[Bug 1219786] [NEW] Frantic disk activity by check-new-release makes system temporarily almost unusable

[halfbeing]

Public bug reported:

A little while ago my system suddenly became extremely slow, to the
point of being unusable for normal work. This went on for several
minutes. The disk light was on constantly. On running iotop I discovered
that the main culprit was a ".../check-new-release -q" process. This is
one of many programs that periodically cause excessive disk
reading/writing and bring my system to its knees for periods typically
lasting several minutes. Together they constitute a massive usability
problem.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: ubuntu-release-upgrader-core 1:0.192.12
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-29.21-lowlatency 3.8.13.5
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-29-lowlatency x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8.3
Architecture: amd64
CrashDB: ubuntu
Date: Mon Sep  2 13:16:36 2013
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-08-22 (10 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Studio 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
MarkForUpload: True
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: ubuntu-release-upgrader
Symptom: ubuntu-release-upgrader
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

** Affects: ubuntu-release-upgrader (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug dist-upgrade raring

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1219786

Title:
  Frantic disk activity by check-new-release makes system temporarily
  almost unusable

Status in “ubuntu-release-upgrader” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  A little while ago my system suddenly became extremely slow, to the
  point of being unusable for normal work. This went on for several
  minutes. The disk light was on constantly. On running iotop I
  discovered that the main culprit was a ".../check-new-release -q"
  process. This is one of many programs that periodically cause
  excessive disk reading/writing and bring my system to its knees for
  periods typically lasting several minutes. Together they constitute a
  massive usability problem.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
  Package: ubuntu-release-upgrader-core 1:0.192.12
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-29.21-lowlatency 3.8.13.5
  Uname: Linux 3.8.0-29-lowlatency x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8.3
  Architecture: amd64
  CrashDB: ubuntu
  Date: Mon Sep  2 13:16:36 2013
  EcryptfsInUse: Yes
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-08-22 (10 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Studio 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
  MarkForUpload: True
  PackageArchitecture: all
  SourcePackage: ubuntu-release-upgrader
  Symptom: ubuntu-release-upgrader
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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