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Bug 702855 - Changing wallpapers eats memory
Changing wallpapers eats memory
Status: RESOLVED OBSOLETE
Product: gnome-shell
Classification: Core
Component: background
3.8.x
Other Linux
: Normal normal
: ---
Assigned To: gnome-shell-maint
gnome-shell-maint
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2013-06-22 12:16 UTC by drew
Modified: 2014-11-07 09:50 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---



Description drew 2013-06-22 12:16:42 UTC
When I change wallpapers in gnome shell, gnome-shell's memory usage climbs quite drastically.

Changing it via the settings panel using the default wallpapers increases memory usage by about 20mb each time.

Changing the wallpaper to a ~10mb file via gsettings increases gnome-shell's memory usage by about 200mb each time. 

i.e. it does not release the previous memory when changing to a new wallpaper, it keeps piling up.

(I discovered this while writing a script to download and change my wallpaper periodically and while testing the script gnome-shell's memory usage climbed to about 3gb)

I apologise if my reporting skills are not up to par, this is my first time. I'll be glad to supply any further information if that would help you.

Gnome Version: 3.8.3
OS: 64bit Arch
Comment 1 drew 2013-06-22 12:18:27 UTC
Sorry, I should probably have added that if I restart shell (alt+f2 then 'r') then memory usage for gnome-shell returns to normal (~200mb).
Comment 2 drago01 2013-06-22 15:56:31 UTC
Seems like bug 696157 is still not fully fixed.
Comment 3 Guillaume Tissier 2013-07-27 15:46:33 UTC
I confirm the bug : gnome-shell 3.8.3 on gentoo
Comment 4 Matthias Clasen 2013-08-17 15:38:30 UTC
ths sounds bad, has anybody looked at this ?
Comment 5 yuryrodrigues28 2013-08-27 23:45:48 UTC
I'm having the same problem :(

Gnome Shell 3.8.3
Manjaro Linux
Comment 6 Giovanni Campagna 2013-08-28 15:43:03 UTC
After looking at this very briefly...

On 3.8.3, this might be a memory fragmentation issue: the new background causes a spike in memory usage, but if I force a GC from the looking glass it drops again to almost the same value as before the background change.

On master, I just don't see the memory go up in the same way.
Comment 7 Giovanni Campagna 2013-08-28 15:44:08 UTC
Correction, the first test was gnome-shell-3.8.4-2.fc19.x86_64, which is 3.8.4 but with the 3.8.4 background patches reverted.
Comment 8 yuryrodrigues28 2013-08-28 18:38:23 UTC
I apologize for the error.

In gnome settings graphically shows that the version is 3.8.3. However, the command:

gnome-shell - version

Shows version 3.8.4
Comment 9 Matthias Clasen 2013-09-16 12:21:03 UTC
so, whats the conclusion here ? no problem in 3.9 ?
Comment 10 drago01 2013-09-16 12:43:00 UTC
We do at least use less memory now (bug 706777) but not sure if we still leak or not (AFAIK there are no patches that try to address this ...).
Comment 11 Matthias Clasen 2013-09-19 13:26:49 UTC
ok, lets take this off the blocker list, not like this is a frequent crash
Comment 12 jonas 2014-01-01 16:46:53 UTC
(In reply to comment #0)
> When I change wallpapers in gnome shell, gnome-shell's memory usage climbs
> quite drastically.
> 
> Changing it via the settings panel using the default wallpapers increases
> memory usage by about 20mb each time.
> 
> Changing the wallpaper to a ~10mb file via gsettings increases gnome-shell's
> memory usage by about 200mb each time. 
> 
> i.e. it does not release the previous memory when changing to a new wallpaper,
> it keeps piling up.
> 
> (I discovered this while writing a script to download and change my wallpaper
> periodically and while testing the script gnome-shell's memory usage climbed to
> about 3gb)
> 
> I apologise if my reporting skills are not up to par, this is my first time.
> I'll be glad to supply any further information if that would help you.
> 
> Gnome Version: 3.8.3
> OS: 64bit Arch
Comment 13 Bastien Nocera 2014-11-07 09:50:20 UTC
The mutter and gnome-shell background handling were rewritten in GNOME 3.14, which should fix those problems. I'll close this bug as obsolete. File a new separate bug if you still see the problem in newer versions.

Please make sure to test gnome-shell 3.14.1 which contains additional background fixes.