[TAG] 480% CPU?

[Ben Okopnik]

On Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 01:07:52PM +0100, Neil Youngman wrote:
> Would anyone care to hazard a guess why top is claiming that the top 3 process 
> are between them using 480% CPU on a dual core box?

In my experience, 'top' sometimes goes off into lulu land and claims
silly crap. For some reason - I recall that someone explained it to me
once, but I've lost the index to the brain cells containing the
explanation - it has a problem with some processes (e.g. XFree86) which
do some strange thing that 'top' can't cope with - so it just lies.

In other words, put not your complete trust in the reports of 'top';
'tis a weak reed.

``
A prudent navigator will never limit himself to a single method,
particularly one requiring ... a device that is subject to mechanical
damage or loss.
 -- Nathaniel Bowditch, compiler of the first American compendium on
	navigation
''

It would be interesting to go through all the possible combinations of
the three processes (if possible) to get a better handle on what
triggers it, though.

Does the machine actually bog when you see this report, or is it just
showing this stuff without any external effect?


-- 
* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *