I think this bug report is a bit messy, because it mixes two different issues.
I think that the original problem is the one I'm experiencing and that is perfectly described by the StackExchange answer pointed to by Peter Stevenson's comment #45. Indeed, setting dirty_background_bytes and dirty_bytes to low values is the only way to fix the problem in my case. Either using low vm.dirty_background_ratio and vm.dirty_ratio or changing the scheduler to deadline does nothing in my case (by the way, the suggested low values for vm.dirty_*_ratio parameters seems to have become the default at least in recent Trusty updates). The problem described here is not just that the system is slow at copying many files, but that it stutters and completely freezes (mouse pointer included) for whole seconds, if not even minutes (last time I had to leave my PC for about 10 minutes to let a huge file transfer terminate and be able to even move the mouse pointer again... many other times I simply switched off the system and restarted). This happens when copying huge files (some gigabytes in size) to a relatively slow device, which might by a USB drive or a network drive (when using WiFi, for instance). And, even if the aforementioned reply and referenced pages talk about this happening on systems with a lot of RAM, in my case it happens even if I have only 4 GB of RAM. Anyway, it's sad to see no words at all from any Ubuntu developer on this bug report, given that it seems to be a well known kernel issue, unless I missed something. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to nautilus in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1208993 Title: Ubuntu slows down and hangs while copying file from/to USB Status in nautilus package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: Hi While copying many and large files to and from a USB drive, the system becomes incredibly slow and sometimes hangs. I watched the system monitor while it was running slowly but cpu was not above 50% at any time, the same for memory. I'm using the "WD my passport" HD with a USB3 port of my "ASUS K55VD" laptop. Description: Ubuntu 13.04 Release: 13.04 nautilus: Installed: 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu16 Candidate: 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu16 Version table: *** 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu16 0 500 http://ubuntu-archive.mirror.nucleus.be/ raring/main amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status Steps to reproduce: 1) Aquire many large files (like your totally legit moviecollection) 2) Copy files to external HD 3) Open your browser and be sad when your system becomes incredibly slow after a few minutes This is my first bugreport so if I'm missing something, please tell me. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04 Package: nautilus 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu16 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-27.40-generic 3.8.13.4 Uname: Linux 3.8.0-27-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8.1 Architecture: amd64 Date: Tue Aug 6 22:56:34 2013 EcryptfsInUse: Yes ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/nautilus GsettingsChanges: b'org.gnome.nautilus.window-state' b'geometry' b"'656x715+154+151'" b'org.gnome.nautilus.window-state' b'maximized' b'true' InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-05-31 (67 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424) MarkForUpload: True SourcePackage: nautilus UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/1208993/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
