Re: 2.6.10-rc3: kswapd eats CPU on start of memory-eating task

[mr]

Hello,

> Did anyone come up with a simple step-by-step procedure for reproducing
> the
> problem?  It would be good if someone could do this, because I don't think
> we understand the root cause yet?

Here's a step-by-step explanation of the way I test this:

- Get the Memory Eater and compile it:

http://lkml.org/lkml/2004/12/13/272

- Do a clean boot

- Start top, and some app that has a clock and preferrably a CPU graph (to
monitor screen freezes and CPU load; it's IceWM for me)

- Start the Memory Eater

- Give it an amount of megabytes that is more than the actual RAM size. I
use a value of 300, as my computer has 256 M RAM.

- Enjoy :) "eatmemory" will slowly eat up more and more RAM (visible in
top as RSS); under 2.6.8.1 no screen freezes come, and under 2.6.9 and
2.6.10-rc3 they do come; under 2.6.10-rc3 I also see high CPU periods for
kswapd.

Yours, Mikhail Ramendik





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