High CPU load while copying files

[marv_]

hello,
I'm experiencing high cpu loads while Im copying files between HDDs.
The speed is around 60MB/s and cpu goes near 100% utilization and system behaves incredibly slow.

I have Core2duo E6320, Intel DG965RY with 6GB ram
Gentoo x86
disks connected to integrated controller (ICH8) and some to rr2310 controller (doing raid5)

it doesnt matter between which disks i copy the files.
but when i copy files through FTP, im getting around 40MB/s and cpu is utilized to ~10%.

I was running kernel 2.6.29 and upgraded to 2.6.36, but problem is still there

if anyone know why this is happening, please let me know.

link to my 2.6.36 config> here

marv

[audiodef]

I don't know a lot about this, but I have a Phenom II x6, 8 GB RAM, and I still get a fairly high CPU usage when copying files between disks. So I'm pretty sure it's not just you and that nothing is "wrong" with your system.

[Art Vandalay]

i'm thinking i have a similar problem....

for example when i copy a file (like a 1gb avi file) to another pc in my home via nfs, my desktop comes to a grinding halt until the copy process is finished.

it seems to have been around for the past 15 or so kernels...ie above 2.6.20 and above...i can never ever recall having this issue in the past no matter how much i threw at the desktop (ie copying, compiling etc at the same time).

but having said that i'm unable to determine if it is the kernel or kde at fault here...it is like my desktop just doesn't like multi tasking anymore.

using kernel 2.6.36, kde 4.6, with a intel quad core i6 x64

Portage 2.1.9.39 (default/linux/amd64/10.0/desktop/kde, gcc-4.4.5, glibc-2.13-r0, 2.6.36-gentoo x86_64)
=================================================================
System uname: Linux-2.6.36-gentoo-x86_64-Intel-R-_Core-TM-_i7_CPU_930_@_2.80GHz-with-gentoo-2.0.1
Timestamp of tree: Mon, 14 Feb 2011 06:15:01 +0000
app-shells/bash: 4.1_p9
dev-java/java-config: 2.1.11-r3
dev-lang/python: 2.7.1, 3.1.3
dev-util/cmake: 2.8.3-r1
sys-apps/baselayout: 2.0.1-r1
sys-apps/openrc: 0.7.0
sys-apps/sandbox: 2.4
sys-devel/autoconf: 2.13, 2.68
sys-devel/automake: 1.9.6-r3, 1.10.3, 1.11.1
sys-devel/binutils: 2.21
sys-devel/gcc: 4.4.5
sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.1
sys-devel/libtool: 2.4-r1
sys-devel/make: 3.82
virtual/os-headers: 2.6.36.1 (sys-kernel/linux-headers)
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64 ~amd64"
ACCEPT_LICENSE="*"
CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-march=core2 -msse4 -mcx16 -mpopcnt -msahf -O2 -pipe"
CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/share/config"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/ca-certificates.conf /etc/env.d /etc/env.d/java/ /etc/fonts/fonts.conf /etc/gconf /etc/gentoo-release /etc/php/apache2-php5.3/ext-active/ /etc/php/cgi-php5.3/ext-active/ /etc/php/cli-php5.3/ext-active/ /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/sandbox.d /etc/splash /etc/terminfo"
CXXFLAGS="-march=core2 -msse4 -mcx16 -mpopcnt -msahf -O2 -pipe"
DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"
FEATURES="assume-digests binpkg-logs distlocks fixlafiles fixpackages news parallel-fetch protect-owned sandbox sfperms strict unknown-features-warn unmerge-logs unmerge-orphans userfetch"
FFLAGS=""
GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://ftp.swin.edu.au/gentoo ftp://ftp.swin.edu.au/gentoo"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--as-needed"
MAKEOPTS="-j9"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_CONFIGROOT="/"
PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/var/lib/layman/zugaina /var/lib/layman/vmware /var/lib/layman/iElectric /usr/local/portage"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.au.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"
USE="64bit X a52 aac acl acpi alsa amd64 apache2 apm audacious bash-completion berkdb bluetooth branding bzip2 cairo cdda cdr cleartype cli consolekit corefonts cracklib crypt cue cups cxx dbus declarative dri dts dvd dvdr embedded emboss encode exif extras fam fbcondecor ffmpeg firefox flac fortran gd gdbm gdu gif gnutls gpm gtk hal hddtemp hpcups hpijs hpn iconv ipv6 java jpeg kde lcms ldap libnotify libvisual lm_sensors mad mikmod mmx mng modules mp3 mp4 mpeg msn mudflap multilib mysql mysqli ncurses nls nptl nptlonly nsplugin nvidia ogg opengl openmp pam pango pcre pdf perl pmu png policykit ppds pppd python qt3support qt4 rar readline rss scanner sdl semantic-desktop sensord session snmp spell sqlite sse sse2 ssl startup-notification static-libs suid svg sysfs tcpd threads tiff truetype type1 udev unicode usb vaapi vdpau vorbis x264 xcb xinerama xml xorg xulrunner xv xvid xvmc yahoo zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mmap_emul mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" APACHE2_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic authn_alias authn_anon authn_dbm authn_default authn_file authz_dbm authz_default authz_groupfile authz_host authz_owner authz_user autoindex cache cgi cgid dav dav_fs dav_lock deflate dir disk_cache env expires ext_filter file_cache filter headers include info log_config logio mem_cache mime mime_magic negotiation rewrite setenvif speling status unique_id userdir usertrack vhost_alias" COLLECTD_PLUGINS="df interface irq load memory rrdtool swap syslog" ELIBC="glibc" GPSD_PROTOCOLS="ashtech aivdm earthmate evermore fv18 garmin garmintxt gpsclock itrax mtk3301 nmea ntrip navcom oceanserver oldstyle oncore rtcm104v2 rtcm104v3 sirf superstar2 timing tsip tripmate tnt ubx" INPUT_DEVICES="evdev" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" PHP_TARGETS="php5-3" RUBY_TARGETS="ruby18" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" XTABLES_ADDONS="quota2 psd pknock lscan length2 ipv4options ipset ipp2p iface geoip fuzzy condition tee tarpit sysrq steal rawnat logmark ipmark dhcpmac delude chaos account"
Unset: CPPFLAGS, CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LC_ALL, LINGUAS, PORTAGE_BUNZIP2_COMMAND, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS

[aCOSwt]

+1

Running gentoo-sources 2.6.34-r12 + Kde 4.4.5 :

- Kde's system monitor graphs show one of my two cores going to 100%
- While... the process-table tab hardly shows half a dozen processes at 2% max

Well... could have to do with the facts that :

- I am using the noop I/O scheduler
- I get hard disks with considerable-for-me amount of on-board cache

[Art Vandalay]

- Kde's system monitor graphs show one of my two cores going to 100%
- While... the process-table tab hardly shows half a dozen processes at 2% max :?

yep, that's pretty much what i'm seeing

[aCOSwt]

...i'm unable to determine if it is the kernel or kde at fault here...

- Kde's system monitor graphs show one of my two cores going to 100%
- While... the process-table tab hardly shows half a dozen processes at 2% max

yep, that's pretty much what i'm seeing

Well then, if cpu history graph does not reflect the process-table we can deduce that either the monitoring tool is broken, or... it's kernel's fault !

[bobspencer123]

you might want to try changing the default scheduler as see if that helps per this post on linuxquestions