On 25.09.2016 15:40, Tomasz Chmielewski wrote: > On 2016-09-25 18:29, Tomasz Chmielewski wrote: > >>> I'll try to bisect. >> >> OK, not a kernel regression, but some config change caused it. >> However, I'm not able to locate which change exactly. >> >> I'm attaching two configs which I've tried with 4.7.3 - one results in >> thousands of kworkers, and the other doesn't. Also included a diff >> between them. >> >> Any obvious changes I should try? > > The problem is the allocator. > > -CONFIG_SLUB=y > +CONFIG_SLAB=y > > > With SLUB, I'm getting a handful of kworker processes, as expected. > > With SLAB, I'm getting thousands of kworker processes. > > > Not sure if that's expected behaviour or not.
Why don't you sample the stacks of some of those kworker processes to see if they are all executing a parituclar piece of work. That might help you narrow down where they originate from. Cat multiple /proc/$kworker-pid/stack files and see if a pattern emerges. Regards, Nikolay > > > Tomasz Chmielewski > https://lxadm.com > >
