Memory Question - System Crippled - SWAP?

[potato]

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-10-amd64 [6.1.38-2] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-10-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM Distro: MX-23_KDE_x64 Libretto July
    31 2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: HP product: HP Pavilion Notebook v: Type1ProductConfigId
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: HP model: 8119 v: 91.1E serial: <superuser required> UEFI-[Legacy]: Insyde v: F.82
    date: 08/18/2016
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-6700HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake-S gen: core 6 level: v3
    note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x5E (94) stepping: 3
    microcode: 0xF0
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB
    desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2211 high: 2400 min/max: 800/3500 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 2160 2: 2111 3: 2171 4: 2120 5: 2114 6: 2400 7: 2400 8: 2215
    bogomips: 41599
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling,
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9
    process: Intel 14n built: 2015-16 ports: active: HDMI-A-1 empty: none bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:191b class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99") s-diag: 414mm (16.31")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 model: Samsung built: 2011 res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 217
    gamma: 1.2 size: 160x90mm (6.3x3.54") diag: 184mm (7.2") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1366x768
    min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-10-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8136
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 991.14 GiB used: 24.21 GiB (2.4%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS541010A9E680 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
    rev: A710 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: MZ7LF120HCHP-000L3 size: 59.63 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 1L6Q
    scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 59.58 GiB size: 58.35 GiB (97.92%) used: 12 GiB (20.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2
    maj-min: 8:18
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 44 MiB size: 43.3 MiB (98.40%) used: 1 KiB (0.0%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 915.82 GiB (98.32%) used: 12.22 GiB (1.3%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3 GiB used: 721.9 MiB (23.5%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0 C pch: 68.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2443 libs: 1346 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala pm: rpm pkgs: 0
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
Info:
  Processes: 262 Uptime: 2d 22h 32m wakeups: 60 Memory: 7.6 GiB used: 6.55 GiB (86.2%)
  Init: SysVinit v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

I have a 64GB SSD for / and a 1TB HDD for /home
How is memory handled if I do not dedicate a swap area? I thought that the system would create RAM file (swap file) automagically?
Should I have created a swap area?
My system is crippled when I have lots of tabs open (two different browsers) ...MEM usage jumps over 96+%
My previous system (LXLE distro) with a Pentium G620, a 16GB SSD as / and a 750GB /home HDD, no swap, and 8GB of RAM was seamless.

[Charlie Brown]

... I thought that the system would create RAM file (swap file) automagically?..

Yes, it's here and in use:

swap-1 type: file size: 3 GiB used: 721.9 MiB (23.5%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap


At the time of QSI:

Memory: 7.6 GiB used: 6.55 GiB (86.2%)

[Charlie Brown]

You can try Slimjet if you like, it was in MXPI once but not now, you can install with the .deb file from its website.

Also on current browsers you can try what happens if you disable hardware acceleration from their preferences/settings.

[timkb4cq]

Supposedly (I haven't tested this but have heard it repeatedly), the scheduler in the Liquorix kernel (available in the MX Package Installer) is better at keeping a system responsive when ram is getting full. It also has lower latency for audio. The tradeoff (there's always a tradeoff) is long running processes like compiles will slow down a trifle.
It's worth a try since you can always boot into the previous kernel if needed.

[potato]

Supposedly (I haven't tested this but have heard it repeatedly), the scheduler in the Liquorix kernel (available in the MX Package Installer) is better at keeping a system responsive when ram is getting full. It also has lower latency for audio. The tradeoff (there's always a tradeoff) is long running processes like compiles will slow down a trifle.
It's worth a try since you can always boot into the previous kernel if needed.

Thank you for the attention.

Was wondering about your sig: HP Pavillion TP01, AMD Ryzen 3 5300G (quad core), Crucial 500GB SSD, Toshiba 6GB 7200rpm

That a 6GB drive?:)

[FullScale4Me]

I've seen the type of website have a big factor in CPU usage in a browser. News sites stick out in my mind, especially if they have more than 3 Advertising Networks. Incomplete/incorrect html drives browsers rendering engines nuts too.

Me jumping into the 'that guy' mode: You have more than a few too many tabs open for 8 Gb of physical memory. Less tabs or more memory. /end that guy.

Do find which tabs are the memory pigs! My local newspaper's site heats up my phone to a 'too hot to touch' if I spend more than 8-10 minute reading there!

[Charlie Brown]

In the meantime: "zram" may be good (actually there is an option for that during installation).

Zram is a kernel feature that provides a form of virtual memory compression. It increases performance by avoiding paging to disk and using a compressed block device in RAM instead, inside which paging takes place until it is necessary to use the swap space on a hard disk drive.

On MX-23 and up, zram-tools and init scripts are preinstalled but disabled. Users can enable zramswaap manually.

Code: Select all

sudo update-rc.d zramswap defaults

[timkb4cq]

Was wondering about your sig: HP Pavillion TP01, AMD Ryzen 3 5300G (quad core), Crucial 500GB SSD, Toshiba 6GB 7200rpm

That a 6GB drive?:)

Must have edited that while half asleep. It's a 6TB drive. Sig corrected. Thanks for pointing that out.

[DukeComposed]

Supposedly (I haven't tested this but have heard it repeatedly), the scheduler in the Liquorix kernel (available in the MX Package Installer) is better at keeping a system responsive when ram is getting full. It also has lower latency for audio. The tradeoff (there's always a tradeoff) is long running processes like compiles will slow down a trifle.
It's worth a try since you can always boot into the previous kernel if needed.

It looks as though the Liquorix kernel feature set states that it uses BFQ, "Budget Fair Queueing". I'm no kernel expert, but the /boot/config file for MX-23 suggests that the default kernel also uses this scheduler. There are many other performance enhancements in the Liquorix kernel, though, that can also improve the user experience. I use a Liquorix kernel with ZFS support baked into it on one of my media machines and I haven't had any trouble with it.

I've seen the type of website have a big factor in CPU usage in a browser. News sites stick out in my mind, especially if they have more than 3 Advertising Networks. Incomplete/incorrect html drives browsers rendering engines nuts too.

Me jumping into the 'that guy' mode: You have more than a few too many tabs open for 8 Gb of physical memory. Less tabs or more memory. /end that guy.

Do find which tabs are the memory pigs! My local newspaper's site heats up my phone to a 'too hot to touch' if I spend more than 8-10 minute reading there!

You can watch which processes are using the most memory by opening a terminal and running "top". Be sure to sort by the "%MEM" column. (One way to do that: start top, press "f", and then use the arrow keys to highlight the "%MEM" field, press "s" to sort by that field, and "q" to close the menu and go back to the display of your top processes. There are other ways to do this, too.)

On a personal note, I routinely get high memory usage on my laptop. MX-21, Xfce, 16 GB of DRAM, sustaining 70% usage after 2 days of uptime. It's only running a tmux session, two Emacs buffers, GitAhead, and Remmina. Performance remains fine because most of that used memory is for caching and doesn't impact any of my activities on that system. High memory consumption in this case doesn't mean low performance.

Before you go trying to optimize the kernel scheduler, you should probably try to find out what's consuming all your memory in the first place.

[jeffreyC]

If you can afford it you should take it to a shop and have it upgraded to 16GB of RAM, that is the maximum it can take and much better for browsing the current internet.
Reason I say to take it to a shop is the RAM in those is not really user serviceable, unlike some other brands.