On Tue, 03 Aug 2004 23:10:08 +0200, Paul Gear wrote: > > Reid Priedhorsky wrote: >> Hello everyone, >> >> /proc/loadavg currently reports the following: >> >> 0.96 0.98 0.78 1/116 23994 >> >> xload also reports roughly the same. >> >> But top and ps both report a nearly idle system (98% idle). What is going >> on? How can I find out what is causing my system to be so busy? > > I've seen load averages of 14 and 16 when the CPU usage was on 10%. The > two are usually, but not necessarily, related. There are certain types > of work where this behaviour will be seen. Even low amounts of I/O to a > slow device, if done by enough processes could cause this.
Hmm. So, the general consensus is that it's not a problem; and it certainly doesn't seem to affect interactivity or performance at all. It's my home box, not a server or anything, and it normally has very low loads, 10-15% maybe when I'm using it and essentially zero when I'm not. There shouldn't be lots of processes doing I/O. The high load dropped back to normal shortly after I posted. I'm still interested in tools that would tell me what processes are doing I/O, or whatever. It's unnerving for things to being going on with my box that I don't understand. Thanks, everyone. Reid -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
