Kubuntu jaunty: kded4 at 100% of CPU load

backtrace of it at 100%

(gdb) where
#0 0x00007fc4c70aff4b in read () from /lib/libc.so.6
#1 0x00007fc4c3beee3d in ?? () from /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1
#2 0x00007fc4c3bef3c8 in xcb_poll_for_event () from /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1
#3 0x00007fc4c836ca3d in ?? () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#4 0x00007fc4c836d345 in _XEventsQueued () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#5 0x00007fc4c8355ed3 in XEventsQueued () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#6 0x00007fc4c97e3eb7 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#7 0x00007fc4c4cae0a2 in IA__g_main_context_prepare (context=0x215dd20,
    priority=0x7fffd3852c84) at /build/buildd/glib2.0-2.20.0/glib/gmain.c:2134
#8 0x00007fc4c4cae4bf in g_main_context_iterate (context=0x215dd20, block=1,
    dispatch=1, self=<value optimized out>)
    at /build/buildd/glib2.0-2.20.0/glib/gmain.c:2428
#9 0x00007fc4c4cae93c in IA__g_main_context_iteration (context=0x215dd20,
    may_block=1) at /build/buildd/glib2.0-2.20.0/glib/gmain.c:2511
#10 0x00007fc4c8bcce6f in QEventDispatcherGlib::processEvents ()
   from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#11 0x00007fc4c97e3c9f in ?? () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#12 0x00007fc4c8ba2002 in QEventLoop::processEvents ()
   from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#13 0x00007fc4c8ba23cd in QEventLoop::exec () from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#14 0x00007fc4c8ba4694 in QCoreApplication::exec ()
   from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#15 0x00007fc4cb42cfb7 in kdemain () from /usr/lib/libkdeinit4_kded4.so
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
#16 0x00007fc4c6ff65a6 in __libc_start_main () from /lib/libc.so.6
#17 0x0000000000400759 in _start ()
(gdb) where
#0 0x00007fc4c70aff4b in read () from /lib/libc.so.6
#1 0x00007fc4c3beee3d in ?? () from /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1
#2 0x00007fc4c3bef3c8 in xcb_poll_for_event () from /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1
#3 0x00007fc4c836ca3d in ?? () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#4 0x00007fc4c836d345 in _XEventsQueued () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#5 0x00007fc4c8355ed3 in XEventsQueued () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#6 0x00007fc4c97e3eb7 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#7 0x00007fc4c4cae0a2 in IA__g_main_context_prepare (context=0x215dd20,
    priority=0x7fffd3852c84) at /build/buildd/glib2.0-2.20.0/glib/gmain.c:2134
#8 0x00007fc4c4cae4bf in g_main_context_iterate (context=0x215dd20, block=1,
    dispatch=1, self=<value optimized out>)
    at /build/buildd/glib2.0-2.20.0/glib/gmain.c:2428
#9 0x00007fc4c4cae93c in IA__g_main_context_iteration (context=0x215dd20,
    may_block=1) at /build/buildd/glib2.0-2.20.0/glib/gmain.c:2511
#10 0x00007fc4c8bcce6f in QEventDispatcherGlib::processEvents ()
   from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#11 0x00007fc4c97e3c9f in ?? () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#12 0x00007fc4c8ba2002 in QEventLoop::processEvents ()
   from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#13 0x00007fc4c8ba23cd in QEventLoop::exec () from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#14 0x00007fc4c8ba4694 in QCoreApplication::exec ()
   from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#15 0x00007fc4cb42cfb7 in kdemain () from /usr/lib/libkdeinit4_kded4.so
---Type <return> to continue, or q <return> to quit---
#16 0x00007fc4c6ff65a6 in __libc_start_main () from /lib/libc.so.6...

Just upgraded to Jaunty from Intrepid and was hit with this.. If needed, I can also provide some debug data.. My list of processes also attached.

renice to nice 10 makes the system usable again but it's not a fix..

I just updated from Kubuntu 8.10 to 9.04 and I'm fully hit, I barely can use the computer: kded4 (and Xorg) use 100% CPU.

:~$ uname -a
Linux x 2.6.28-11-generic #42-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 17 01:57:59 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux

from lspci
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M6 LY

I'm the same -- new jaunty upgrade, kde4 using 100% of one of my CPUs. kwin using about 3% of the other which also seems odd.

These are the kded modules loaded:

kdedglobalaccel
kded_kephal
khotkeys
networkstatus
desktopnotifier
phononserver
powerdevil
ktimezoned
dnssdwatcher
susefreespacenotifier
remotedirnotify

Also seeing this on both of our machines, both upgraded from Intrepid to Jaunty this afternoon. Both were updated using the cdromupdate method from alternate CDs. One with internet package updates, the other without.

 * Lenovo W500 (ATI Radeon HD 3650 (fglrx driver), Intel Core 2 Duo)
 * Custom-built (Athlon X2 4800, nVidia GeForce 7600 GS (proprietary driver))

If I add a few standard widgets to the desktop even a single account takes 100% of both CPUs. kde4d always seems to take 100% of one CPU for each logged in user, plasma goes up to 100%. Xorg process is not showing any particularly high load (~2%). Enabling "desktop effects" (compiz) does not change CPU usage.

One machine (Lenovo) is rather unstable (multiple plasma crashes), but that's likely because it's getting to 73 deg Fahrenheit due to the overloading if there's anything else running on the machine. It's up to 63 deg with just the one CPU pegged. The machines are rendered unusable, so I would suggest we may need a slightly higher priority than "low". The referenced kdelibs bug does not appear to be relevant, as I'm not AFAIK using kget (though I suppose one of the widgets might have used it).

From the Lenovo's Xorg.0.log:

(WW) Falling back to old probe method for fglrx
(II) ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Version Identifier:8.60.40
(II) ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Release Identifier: 8.60.4
(II) ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Build Date: Mar 14 2009 21:46:40
(II) Loading PCS database from /etc/ati/amdpcsdb
(WW) This ATI Proprietary Linux Driver does not guarantee support of video driver ABI higher than 2.0
(WW) Video driver ABI version of the X server is 5.0
...
(II) fglrx(0): driver needs X.org 1.4.x.y with x.y >= 99.906
(WW) fglrx(0): could not detect X server version (query_status=-1)

Don't seem to be any relevant Errors or Warnings in the AMD's Xorg.0.log.

GDB connect backtrace on the Lenovo:

#0 0x00007f482a61b1c0 in __pthread_mutex_unlock_usercnt () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#1 0x00007f48289bdb1c in xcb_poll_for_reply () from /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1
#2 0x00007f482d13b80f in ?? () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#3 0x00007f482d13c345 in _XEventsQueued () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#4 0x00007f482d124ed3 in XEventsQueued () from /usr/lib/libX11.so.6
#5 0x00007f482e5b3e5c in ?? () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#6 0x00007f4829a7ced2 in g_main_context_check () from /usr/lib/libglib-2.0.so.0
#7 0x00007f4829a7d7c9 in ?? () from /usr/lib/libglib-2.0.so.0
#8 0x00007f4829a7da7c in g_main_context_iteration () from /usr/lib/libglib-2.0.so.0
#9 0x00007f482d99be6f in QEventDispatcherGlib::processEvents () from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#10 0x00007f482e5b3c9f in ?? () from /usr/lib/libQtGui.so.4
#11 0x00007f482d971002 in QEventLoop::processEvents () from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#12 0x00007f482d9713cd in QEventLoop::exec () from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#13 0x00007f482d973694 in QCoreApplication::exec () from /usr/lib/libQtCore.so.4
#14 0x00007f4830200cd7 in kdemain () from /usr/lib/libkdeinit4_kded4.so
#15 0x00007f482bdc55a6 in __libc_start_main () from /lib/libc.so.6
#16 0x0000000000400759 in _start ()

Just tried logging out and back in on both machines. The 100% usage of one CPU is no longer occurring (CPU is down in the low single percentages). Have added back all of the widgets that were creating a full load on both processors and still seeing just a 20% (or so, fluctuates rapidly) load from kwin, plasma or xorg. Maybe the problem was related to the plasma crashes winding up creating multiple queues that were each polling. Anyway, if this works for others it may be that we really are looking at a low-priority ticket.

- I tried to remove all widgets but it didn't have an influence, kded4/xorg still used 100% cpu.
- I tried a "renice 0" on kded4, but the system crashed before I could notice anything
After the reboot, kded4 was back to normal cpu usage: I tried a "renice 15" (which I hope is the right default setting) and rebooted and kded4 is still behaving normally in terms of cpu usage...
BUT anything related to KDE is really very slow, like when the cpu is under stress:
- K menu can barely be used
- Konsole behaves like if the display would be refreshed every 5 sec
- everything about KDE behaves like under stress
- on the other hand firefox, dolphin are starting normally but behaving slowly (display)

("normal" means like in Intrepid or better. "slow" means you can't work in such condition.)

Any hint ?

Reinstalled my computer with a Jaunty live cd. No kded4 with 100% cpu problem at all.
But behavior in KDE is pretty slow: I noticed my Xorg often rising around 90%.
It's a bulk installation, with Intrepid weren't any problem, so there should still be a bug crawling somewhere...

Allright, sorry for flooding:
- the kded4 pushing cpu to 100% only happened once, after the upgrade 8.10-->9.04. So low might be the right priority.

The problem of "lag" in KDE was linked to Xorg and the ati drivers:
Following links helped me find out:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-ati/+bug/361060
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/+source/xserver-xorg-video-ati/+bug/334101

I added in Section "Device" of /etc/X11/xorg.conf
        Driver "ati"
        Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"

Now, K menu, scrolling in web broswer, and so on, everything is displayed at a decent speed.

Yeah, I've got this too on a fresh install of Jaunty. I kill the kded4 process without any obvious adverse effects and everything seems ok. It happens again every time I reboot.

I have had this, but I'm not using Kubuntu. I have the standard Ubuntu installation, plus one or two kde programs, like konsole, klipper, knotify, and kaddressbook.

Killing the process seemed to be OK. I don't know if it recurs after a reboot, I haven't had to do that yet.

It happens for me every time. I kill kde4d and restart it and everything seems to run correctly.

I can't see why this has been importance of Low. It's going to give any newbie a very bad Kubuntu experience.

I have seen this once. After killing and restarting kded4 I lost all my keyboard shortcuts. I also couldn't configure Desktop effects through system settings because KDE daemon was not available (even though running after a restart!).

I'm affected by this on Ubuntu Jaunty + kontact:

according to strace it's spinning on the following:
poll([{fd=3, events=POLLIN}, {fd=12, events=POLLIN|POLLPRI}, {fd=14, events=POLLIN|POLLPRI}, {fd=15, events=POLLIN|POLLPRI}, {fd=16, events=POLLIN|POLLPRI}, {fd=17, events=POLLIN}, {fd=8, events=POLLIN}, {fd=5, events=POLLIN}, {fd=18, events=POLLIN}, {fd=20, events=POLLIN}], 10, 0) = 0 (Timeout)
read(8, 0x2516294, 4096) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable)
read(8, 0x2516294, 4096) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable)
read(17, 0x2560aa4, 4096) = -1 EAGAIN (Resource temporarily unavailable)

fd 8 and 17 are sockets.

There's a report fom February in the upstream ticket that this problem doesn't happen with a newer version of kdelibs4, but I haven't tried this.

Affected like clemens; only open KDE programs are Kontact, Kile and Okular. As it persists on reboots (Graham above) I wouldn't suggest priority "low"

"low" when you are basically unable to use your machine :)

Yes, same thing here. Upgraded to Jaunty. There are some neat tricks to use KDE listed above however none of these would work for Joe sixpack and this completely stops KDE from working. Luckily I can failover to Gnome but it's a show stopper for average users. Sort of thing that makes Vista look good.

I'd say high priority.

Not meaning to sound negative, I love KDE but this will stop others using it.

Hardware: Fujitsu 4250 Tablet, Centrino 4Gb RAM.

Same problem here on two out of two boxes. In uno case upgraded from 8.04 in another from 8.10. Both boxes using an Nvidia card.

I vote for high priority too.

Let me know if I can be of any help by providing any further information you might be interested in.

Thanks.

2.6.28-11-generic running kubuntu jaunty on M4A78T-E MOBO ATI Technologies Inc Radeon HD 3300 Graphics Advanced Micro Devices Quadcore [AMD] Family 10h [Opteron, Athlon64, Sempron] HyperTransport Configuration and 1 GB RAM

When I run effects on Plasma I cannot watch video it shudders to a halt. Most of the effects are candy and not high priority and you can turn it off to watch video BUT effects like the window stacking are quite handy and nice to use with video and quite high priority for lovers of nice GUIs.

Apologies re my above. Not all video shudders. It is only when trying to watch HDTV in Kaffeine and to expect smooth effects running HDTV is alot to ask even this set up. Works fine on normal video.

I think that importance of this bug is rather serious because when this occures than you can't do an action like killing kded4.

I maybe found the causer of this problem. I disabled PowerDevil and Battery Monitor widget and no problem appeared any more.

Whole power management is very buggy...

Hi there!

Thanks for reporting this bug! Your bug seems to be a problem with the KDE program itself, and not with our KDE packages. But don't worry! This issue is being tracked by the KDE developers at: http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=178228
Once fixed in KDE, it will be included in Kubuntu once the KDE version the fix is in in reaches Kubuntu.

Thanks!

running the command

qdbus org.kde.kded /kded unloadModule desktopnotifier

seems to fix the problem for me.

I'm having this problem in kubuntu 10.10 with kde 4.6.1. Erno Rigo's solution didn't do a thing for me. The only band-aid solution is to kill the kded4 process(es).

Kubuntu 4.6.2
Core 3i 530
MB Mini-ITX board GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3

If you hook USB GSM modem, the connection in Network Manager in a popup window is displayed on the left - is connected to the right - kind of connection, if you try to disconnect again or click on the connection (right) - hangs socket and kded4 with 100% load after that.

On a HP Pavilion dv4 I am having the same issue as HarD #27.

I never had this problem before... This problem started to show up when I configured a VPN in my PC... So, this bug is related to network connections that need authentication like VPN's and other...

Also, this bug affects the way video is handled by KDE making the programs that play video freeze and crash like MPLAYER and Flash Player...

WORKAROUND (Temporary Solution):

1 - Open System Monitor and KILL "kded4" process
2 - Restart process by terminal with kded4 command (do not use sudo, this application must be run in normal user mode)

This problem still happens in the new KUBUNTU 11.04

Same problem here with kubuntu 11.04.
When I try to disconnect VPN connection, kded4 load increase to 100% the I need to kill the process.

Same problem here with kubuntu 11.04.
When I try to disconnect usb-modem connection, kded4 load increase to 100%.

+1 for 100% cpu usage when disconnecting OpenVPN connection

"me too" for 100% cpu by kded4 when disconnecting OpenVPN

I happen to use kmymoney with a separate user on my system so use something like 'ssh -X kmymoney@localhost' and start kmymoney. After stopping using kmymoney and logging out kded4 is consuming 100% of CPU also. These comments really belong upstream though.

This is also in Kubuntu 11.04. First I though it was the ati drivers but now when I connect my external drive. Nepomuservices and kded4 both go to 50% cpu cycles making impossible to work with my system anymore. Even when save removing my external drive. It jus keeps eating cycles.

i confirm that it is still alive in 11.04.

killing kded4 is solving but this is not a solution of course.

What you are experiencing is bug #755608 which is a very different issue from what was originally reported back in jaunty times.

@apachelogger: You are correct. My issue is fixed with the fixed available for bug #755608. However, if this bug is no longer valid its important to close this.

This issue is related to restart of KDM service with command (Press CTRL+ALT+F1 and type in the commands):

sudo service kdm restart

Or with commands:

sudo service kdm stop
sudo service kdm start

PS: This issue is only happening with me when I restart this service... When I restart my LINUX, it stops happening... This can be related to the wrong starting order of other services that makes KDE4 consume 100% of the CPU...

Thanks for your help,

André M.

@andreluizromano #40

I tried recreating this with what André suggested but it doesn't happen in my system. However, when I look at the post #29 and other VPN related comments, I think the VPN related issues could be coming from https://bugs.launchpad.net/ntrack/+bug/770390. Please check that scenario as well so that it will be easy to isolate the origin of the issue.

I often get this problem after I mount an usb stick. Yesterday it happened after I mounted a truecrypt volume.

Current version is KDE 4.6.4, Kubuntu 11.04 32 bit.