linux-kernel - Re: tracking memory usage/leak in "inactive" field in /proc/meminfo? -- solved

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Message-ID: <4B7D5F35.7060700@nortel.com>
Date:	Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:39:33 -0600
From:	"Chris Friesen" <cfriesen@...tel.com>
To:	Rik van Riel <riel@...hat.com>
CC:	Minchan Kim <minchan.kim@...il.com>,
	KOSAKI Motohiro <kosaki.motohiro@...fujitsu.com>,
	Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	linux-mm@...ck.org, Balbir Singh <balbir@...ux.vnet.ibm.com>
Subject: Re: tracking memory usage/leak in "inactive" field in /proc/meminfo?
 -- solved

On 02/16/2010 04:22 PM, Rik van Riel wrote:
> On 02/16/2010 04:26 PM, Chris Friesen wrote:
> 
>> For the backtrace scenario I posted it seems like it might actually be
>> release_pages().  There seems to be a plausible call chain:
>>
>> __ClearPageLRU
>> release_pages
>> free_pages_and_swap_cache
>> tlb_flush_mmu
>> tlb_remove_page
>> zap_pte_range
>>
>> Does that seem right?  In this case, tlb_remove_page() is called right
>> after page_remove_rmap() which ultimately results in clearing the
>> PageAnon bit.
> 
> That is right - and pinpoints the fault for the memory leak
> on some third party code that fails to release a refcount on
> memory pages.

I think I've tracked down the source of the problem.  Turns out one of
our vendors had misapplied a patch which ended up bumping the page count
an extra time.

Thanks to everyone that helped out.

Chris
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