Bug 35858

Summary:	Memory Loss
Product:	[Retired] Red Hat Linux	Reporter:	Need Real Name <rmoles>
Component:	kernel	Assignee:	Bill Nottingham <notting>
Status:	CLOSED NOTABUG	QA Contact:	Aaron Brown <abrown>
Severity:	high	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	7.1	CC:	rvokal
Target Milestone:	---
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	i686
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	Bug Fix
Doc Text:		Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:	2001-04-15 03:46:51 UTC	Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description Need Real Name 2001-04-13 04:55:27 UTC

I have a clean install of RH Wolerine installed and using kernel Linux
version 2.4.1-0.1.9. I noticed when running gnome that I kept loosing
memory. I have 160mb ram installed. When I start gnome I had 100mb free.
Then after running netscape, or any other application I ran down to 1mb
free. It starts paging and performance is reduced. I upgraded to 256mb.
Before I started gnome I had 200mb free. It drops to 2mb then starts paging
again. I tried not using any types of guis, and stuck to command line for
various tasks, and noticed that free memory still drops.

Comment 1 Ed McKenzie 2001-04-15 03:46:48 UTC

You should upgrade to 2.4.2-0.1.49. It fixes most of the performance problems in
the original Wolverine kernel.

Comment 2 Trond Eivind Glomsrxd 2001-04-18 19:33:01 UTC

1) "free" isn't a good indicator for many, as they aren't aware of Linux wanting
to use as much as possible as cache - so if you run a program on a fresh system
an exit t, free will report a lower number than before: It has the program in cache.
Cache is freed when needed for programs - the kernel dynamically adjusts to
provide the best performance

2) The kernel has been updated since then, and has much better performance.