linux-kernel - Re: Page alloc problems with 2.6.32-rc kernels

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Date:	Wed, 4 Nov 2009 23:14:32 +0100
From:	Frans Pop <elendil@...net.nl>
To:	Michael Guntsche <mike@...loops.com>
Cc:	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-mm@...ck.org,
	Mel Gorman <mel@....ul.ie>,
	KOSAKI Motohiro <kosaki.motohiro@...fujitsu.com>,
	Pekka Enberg <penberg@...helsinki.fi>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
Subject: Re: Page alloc problems with 2.6.32-rc kernels

On Wednesday 04 November 2009, Michael Guntsche wrote:
> On 04 Nov 09 01:14, Frans Pop wrote:
> > Thanks Michael. That means we now have two cases where reverting the
> > congestion_wait() changes from .31-rc3 (8aa7e847d8 + 373c0a7ed3) makes
> > a clear and significant difference.
> >
> > I wonder if more effort could/should be made on this aspect.
>
> As a cross check I reverted the revert here and tried to reproduce the
> problem again. It is a lot harder to trigger for me now (I was not able
> to reproduce it yet). I did update my local git tree though,

OK. Can you tell us a bit more about your setup:
- how much RAM does the system have?
- what's so special about mutt in your case that it triggers these errors?
  - do you maybe have a huge mailbox, so mutt uses a lot of memory?
  - does starting/use mutt cause swapping when you see the errors?
- do you use disk encryption at all?
  - if you do, what is encrypted: the file system, swap, both?

>From your first mail it does look as if you had little free memory and that 
swap was in use.

> can you reproduce this problem on your side with current git?

Yes I can, but my test case is somewhat special as it forces a huge amount 
of swapping. It does look as if your problem may also be related to 
swapping activity.

Cheers,
FJP
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