Still 100% CPU when using Kontact - nearly SOLVED!

[Errol Sapir]

HI Sinclair
I've used remastersys before in an earlier Kubuntu (11.04 I think). I 
now cannot install it. It is not "available" by trying apt-get install 
or via the Muon package manager. HUh? What is going on?
Errol

On 27/09/13 17:50, O. Sinclair wrote:
> 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.
>>
>
>