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Message-Id: <20090512135800.D62F.A69D9226@jp.fujitsu.com>
Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 14:00:33 +0900 (JST)
From: KOSAKI Motohiro <kosaki.motohiro@...fujitsu.com>
To: Ulrich Lukas <stellplatz-nr.13a@...enparkplatz.de>
Cc: kosaki.motohiro@...fujitsu.com,
Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: whole system lock-up on low memory
> Hi,
>
>
> vanilla linux 2.6.29.3, AMD64, tested on openSUSE 11.1 and Kubuntu 9.04.
>
>
> I observe the following behaviour:
>
> When any user application (non-kernel, non-root) consumes all the
> available system memory, the system freezes completely instead of any
> application being killed by the oom-killer.
>
> The mouse pointer stalls, and there is a seemingly endless loop of
> hard-disc access, even when no swap space on any harddisc is activated.
>
> IMO, this is severe, because any application can practically crash the
> system (e.g. in case of a memory-leak), causing data loss in case of
> unsaved data.
>
>
> To reproduce this, I've attached a small C++ utility
> (compiles with g++ memory_overcommit.cc -o memory_overcommit.bin) which
> allocates chunks of memory of user defined size.
>
> On the Ubuntu system, the system freeze can be observed with swap
> enabled on a cryptographic swap partition (dm-crypt; /etc/crypttab).
> With openSUSE the lock-up also occurs with deactivated swap.
> (swapoff -a).
>
> Tested from a KDE terminal window as regular urser, the
> steps to reproduce are:
>
> * use cryptographic swap partition or disable swap
> (maybe also reproducible with normal swap; but apparently not on Suse)
>
> * compile and invoke the attached code:
> ./memory_overcommit.bin
>
> * enter a number (in MiB) of memory that is slightly smaller than the
> available memory and press "enter" key once.
>
> * enter a smaller number (minimum 1 MiB) and confirm again, do the same
> again,..., successively approaching the limit of available memory with
> smaller chunks.
>
> * finally, when most of the memory/buffers/cache are used-up, the system
> becomes unresponsive and constant, heavy harddisk-access commences.
umm, I don't reproduce this.
oom-killer kill the reproduce prgram ASAP.
system don't enter unresponsible state.
my test environment:
kernel: 2.6.30-rc4-mmotm
CPU: ia64 x 8
MEM: 8GB
>
> Sometimes, killing the X-server or shutting down via hotkeys works after
> several minutes of waiting, but this is not consistent.
>
>
> I've reported this issue on the Ubuntu bug tracker before:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/283420
>
> but as stated above, I also had the problem on another system.
>
>
> I'd be glad if I could help if you need further information.
>
>
> Attachement: one file, memory_overcommit.cc
> (also here: http://datenparkplatz.de/DiesUndDas/memory_overcommit.cc)
> ---
> #include <cassert>
> #include <cerrno>
> #include <clocale>
> #include <cstdio>
> #include <cstdlib>
> #include <cstring>
> #include <limits>
>
> using std::exit;
> using std::numeric_limits;
> using std::printf;
> using std::size_t;
> using std::strlen;
>
> void read_answer(char* buffer, size_t buffer_size)
> {
> assert(buffer_size > 1);
>
> char const* ret = std::fgets(buffer, buffer_size, stdin);
> if(ret == 0)
> {
> printf("\nSorry, there was an error while reading the
> answer. This program will now terminate.\n");
>
> exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>
> }
>
> else if(strlen(buffer) == buffer_size - 1 && buffer[buffer_size
> - 2] != '\n')
> {
>
> printf("Sorry, you answer is too long (possibly out of
> range). This program will now terminate.\n");
>
> exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>
> }
>
> }
>
>
> size_t determine_size(char const* s)
> {
> assert(strlen(s) > 0);
>
> char* endptr = 0;
> errno = 0;
> unsigned long v = std::strtoul(s, &endptr, 10);
> if(strlen(s) == 1 || endptr != s + strlen(s) - 1)
> {
> printf("\nSorry, your answer does not appear to be
> valid. This program will now terminate.\n");
>
> exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>
> }
>
> else if((v == numeric_limits<unsigned long>::max() && errno ==
> ERANGE) || v == 0
> || numeric_limits<unsigned long>::max() / (1024 * 1024)
> < v)
> {
>
> printf("\nSorry, that value is out of range. This
> program will now terminate.\n");
> exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>
> }
>
> v *= 1024 * 1024;
>
>
> assert(numeric_limits<size_t>::is_specialized);
> if(v > numeric_limits<size_t>::max() )
> {
> printf("\nSorry, that value is out of range. This
> program will now terminate.\n");
> exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>
> }
>
>
> return v;
> }
>
> bool inquire_repeat(size_t& v)
> {
> printf("\nShould a new allocation be made? You can enter:\n"
> "==> \"No\" to quit,\n"
> "==> Any Number of MiB to change the chunk size
> and continue, or\n"
> "==> Hit return to continue with last chunk
> size.\n\nYour answer: ");
>
> char answer[20];
> read_answer(answer, sizeof(answer) );
> if(std::strcmp(answer, "\n") == 0) {
> return true;
> }
> else if(std::strcmp(answer, "No\n") == 0) {
> return false;
> }
>
> v = determine_size(answer);
> return true;
> }
>
>
> int main() {
> #ifdef _POSIX_C_SOURCE
> std::setlocale(LC_ALL, ""); // Prepare thousands grouping in output.
> #endif
>
> printf("\n\nThis program allows to repeatedly allocate chunks of
> memory of user-specified size. "
> "\nAfter each allocation the user can choose to repeat or
> to quit the program.\n\nFirst, please enter now "
>
> "the amount of memory in MiB (1024 * 1024 bytes) \nto
> allocate in each round: ");
> char answer[20];
>
> read_answer(answer, sizeof(answer) );
>
>
> size_t alloc_size = determine_size(answer);
>
> size_t total = 0;
> do {
> printf("\n >>> Starting to allocate chunk...\n");
> std::fflush(stdout);
> void* p = std::malloc(alloc_size);
> if(!p) {
> printf("\n > The last memory allocation failed."
> "\n > This means the system reported
> the out-of-memory condition orderly."
> "\nThis program will now terminate.\n");
>
> exit(0);
>
> }
>
> std::memset(p, 0, alloc_size);
>
> printf(" >>> A chunk was just allocated! <<<\n");
> if(numeric_limits<size_t>::max() - total >= alloc_size)
> {
> total += alloc_size;
>
> #ifdef _POSIX_C_SOURCE
> char const* fmt_string = " The total number of
> bytes allocated is now %'zu.\n";
> #else
> char const* fmt_string = " The total number of
> bytes allocated is now %zu.\n";
> #endif
>
> printf(fmt_string, total);
> }
> else {
> #ifdef _POSIX_C_SOURCE
> char const* fmt_string = " More than %'zu
> bytes have been allocated in total by now.\n";
> #else
> char const* fmt_string = " More than %zu bytes
> have been allocated in total by now.\n";
> #endif
>
> printf(fmt_string, total);
> total = numeric_limits<size_t>::max();
> }
> } while(inquire_repeat(alloc_size) );
>
> printf("\nQuit was requested. This program will now terminate.\n");
> }
>
>
> --
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