Hi!

My computer suffers from high load average when the system is idle,
introduced by commit 44d306e1508fef6fa7a6eb15a1aba86ef68389a6 .

Long story:

2.6.20 and all later versions I've tested, including 2.6.21 and
2.6.22, make the load average high. Even when the computer is totally
idle (I've tested in single user mode), the load average end up
at ~0.30. The computer is still responsive, and the only fault seems
to be the too high load average. All versions up to and including
2.6.19.7 is fine, and don't suffer from the problem.

I git bisect between 2.6.19 and 2.6.20 gave me
44d306e1508fef6fa7a6eb15a1aba86ef68389a6 "[PATCH] user of the jiffies
rounding code: JBD" as the first patch with the
problem. 2.6.20 with 44d306e1508fef6fa7a6eb15a1aba86ef68389a6 reverted
works fine. 2.6.23-rc8 with 44d306e1508fef6fa7a6eb15a1aba86ef68389a6
reverted also works fine.

This fixes the problem:

-------------------------- fs/jbd/transaction.c -----------------------------
index cceaf57..d38e0d5 100644
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ get_transaction(journal_t *journal, transaction_t *transaction)
 	spin_lock_init(&transaction->t_handle_lock);
 
 	/* Set up the commit timer for the new transaction. */
-	journal->j_commit_timer.expires = round_jiffies(transaction->t_expires);
+	journal->j_commit_timer.expires = transaction->t_expires;
 	add_timer(&journal->j_commit_timer);
 
 	J_ASSERT(journal->j_running_transaction == NULL);


I've only seen this problem on my home desktop computer. My work
desktop computer and several other computers at work don't suffer from
this problem. However, all other computers I've tested on is using
AMD64 as architecture, and not i386 as my home desktop computer.

Please let me know how I can assist in further debugging of this, if
needed.

System info:

A Debian stable system with ABIT KV7 MB, VIA KT600 chipset,
Athlon XP 1500+ CPU, GeForce DDR and Atheros AR5212 wlan
board. Details below.

I've tested without nvidia and the madwifi modules listed below, with
the same results.

eckert:/usr/src/linux-2.6>sh scripts/ver_linux 
If some fields are empty or look unusual you may have an old version.
Compare to the current minimal requirements in Documentation/Changes.
 
Linux eckert.bostrom.dyndns.org 2.6.20noload #1 Mon Oct 1 21:36:19 CEST 2007 i686 GNU/Linux
 
Gnu C                  4.1.2
Gnu make               3.81
binutils               2.17
util-linux             2.12r
mount                  2.12r
module-init-tools      3.3-pre2
e2fsprogs              1.40-WIP
Linux C Library        2.3.6
Dynamic linker (ldd)   2.3.6
Procps                 3.2.7
Net-tools              1.60
Console-tools          0.2.3
Sh-utils               5.97
udev                   105
wireless-tools         28
Modules Loaded         nls_iso8859_1 nls_cp437 nvidia wlan_tkip iptable_filter ip_tables x_tables softdog snd_via82xx snd_ac97_codec ac97_bus snd_mpu401_uart snd_seq_midi snd_rawmidi wlan_scan_sta ath_rate_sample ath_pci wlan ath_hal

eckert:~> cat /proc/cpuinfo 
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : AuthenticAMD
cpu family      : 6
model           : 6
model name      : AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1500+
stepping        : 2
cpu MHz         : 1383.971
cache size      : 256 KB
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 1
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse syscall mp mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow ts
bogomips        : 2769.67
clflush size    : 32

eckert:~> cat /proc/ioports
0000-001f : dma1
0020-0021 : pic1
0040-0043 : timer0
0050-0053 : timer1
0060-006f : keyboard
0070-0077 : rtc
0080-008f : dma page reg
00a0-00a1 : pic2
00c0-00df : dma2
00f0-00ff : fpu
0170-0177 : 0000:00:0f.1
  0170-0177 : libata
01f0-01f7 : 0000:00:0f.1
  01f0-01f7 : libata
0295-0296 : w83627hf
0376-0376 : 0000:00:0f.1
  0376-0376 : libata
03c0-03df : vesafb
03f6-03f6 : 0000:00:0f.1
  03f6-03f6 : libata
0cf8-0cff : PCI conf1
4000-407f : motherboard
  4000-4003 : ACPI PM1a_EVT_BLK
  4004-4005 : ACPI PM1a_CNT_BLK
  4008-400b : ACPI PM_TMR
  4010-4015 : ACPI CPU throttle
  4020-4023 : ACPI GPE0_BLK
5000-500f : motherboard
  5000-5007 : vt596_smbus
c000-c007 : 0000:00:0f.0
  c000-c007 : sata_via
c400-c403 : 0000:00:0f.0
  c400-c403 : sata_via
c800-c807 : 0000:00:0f.0
  c800-c807 : sata_via
cc00-cc03 : 0000:00:0f.0
  cc00-cc03 : sata_via
d000-d00f : 0000:00:0f.0
  d000-d00f : sata_via
d400-d4ff : 0000:00:0f.0
  d400-d4ff : sata_via
d800-d80f : 0000:00:0f.1
  d800-d80f : libata
dc00-dc1f : 0000:00:10.0
  dc00-dc1f : uhci_hcd
e000-e01f : 0000:00:10.1
  e000-e01f : uhci_hcd
e400-e41f : 0000:00:10.2
  e400-e41f : uhci_hcd
e800-e81f : 0000:00:10.3
  e800-e81f : uhci_hcd
ec00-ecff : 0000:00:11.5
  ec00-ecff : VIA8237
eckert:~> cat /proc/iomem 
00000000-0009f3ff : System RAM
0009f400-0009ffff : reserved
000a0000-000bffff : Video RAM area
000c0000-000cbbff : Video ROM
000f0000-000fffff : System ROM
00100000-1feeffff : System RAM
  00100000-00302afc : Kernel code
  00302afd-003a7b53 : Kernel data
1fef0000-1fef2fff : ACPI Non-volatile Storage
1fef3000-1fefffff : ACPI Tables
e0000000-e7ffffff : PCI Bus #01
  e0000000-e7ffffff : 0000:01:00.0
    e0000000-e1ffffff : vesafb
e8000000-e9ffffff : PCI Bus #01
  e8000000-e8ffffff : 0000:01:00.0
    e8000000-e8ffffff : nvidia
  e9000000-e900ffff : 0000:01:00.0
ea000000-ebffffff : 0000:00:00.0
ec000000-ec00ffff : 0000:00:0b.0
  ec000000-ec00ffff : ath
ec010000-ec0100ff : 0000:00:10.4
  ec010000-ec0100ff : ehci_hcd
fec00000-fec00fff : reserved
fee00000-fee00fff : reserved
ffff0000-ffffffff : reserved
eckert:~> cat /proc/scsi/scsi 
Attached devices:
Host: scsi0 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
  Vendor: ATA      Model: HDT722525DLA380  Rev: V44O
  Type:   Direct-Access                    ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Host: scsi1 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
  Vendor: ATA      Model: HDT722525DLA380  Rev: V44O
  Type:   Direct-Access                    ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Host: scsi2 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
  Vendor: _NEC     Model: DVD_RW ND-1300A  Rev: 1.0B
  Type:   CD-ROM                           ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Host: scsi2 Channel: 00 Id: 01 Lun: 00
  Vendor: HL-DT-ST Model: CD-RW GCE-8240B  Rev: 1.07
  Type:   CD-ROM                           ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Host: scsi3 Channel: 00 Id: 00 Lun: 00
  Vendor: ATA      Model: IC35L120AVV207-0 Rev: V24O
  Type:   Direct-Access                    ANSI SCSI revision: 05
eckert:~# lspci -vvv
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8377 [KT400/KT600 AGP] Host Bridge (rev 80)
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 8
        Region 0: Memory at ea000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
        Capabilities: [80] AGP version 3.5
                Status: RQ=32 Iso- ArqSz=0 Cal=2 SBA+ ITACoh- GART64- HTrans- 64bit- FW+ AGP3- Rate=x1,x2,x4
                Command: RQ=1 ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA+ AGP+ GART64- 64bit- FW+ Rate=x4
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI Bridge (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
        I/O behind bridge: 0000f000-00000fff
        Memory behind bridge: e8000000-e9ffffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: e0000000-e7ffffff
        Secondary status: 66MHz+ FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ <SERR- <PERR-
        BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- NoISA+ VGA+ MAbort- >Reset- FastB2B-
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Global Sun Technology Inc Trust Speedshare Turbo Pro Wireless PCI Adapter
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 168 (2500ns min, 7000ns max), Cache Line Size: 32 bytes
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 18
        Region 0: Memory at ec000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=2 PME-

00:0f.0 RAID bus controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller (rev 80)
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. KV7
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 32
        Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 16
        Region 0: I/O ports at c000 [size=8]
        Region 1: I/O ports at c400 [size=4]
        Region 2: I/O ports at c800 [size=8]
        Region 3: I/O ports at cc00 [size=4]
        Region 4: I/O ports at d000 [size=16]
        Region 5: I/O ports at d400 [size=256]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 32
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 16
        Region 0: [virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
        Region 1: [virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
        Region 2: [virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
        Region 3: [virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
        Region 4: I/O ports at d800 [size=16]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 32, Cache Line Size: 32 bytes
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 17
        Region 4: I/O ports at dc00 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 32, Cache Line Size: 32 bytes
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 17
        Region 4: I/O ports at e000 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 32, Cache Line Size: 32 bytes
        Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 17
        Region 4: I/O ports at e400 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 32, Cache Line Size: 32 bytes
        Interrupt: pin B routed to IRQ 17
        Region 4: I/O ports at e800 [size=32]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:10.4 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV+ VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 32, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
        Interrupt: pin C routed to IRQ 17
        Region 0: Memory at ec010000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0+,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [KT600/K8T800/K8T890 South]
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping+ SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 0
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60)
        Subsystem: ABIT Computer Corp. Unknown device 1408
        Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Interrupt: pin C routed to IRQ 19
        Region 0: I/O ports at ec00 [size=256]
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV10DDR [GeForce 256 DDR] (rev 10) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
        Subsystem: LeadTek Research Inc. WinFast GeForce 256
        Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B-
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR-
        Latency: 248 (1250ns min, 250ns max)
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 20
        Region 0: Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        Region 1: Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at e9000000 [disabled] [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 1
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
                Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
        Capabilities: [44] AGP version 2.0
                Status: RQ=32 Iso- ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA+ ITACoh- GART64- HTrans- 64bit- FW+ AGP3- Rate=x1,x2,x4
                Command: RQ=32 ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA+ AGP+ GART64- 64bit- FW+ Rate=x4

eckert:~# 

/ Anders