~100% CPU usage in Ubuntu 7.10

jimsheep · Post by **jimsheep** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:08 am

couldn't find this anywhere else.

the subject line is essentially self-descriptive. i disabled compiz and all the other flashy bits (including the flashy bits in zsnes), and i have a bare minimum in the background. the system monitor tells me that Xgl is taking up most of the processor. as soon as i close zsnes, cpu usage returns to its normal ~8%.

hardware details:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+
2GB RAM
ATI Radeon X800
Sound Blaster Audigy 2EX

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:33 am

what version of ZSNES are you using?

jimsheep · Post by **jimsheep** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:46 am

Post by **grinvader** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:09 pm

Have you disabled both autoframeskip and vsync ?

jimsheep · Post by **jimsheep** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:24 am

yes, yes i have.

Post by **grinvader** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:11 pm

Well you might want to enable one of them. Oh, triple buffering would work too.

Vsync will require your monitor refreshing a multiple of 60Hz (for NTSC games) or 50Hz (for PAL games), so you're probably better off with the other options.

Edit: ah wait, ubuntu. Disregard triple buffering.

jimsheep · Post by **jimsheep** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:57 am

hang on. maybe i didn't disable vsync or autoframeskip.

/me is a novice

where do i find those? i looked through both the zsnesl.cfg and zmovie.cfg and found nothing. i looked at xorg.conf and found nothing. this may be a case of rtfm or an ID-10-T error.

paulguy · Post by **paulguy** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:23 pm

Is it normal for a computer to idle at 8%? Seems a bit much, even for a low end PC.

jimsheep · Post by **jimsheep** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:03 am

i'm not sure. this is my first PC that i am able to actively monitor system status. i also have several sidecandy widgets running.

Xgl itself is between 3 and 5%, and the sidecandy stuff takes 5-7%

Villa Vampiria · Post by **Villa Vampiria** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 6:04 pm

I have exactly the same problem. ZSNES worked smoothly for a long time (I'm running Ubuntu 7.10).
Then I did a few updates from Ubuntu, but I don't remember exactly what the updates were. After that, as soon as I start ZSNES (I haven't even loaded a ROM yet), the cpu usage goes up to 100%. Nothing changes with my processes, BUT the Xorg process is going through the roof!
So it's got something to do with the graphical thingy, but I haven't got a clue on how to fix it, or what caused this change. It's a pity I didn't fully read what the update was about...

Did anybody fix this problem allready? And I can't find anything about this problem either. I'm glad I found somebody that has the same problem as me.

Post by **grinvader** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 6:49 pm

Why should WE fix ubuntu issues ? Whine at the coders of the various stuff you updated, not us.

Villa Vampiria · Post by **Villa Vampiria** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 6:57 pm

I wasn't asking for you to FIX this, but maybe you guys heard about this problem and know something about it.

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:56 pm

It tends to sound rather isolated to you, or with drivers and other stuff that is running.. not as much as a ZSNES problem in general.

funkyass · Post by **funkyass** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:58 pm

Unless its actually affecting other programs, I'd ignore it.

Hint: its probably not zsnes.

Villa Vampiria · Post by **Villa Vampiria** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:07 pm

I know it's not ZSNES that's causing this, but it's the only program that's affected by it (that I know of).

Anyway, I posted on the Ubuntu forum too, so maybe they know what to do.

Post by **badinsults** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:18 pm

There must be something wrong with your configuration, because when I run Zsnes in Ubuntu 8.04, Zsnes never uses more than between 5-15% of the CPU. Make sure your video card drivers are installed properly, maybe your cpu is working hard to render all the graphics.

Villa Vampiria · Post by **Villa Vampiria** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:45 pm

Everything worked fine before, and I didn't chance anything as far as I can remember. All I did was install those updates.
But I'll try reinstalling my video drivers to make sure.

jimsheep · Post by **jimsheep** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:26 am

so far it's isolated to 2 users...i haven't upgraded to 8.04 yet.

FranMichaels · Post by **FranMichaels** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:28 am

XGL is deprecated, use AIGLX if you can instead (you might not be able to if you are stuck with proprietary video drivers, but I wouldn't know...)

Is zsnes set to use opengl (the video mode you've picked within zsnes has an O in it.)

Does it still eat CPU for breakfast even before a game is loaded?

If so, it sounds like no direct rendering.

From a terminal

Code: Select all

glxinfo | grep direct

If it doesn't return "Yes", the video driver is to blame. Try software rendering, or if possible an open driver?

Happy zsnes user on Ubuntu 8.0.4, with onboard intel (laptop moble graphics chipset...)

jimsheep · Post by **jimsheep** » Fri Aug 08, 2008 1:48 pm

thanks a bundle for narrowing it down. i'm not using openGL, but that doesn't seem to make much of a difference. i think i need to get rid of this crap-tastic x800 card, then, 'cause it's a pain in the ass...you know, the straw that broke the camel's back and all that.

thanks again.