gam_server - blocks the system over 15 minutes

ulfbart · May 4, 2011, 9:55pm

Hello,

I don’t know, if this is the right place for this question - but I find no better place.

Since the last Versions of openSUSE 11.3 and now with openSUSE 11.4 with KR46, I’ve a blocking system sometimes with all memory used (especially swap). KDE Hangs only the mouse works. The Harddisk is 100% used (HDD LED is always on). This blocking is about 5 minutes and 30 minutes. In this time only very minimum work is going on. If I switch with <ctrl>+<shift>+<F2> to the tty, a lock in needs 3 times (the password request is after the time out). top shows only 5% load with “gam_server” (first or secound entry -> most system load).

System information:
AMD 9450e Quad-Core
ATI RS880 Radeon
Seagate Barracuda ST3160021A
4GByte RAM
1GByte SWAP
All Community Repositorys
additional tumbleweed and KDE KR46 Repositorys
/home mounted via NFS-client and users used over NIS-client (Server = openSUSE 11.3)
no useable entry in the logs (only standard outputs)

Ciao
Ulf

gogalthorp · May 4, 2011, 10:35pm

hard to tell what you have done if you have the repos’s you say. Post output of

zypper lr -d

Mixing repos can lead to strange problems.

DenverD · May 4, 2011, 10:37pm

On 05/04/2011 10:06 PM, ulfbart wrote:
>
> All Community Repositorys
> additional tumbleweed and KDE KR46 Repositorys

sounds like a problem that should be in the new tumbleweed forum, here:
http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/tumbleweed/

or maybe on the mail list, as invited here:
http://tinyurl.com/69mj3zj

but, actually i wonder if you read any of the information on how to use
move to tumbleweed and how to manage your repos to not load in
conflicting software…i think you may need to do some reading in the
two cites above, and try to get back to a stable system, somehow…

[but, i’m not a Tumbleweed guru!]

–
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[openSUSE11.3 + KDE4.5.5 + Firefox3.6.17 + Thunderbird3.1.10 via NNTP]
HACK Everything → http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5b4CCe9pS8&NR=1

tsu2 · May 5, 2011, 3:56am

According to Google, gam_server is the server side part of Gamin which is a Gnome FAM (File Alteration Monitor) module. According to my machine, for openSUSE this is provided by Packman Repository and since it’s not already installed in my openSUSE/KDE machine I suppose you’re running either Gnome Desktop or a Gnome app that requires Gamin. I know that openSUSE/KDE implements FAM but without this module.

So, it sounds like your module is indexing/scanning your system at an inconvenient time (best done at night or as a slow background process with low priority).

I recommend you start by looking at the configuration page at the Gamin Project site
Gamin the File Alteration Monitor

When I installed the Packman Gamin module, it didn’t install a MAN page, if you need to see what it would say
Man Page for gam_server (All Section 1) - The UNIX and Linux Forums

If configuration doesn’t work(I can Google complaints) I assume your problem would still be addressed by assigning the gam_server application a low priority NICE value.

HTH,
Tony

ulfbart · May 6, 2011, 12:13am

# zypper lr -d
#  | Alias                                               | Name                                                 | Enabled | Refresh | Priority | Type   | URI                                                                                                          | Service
---+-----------------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------+----------+--------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------
 1 | Application:Geo                                     | Application:Geo                                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Application:/Geo/openSUSE_11.4/                                    |        
 2 | Documentation_Tools                                 | Documentation_Tools                                  | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Documentation:/Tools/openSUSE_11.4/                                |        
 3 | MalcomLewis                                         | MalcomLewis                                          | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/malcolmlewis:/Python/openSUSE_11.4                           |        
 4 | Printing                                            | Printing                                             | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Printing/openSUSE_11.4/                                            |        
 5 | download.nvidia.com-opensuse_1                      | NVIDIA Repository                                    | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | ftp://download.nvidia.com/opensuse/11.4/                                                                     |        
 6 | download.opensuse.org-Apps_1                        | openSUSE BuildService - GNOME:Anwendungen            | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/GNOME:/Apps/openSUSE_11.4/                                         |        
 7 | download.opensuse.org-Banshee_1                     | openSUSE BuildService - Banshee                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Banshee/openSUSE_11.4/                                             |        
 8 | download.opensuse.org-Community_1                   | openSUSE BuildService - Mono:Community               | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Mono:/Community/openSUSE_11.4/                                     |        
 9 | download.opensuse.org-Education_1                   | openSUSE BuildService - Education                    | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Education/openSUSE_11.4/                                           |        
10 | download.opensuse.org-Extra_1                       | openSUSE BuildService - KDE:Extra                    | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/Extra/openSUSE_11.4/                                          |        
11 | download.opensuse.org-STABLE_1                      | openSUSE BuildService - OpenOffice.org               | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/OpenOffice.org:/STABLE/openSUSE_11.4/                              |        
12 | download.opensuse.org-UpdatedApps_1                 | openSUSE BuildService - KDE:UpdatedApps              | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/UpdatedApps/openSUSE_11.4/                                    |        
13 | download.opensuse.org-Wine_1                        | openSUSE BuildService - Wine-CVS-Pakete              | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Emulators:/Wine/openSUSE_11.4/                                     |        
14 | download.opensuse.org-database_1                    | openSUSE BuildService - Datenbank                    | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/server:/database/openSUSE_11.4/                                    |        
15 | download.opensuse.org-filesystems_1                 | openSUSE BuildService - filesystems                  | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/filesystems/openSUSE_11.4/                                         |        
16 | download.opensuse.org-games_1                       | openSUSE BuildService - Spiele                       | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/games/openSUSE_11.4/                                               |        
17 | download.opensuse.org-lxde_1                        | openSUSE BuildService - LXDE                         | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/X11:/lxde/openSUSE_11.4/                                           |        
18 | download.opensuse.org-mozilla_1                     | openSUSE BuildService - Mozilla                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/mozilla/openSUSE_11.4/                                             |        
19 | download.opensuse.org-non-oss                       | Haupt-Repository (NON-OSS)                           | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.4/repo/non-oss/                                                 |        
20 | download.opensuse.org-openSUSE_11.4_Update_standard | openSUSE BuildService - Virtualisierung (VirtualBox) | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Virtualization:/VirtualBox_backports/openSUSE_11.4_Update_standard |        
21 | download.opensuse.org-oss_2                         | Haupt-Repository (DEBUG)                             | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/distribution/11.4/repo/oss/                                               |        
22 | download.opensuse.org-oss_3                         | Haupt-Repository (OSS)                               | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/11.4/repo/oss/                                                     |        
23 | download.opensuse.org-oss_4                         | Haupt-Repository (Quellen)                           | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | yast2  | http://download.opensuse.org/source/distribution/11.4/repo/oss/                                              |        
24 | download.opensuse.org-packages                      | openSUSE BuildService - Java:packages                | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Java:/packages/openSUSE_11.4/                                      |        
25 | download.opensuse.org-perl                          | openSUSE BuildService - devel:languages:perl         | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/languages:/perl/openSUSE_11.4/                              |        
26 | download.opensuse.org-php_1                         | openSUSE BuildService - PHP                          | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/server:/php/openSUSE_11.4/                                         |        
27 | download.opensuse.org-python_1                      | openSUSE BuildService - devel:languages:python       | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/devel:/languages:/python/openSUSE_11.4/                            |        
28 | download.opensuse.org-standard_1                    | Main Repository (Contrib)                            | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:/11.4:/Contrib/standard/                                  |        
29 | download.opensuse.org-update                        | Update Repository (DEBUG)                            | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/debug/update/11.4/                                                              |        
30 | download.opensuse.org-update_1                      | Hauptaktualisierungs-Repository                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.4/                                                                    |        
31 | download.opensuse.org-webcam_1                      | openSUSE BuildService - Treiber für Web-Cams         | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/drivers:/webcam/openSUSE_11.4/                                     |        
32 | download.videolan.org-SuSE                          | VideoLan Repository                                  | Yes     | Yes     |   40     | rpm-md | http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/SuSE/11.4/                                                     |        
33 | ftp.uni-erlangen.de-suse_1                          | Packman Repository                                   | Yes     | Yes     |  101     | rpm-md | http://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/mirrors/packman/suse/openSUSE_11.4/                                           |        
34 | multimedia:apps                                     | multimedia:apps                                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/apps/openSUSE_11.4/                                    |        
35 | multimedia:libs                                     | multimedia:libs                                      | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/libs/openSUSE_11.4/                                    |        
36 | multimedia:photo                                    | multimedia:photo                                     | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/multimedia:/photo/openSUSE_11.4/                                   |        
37 | openSUSE-11.3 11.3-1.82                             | openSUSE-11.3 11.3-1.82                              | No      | No      |  100     | yast2  | cd:///?devices=/dev/sr0                                                                                      |        
38 | openSUSE-Education Updates                          | openSUSE-Education Updates                           | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://www.opensuse-education.org/download/updates/1.0/11.4                                                  |        
39 | openSUSE_11.4_KR46_Core_packages                    | openSUSE 11.4 KR46 Core packages                     | Yes     | Yes     |   97     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/Release:/46/openSUSE_11.4/                                    |        
40 | openSUSE_11.4_KR46_Unstable:Playground              | openSUSE 11.4 KR46 Unstable:Playground               | Yes     | Yes     |  107     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/KDE:/Unstable:/Playground/KDE_Release_46_openSUSE_11.4/            |        
41 | openSUSE_11.4_Packmann_Tumbleweed                   | openSUSE 11.4 Packmann Tumbleweed                    | Yes     | Yes     |   42     | rpm-md | http://packman.inode.at/suse/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/Essentials/                                                 |        
42 | opensuse-guide.org-repo                             | libdvdcss repository                                 | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://opensuse-guide.org/repo/11.4/                                                                         |        
43 | rbos_JFritz                                         | rbos JFritz                                          | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/rbos/openSUSE_11.4                                           |        
44 | repo-11.4-update                                    | openSUSE-11.4 Updates                                | Yes     | Yes     |   99     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/update/11.4/                                                                    |        
45 | tumbleweed                                          | tumbleweed                                           | Yes     | Yes     |   50     | rpm-md | http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:/Tumbleweed/standard/                                     |        
46 | www2.ati.com-suse                                   | ATI Repository                                       | No      | No      |   99     | rpm-md | http://www2.ati.com/suse/11.4                                                                                |

So I see - that mainly the tumbleweed KDE packages are installed (not the KR46).

ulfbart · May 6, 2011, 12:47am

Google findings (most one year and older) shows me, that some KDE programs also use FAM with Gamin.
No, I don’t use GNOME, only some programs like GIMP.
In some articles are the hard solution shown - to remove gam_server, and put a empty shell script on the place! But I’m not really sure, that this is a good work around.

I don’t know. But it’s not cyclic - it looks for me, like that it starts if many KDE actions are done.

How I can find the packages, that includes the file (with “rpm -qla | grep gam_server” I find the program - but not the rpm which includes it)? Additionally, I can’t find any configuration file for gamin.

ulfbart · May 7, 2011, 11:03pm

OK, I exchange the “gam_server” against a empty script.

mv /usr/lib/gam_server /usr/lib/gam_server.org && echo -e '#!/bin/sh
' > /usr/lib/gam_server && chmod +x /usr/lib/gam_server