tho'.

--
mats

[Jools]

I'd also try fiddling with hardware acceleration settings. Meantime, any other developments?

Jools

[racoll]

I'd also try fiddling with hardware acceleration settings. Meantime, any other developments?

I tried changing the hardware acceleration options in the xorg.conf file, but no luck there.

I think the problem runs deeper, but I don't really have the skills/time/patience to look into it.

It's strange, as it all was fine before, and seemed to kick off when I upgraded to FF4. However the problem was not with FF4, and more likely to do with a XOrg update around the same time.

Fortunately, the forum is now usable again with smilies disabled via Adblock Plus.

[Jools]

Can we move to resolved then? I am sure, given all you have given me and the site, we can overlook the ad revenue.

Jools

[racoll]

Yes, move to resolved by all means. Hopefully if anyone else has a similar problem they can get some info from here.

Hopefully it's just a temporary problem and things will return to normal after some update or other, and then I can turn off the ad blocker.

[MatsP]

You may want to contact either Ubuntu and/or ATI/AMD support to see if they have any suggestions.

--
Mats