----- Forwarded message from Sabeeh Baig <baigsabeeh@gmail.com> -----
> From: Sabeeh Baig <baigsabeeh@gmail.com>
> To: Jeremy Chadwick <koitsu@freebsd.org>
> Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:51:13 -0400
> Subject: Re: Memory Usage Stats
>
> 1) I didn't know that about swap allocation.
>
> 2) I know what each of the categories of memory stand for and what
> role they play and how they are used, so no I don't think of free
> memory like that. Actually, total free memory includes inactive as
> well, since inactive keeps inactive pages for future use to improve
> performance, but dynamically reallocates them if necessary.
>
> 3) I followed standard update procedure listed in the handbook. I
> don't deviate from that, as I don't want a broken mess to deal
with.
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 1) I run AMD64.
>
> 2) How would I get this information, as I rebuilt it over a week ago.
>
> 3) I will provide this information once I get home.
>
> On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 4:16 PM, Jeremy Chadwick <koitsu@freebsd.org>
wrote:
> > On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 02:05:50PM -0400, Sabeeh Baig wrote:
> >> I've been noticing never-before-seen highs in memory usage,
since the
> >> last time I rebuilt world a bout a week ago. I have 2GB of memory
and
> >> 2GB of swap space. According to top, a little over 1GB of memory
is
> >> active, 70MB free, 300MB wired, and the rest inactive. I also
have
> >> 59MB of swap used.
> >
> > The swap in use is fine; memory which is often untouched (e.g.
allocated
> > but then not utilised for some time) is often swapped out to disk.
> >
> >> If I close an application, the amount of active memory never
decreases
> >> and the other stats don't change either.
> >
> > I think you may be reading top output incorrectly, which is a common
> > problem these days. I hope you're not assuming that the
"Free" column
> > in top defines how much memory there is available for allocation on
the
> > system.
> >
> >> The active figure can't be right even now, as I only have
> >> Xfce, Xorg, screen, two zsh session, slurm, irssi, pidgin, mpd,
ncmpc,
> >> and irssi running. That's usually my normal session and usage
has
> >> been better before I recompiled.
> >
> >> Is it possible that top is displaying the wrong stats?
> >
> > Possibly -- how exactly did you rebuild your system when you said you
> > "rebuilt world"? Did you follow each and every step in
src/Makefile,
> > including booting into single user, etc. etc.?
> >
> > The reason I mention this is, lots of userland utilities rely on
libkvm.
> > For example, you rebuilt your kernel (and the KVM structure within the
> > kernel changed due to CVS commits or whatever else), but you
didn't
> > rebuild userland (e.g. libkvm still refers to the old KVM structure),
> > then you will see very odd numbers or possibly total breakage in top,
> > ps, systat, etc...
> >
> >> Is there any other utility I could try?
> >
> > systat, vmstat, and procstat (the latter only available if you're
using
> > a fairly recent RELENG_7 or HEAD; and it may not be of much help here,
> > since it just provides a break-down of memory usage within a process)
> >
> >> I've tried ps auxm, but that's not exactly what I'm
looking for.
> >
> > You could start by:
> >
> > 1) Stating if you're on i386 or amd64 -- it matters,
> > 2) Providing top output (sorted by "res") before and after
said
> > rebuild,
> > 3) Providing top output (sorted by "res") before and after
you
> > terminate a process that uses a large amount of memory.
> >
> > --
> > | Jeremy Chadwick jdc at parodius.com |
> > | Parodius Networking http://www.parodius.com/ |
> > | UNIX Systems Administrator Mountain View, CA, USA |
> > | Making life hard for others since 1977. PGP: 4BD6C0CB |
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> "UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a
> genius to understand the simplicity."
>
> Sabeeh Ahmed Baig
>
----- End forwarded message -----
OP forgot to CC the mailing list.
--
| Jeremy Chadwick jdc at parodius.com |
| Parodius Networking http://www.parodius.com/ |
| UNIX Systems Administrator Mountain View, CA, USA |
| Making life hard for others since 1977. PGP: 4BD6C0CB |