Serious CPU core utilization shown in System Monitor

Discussion in 'General Linux Discussion' started by cloasters, Apr 17, 2020.

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  1. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Eep. 3 Cores are running at 100%. No reason that I know of. ATM Core 2 is between 7% and 14%. Cores 1,3, and 4 are at 100%. Leads me to believe that I've been badly hacked. Help please!
    cloasters, Apr 17, 2020
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  2. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    I saw something similar after updating my kernel a while back. I used my back up to do a restore and problem went away.
    Daniel~, Apr 17, 2020
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  3. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Aah, that backup I still don't do. My proc is running at 32C, with a mainboard temperature of 28C.
    Think I updated my kernel recently, too.

    WTF? It's MS updates that wreak havoc. I wonder if anyone complained about this kernel update?
    cloasters, Apr 18, 2020
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  4. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    I think you should be OK @32
    Try changing to another Kernal, (But the word is that changing Kernels "can" screw you.

    Do you have the hardware you need to do backup?

    I retried the kernel update after restoring and no longer have any problems with it.
    Daniel~, Apr 18, 2020
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  5. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Thank you for asking, Daniel. I still don't have a spare drive to use for backups. My bad, I shoulda bought one.
    My oldest friend is in deep financial and health trouble, as homelessness is almost a death sentence nowadays I'm keeping a roof over her head more often than not. Kaching is the right word.

    I can't find the record of a kernel update for the last two months, but I remember doing so more or less recently. If only Mint offered a fix for this big core user result. But none is seen.

    I don't look at System Monitor very often 'cause it's story is usually boring. Not Now, arrgh.
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2020
    cloasters, Apr 19, 2020
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  6. Daerandin

    Daerandin Well-Known Member

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    You should be able to see what processes are using so much of your cpu. I don't use any graphical system monitor tool myself, but you can check with htop in a terminal, or just use the following command to get the top cpu usage processes:

    Code:
    ps -eo pid,cmd,%mem,%cpu --sort=-%cpu
    It will list the 9 most CPU intensive processes on your system. That should help you identify the culprit here, so you might not need to restore a backup or such.
    Daerandin, Apr 19, 2020
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  7. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    What temps are you use to seeing? Is your Cpu running at 100% when it should be idle?
    Daniel~, Apr 19, 2020
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  8. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Thank you for your very helpful reply, Daerendin! Wouldn't you know it, Folding At Home is hogging three of my four cores, and a bit of my fourth core once in a while. I didn't think I installed it properly, so it's a surprise.

    Now that F@Home is working on the Covid-19 virus I don't mind the processor core hogging.
    cloasters, Apr 20, 2020
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  9. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    It's been a long time since I checked my processor and mainboard temps during boot. So I'll have a look.
    30C mainboard and 35C CPU temperatures. Perhaps hot weather will uglify these running temps but they seem OK to me today. Fortunately I don't run CPU hogging progs such as gaming.


    Thank you for your help with this!
    cloasters, Apr 20, 2020
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  10. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    Dude! You must of told F@H to use all available CPU power. So it is! it only slows so you can use your computer.
    And yes as ambient temps go up your computer temps will go up.
    Reset it to use 50 to 75% and see if that lowers your temps enough to make you comfortable.
    Daniel~, Apr 21, 2020
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  11. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    I don't know how to access or monitor F@H. I feel like such a hero, why I'm actually doing more to help unlock the novel Coronavirus than the entire present Administration.
    cloasters, Apr 21, 2020
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  12. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    What size is your current hard drive?
    Daniel~, Apr 22, 2020
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  13. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Think it's a 500 Gigger. Very little space on the SSD is used now.
    cloasters, Apr 22, 2020
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  14. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    You won't like it, but here's what I would do.
    1. buy a new drive,some thing around 250 gigs.(or less if you don't feel you would use most of the new drive.)
    2. Install mint on the new smaller drive.
    3 use you current 500 gig drive as your back up.

    Need help, just ask.":O}
    Daniel~, Apr 24, 2020
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  15. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    I can receive but not send E-mail. Send me your home addy.
    I have a very nice OCZ Vertex identical to the one I'm using for my main drive

    It offers 256 gig very fast SSD. I was using it for my PS4, now kaput.
    Was feeling kinda guitly about not putting it to use...but truth is I simply don;t need it now that the PS3 is gone.

    But if I send it I expect you to put it to good use.It will allow you to practice laughing at adversity.
    Daniel~, Apr 24, 2020
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  16. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Wow! Thank you for your generous offer, Daniel. With three cores dedicated to F@H my email responses take far too long to get posted. And my DL bandwidth has dropped to 90 instead of 100 MBps.

    Is there any way for me to address the processor core utilization by using Terminal? Seems like that should be possible?
    cloasters, Apr 25, 2020
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  17. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    Now your getting into Kitain territory/ Seems like there might be, but above my pay grade
    Daniel~, Apr 25, 2020
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  18. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    I don't know how he learned it all, yet Kaitain is so knowledgeable about computering it truly scares me. Not really, yet his patience while helping me to get VLC Media Player working was awesome to behold!
    cloasters, Apr 26, 2020
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  19. Daerandin

    Daerandin Well-Known Member

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    There is supposed to be a configuration manager for it. According to a quick search, there is a configuration software called FAH Control. Should be under "education" category on your application menu, or just search for it.
    Daerandin, Apr 26, 2020
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  20. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Thank you for the information, Daerandin! After actually finding "Education" I tried to configure it. This stopped the program cold. After seeing three cores running at 100% for weeks I now have no cores running F@H at all.

    Can't tell if the previous load of three cores at 100% were really running the program or if my cycles were really going out to the big FAH program.

    Too bad that I can't find an uninstall program. If I'm doing nothing now why run FAH?
    cloasters, Apr 27, 2020
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