[kdepim-users] Still 100% CPU when using Kontact - nearly SOLVED!

Fri Sep 27 15:50:49 BST 2013

Dear Bas,

good to see you never seem to give up. When the going gets tough, the 
tough gets going, no?

As for me I have to say that I can not work with 13.04 and KDE 4.11.1 
due to two different reasons:
1. 13.04 has a kernel bug related to us poor guys who bought computers 
with dual GPU, in my case AMD/Intel. The AMD drivers do not work since 
11.04 and the kernel in 13.04 can not switch off the AMD card = battery 
eaten alive and CPU going mad
2. KDE 4.11.1 does strange things to the akonadi/nepomuk chain. Again. I 
could not search for anything in desktop, in KDEPIM search was really 
strange. If you go to kdeforums you will find a thread on this (started 
by me) that points to a bug/recession in nepomuk 4.11.1

I am back at Kubuntu 12.10 and KDE 4.10.5 myself. Bas - do install 
Remastersys, the best thing invented since linux itself. You can make a 
clean copy of your installation and revert to it in about 20 minutes.

Ole, ha det gott du då, från en svensk

Kind regards
Sinclair

On 27/09/2013 15:40, Bas G. Roufs - English wrote:
> Dear Sinclair, Ole-Erik and Everybody,
>
> about one week ago, I opened in the Kubuntu users forum the thread
> 'Still 100% CPU when using Kontact' - with respect to persistant,
> complicate problems I have been experiencing in Kontact within Kubuntu
> 13.04 & KDE 4.10.5 as well as within several previous versions of both
> Kubuntu and KDE. About one week ago, you, Sinclair, came up with the
> suggestion that has solved more than 90% of my Kontact problems. In this
> message, I summarise the progress I am observing now with respect to
> Kontact.
>
> Let's start with a short summary. Thanks to a very useful suggestion
> from Sinclair, I can smoothly multitask, while Kontact is working in the
> background. Also other recent improvements in Kubuntu and KDE have
> contributed to Kontact becoming much more useful and practical now. This
> is a really major progress I have been hoping for ever since 2010.
> Gradually, KDE 4.x along with Kontact is reaching a mature state.
>
> In the subject line of this message, I write 'nearly SOLVED!', because
> two important points of attention still remain:
>
>   * the necessisity to rename the /kde/share/apps/nepomuk folder and to
>     create a new one after reboot;
>   * difficulties to select an address via the KDE-Google agent.
>
> My findings might be useful for several other users of Kontact and KDE
> in Kubuntu and other KDE based distros. That's why, I CC this message to
> the list 'KDE-PIM Users'.
>
> Now, I work out this summary. Let's start with the useful suggestion
> from Sinclair I have received at the 21st of September:
>
>  > When I get stuck in "nepomuk virtuoso ate my CPU" I "normally" (it has
>
>  > not happened that often lately) rename the .kde/share/apps/nepomuk
>
>  > folder and reboot. Then it WILL go mad for a while recreating the
>
>  > database but will then normalise CPU usage
>
> On Saturday evening 21 September, I have followed up this advise from
> about 20h. Central Europeanl Time onwards. After renaming the folder
> mentioned by you, Sinclair, I rebooted the system, after which I gave it
> the chance until about 8.30 in the next morning to uninterruptedly
> recreate the database. In the mean time, I did nothing else at the
> laptop except monitoring from time to time the 'System Load Viewer' for
> CPU, RAM and SWAP usage. I also changed something in the energy
> management settings, with a view to preventing the system from falling
> asleep.
>
> Everything happened more or less along the lines of the prediction cited
> above. Until midnight, I observed CPU usage values that were
> persistently calibrating between 60 and 100% - however, already at 8.30h
> in the next morning, the CPU usage had dropped to normal values -
> between 0 and 30 %.
>
> In the past few days, it has become clear that Kontact has become really
> much more practical and useful now. I can let the system persistently
> file index, while I am multitasking. Only 5 minutes after starting up
> Kontact in the first working session of a day, I need to let the system
> in peace with a view to giving it the chance to build up an updated
> e-mail and RSS database. But for the rest of the day, I can keep writing
> e-mails and carrying out other tasks, while Kontact is updating it's
> databases in the background. The CPU usage in general calibrates between
> 0 and 30%. At some moments it still does peak to 100%, but only for a
> short moment. After such a peak, the CPU immediately falls back to 0%.
> As a matter of result, I can simply do 'everything' now while Kontact is
> working in the background. Delicious!
>
> A few months ago, I have limited the number of e-mails in the IMAP
> folder to 1000 in the hope to be able to better handle Kontact. It
> helped a little bit, but not at all enough. Moreover, 1000 e-mails is
> nothing at present. That's why, I have decided to day to set back the
> settings from 1000 to 'unlimited'. That's why, Kontact is recreating the
> e-mail database right now, while I am writing this e-mail from within
> Kontact and listening to an online radio station. Before 21 September,
> such a multitasking working session would have been simply impossible.
> Moreover: even writing an e-mail while Kontact was (re)creating the
> databases, would have been simply impossible - that's why, I often
> needed to use the online e-mail editor of GMAIL instead of Kontact.
>
> But now, while Kontact is recreating the database, the CPU usage is
> constantly switching between 2 values only: 0% and 100% . The
> combination of the recreated database and the recent technical
> improvements in KDE seem to end up in a great result: I can still
> multitask, while the data base recreating process is working in the
> background. I am really very happy with this development. Thanks to all
> those who have contruted to this progress!
>
> In my opinion, Kontact along with the rest of KDE 4.X is reaching a
> mature state now. However, two major points of attention still remain in
> my opinion.
>
> One of them has to do with the necessity to rename and recreate a
> nepomuk database even after a fresh install of Kubuntu. Only after doing
> so, the recent technical improvements aimed at letting Kontact work in
> the background, become effective.
>
> The second point of attention has to do with the still persistent
> difficulties to access the google address book via the 'akonadi
> googlecontacts resource'. I still do not always manage to do so -
> because of which I still often need to use a 'workaround': copy-paste
> the addresses from the Gmail online editor.
>
> Finally, I dedicate a few words to your latest question, Ole-Erik:
>
>  > This downloaded line from 23.5.2013 came up searching "Kubuntu"
> history with
>
>  > Muon:
>
>  >
>
>  > kubuntu-default-settings (13.04ubuntu12, 13.04ubuntu13) Oppgradert på
> 10.49
>
>  >
>
>  > Does it say anyting?
>
> Norvegian is close enough to my mother tongue Dutch to more or less
> understand the implication of the info above. At your computer, there is
> a Kubuntu 13.04 configuration: a configuration whose 'default settings'
> have been updated at the 25th of May 2013.
>
> OK, this is enough for now :-). Have a good weekend!
>
> Respectfully yours,
>
> Bas G. Roufs.
>
> --
>
> Bas G. Roufs MA
>
> Utrecht, NL, E. BasRoufs at gmail.com, M. +31 6 446 835 10.
>

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