Minimizing Cygwin/XFree86 under NT 4.0 with KDE auto-hide tas kba r active consumes CPU resources

[Steve Stone]

Reposted with corrected subject - sorry

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Stone 
> Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 2:00 PM
> To: 'cygwin-xfree@cygwin.com'
> Subject: FW: cygwin question 
> 
> 
> Hi Harold,
> 
> I am using XDMCP to logon to a Linux/UNIX machine that is running KDE.
> 
> To be sure that we are clear, the CPU usage I had noted was 
> on the NT box (thus not KDE).  I have now run 'top' on the 
> Linux box and the kpanel does not seem to require much time 
> (it jumps up to right below top, drop down and keeps 
> repeating that,  but not at a very high cpu demand on the 
> Linux box).  Also, the NT CPU time is not 100%, it is jumps 
> to 40% and then oscillates between 40% and 60% every second or so.  
> 
> This behavior is present for both the KDE task bar and the 
> KDE panel bar.
> 
> If I put the KDE Auto Hide setting at even one click up from 
> the lowest "Delay = small" setting, the NT cpu usage drops 
> dramatically to be 2-7%.  It also goes to zero after the 
> minimize icon is clicked.  The Speed and Animate settings do 
> not seem to affect the CPU usage much.
> 
> As long as the mouse is hovering over either the panel bar 
> and/or the title bar (and the Auto Hide is at the shortest 
> delay), the CPU usage is up.  This is with no mouse movement, 
> just parked over the panel bar.
> 
> Steve Stone
> 503.672.5771
> 
> 
> > 
> 	>  -----Original Message-----
> 	> From: 	Harold L Hunt II 
> 	> Sent:	Wed, 07 Aug 2002 13:50:14 -0400
> 	> To:		cygwin-xfree at cygwin dot com
> 	> Subject:	Re: Minimizing Cygwin/XFree86 consumes 
> CPU resources 
> 	> 
> 	> Steve,
> 	> 
> 	> Let me get one thing straight: are you running KDE locally on 
> 	> your Windows machine, or are you using XDMCP to logon to a 
> 	> Linux/UNIX machine that is running KDE?
> 	> 
> 	> KDE running on Cygwin is nowhere near even a beta release... 
> 	> any problems you have are expected and they are being worked 
> 	> on by the KDE on Cygiwn developers.
> 	> 
> 	> If, on the other hand, you are simply viewing a KDE session 
> 	> running on another machine, then we would be somewhat 
> 	> interested in figuring out why KDE takes 100% of the CPU when 
> 	> its taskbar is displayed.
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> With all of that out of the way, I have a little information 
> 	> on the side for you and one question.
> 	> 
> 	> Mouse messages in X are actually initiated by the movement of 
> 	> the mouse. You don't have to poll the mouse to find out if it 
> 	> has moved, you simply wait for a message that says, ``the 
> 	> mouse has moved''. When you move the Windows mouse cursor out 
> 	> of the Cygwin/XFree86 window in the manner that you 
> 	> described, the last mouse message sent to X, hence KDE, is 
> 	> the last valid position that the mouse cursor had in the 
> 	> Cygwin/XFree86 window. No more mouse messages are sent after 
> 	> the Windows mouse cursor leaves the ``client area'' of the 
> 	> Cygwin/XFree86 window, so KDE is not likely having a problem 
> 	> with invalid mouse coordinates or with the mouse 
> continuing to move.
> 	> 
> 	> Question: What happens to the CPU usage if you make the KDE 
> 	> taskbar always shown?
> 	> 
> 	> Expected answer: The CPU usage jumps to 100%, regardless of 
> 	> whether the mouse is over the KDE taskbar or not.
> 	> 
> 	> Reasoning: The KDE taskbar can have little ``applets'' that 
> 	> run in the taskbar and provide various information such as 
> 	> when new mail has arrived, when new instant messages have 
> 	> arrived, etc. Many of these programs will catch the hidden 
> 	> state of the taskbar and cease updating their display until 
> 	> the taskbar is shown again. I suspect that the real culprit 
> 	> in taking 100% of the CPU here is either the KDE taskbar 
> 	> itself or one of these applets running in the KDE taskbar.
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> Answer that one question and we will be able to tell for sure 
> 	> whether you are going to have to talk to the KDE on Cygwin 
> 	> folks rather than us :) Plus, I am interested to know the 
> 	> root cause here as well.
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> Harold
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> Steve Stone wrote:
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 		> Please forgive any ignorance of mine 
> demonstrated by this 
> 		> note. Also please
> 		> forgive the length of the message. :-)
> 		> 
> 		> We downloaded the newest Cygwin/XFree86 on 
> Jul 7th. I don't 
> 		> know how what
> 		> file to look at in the unpack directory to 
> verify what version we are
> 		> running, but I believe it is 1.3.12-1.
> 		> 
> 		> I am using KDE (according to the KDE Control 
> Center GUI, it 
> 		> is KDE version
> 		> 1.1.2) and I had the task bar set to the top 
> and to "Auto 
> 		> Hide" with the
> 		> smallest delay, fastest speed, and the 
> Animate set fairly low 
> 		> (about 5 ticks
> 		> up).
> 		> 
> 		> The Cygwin/XFree86 window is the only X item 
> on my Windows 
> 		> task bar and it
> 		> takes the whole screen when present. The 
> Alt/Space does not 
> 		> drop down the
> 		> System menu (from the Cygwin/XFree86 system 
> icon on the left 
> 		> side of the
> 		> title bar, so I move the mouse up to the 
> minimize button 
> 		> (icon) on the right
> 		> side of the title bar. 
> 		> As the mouse moves over the area assigned to 
> the KDE task 
> 		> bar, it pops up
> 		> (as it should) and the NT Task Manager CPU 
> load jumps up to 
> 		> float around
> 		> 40-60% for the XWin.exe. Then, the KDE task 
> bar stays up 
> 		> while the mouse is
> 		> over the Cygwin/XFree86 title bar. When I 
> push the minimize 
> 		> button, the CPU
> 		> load stays the same.
> 		> 
> 		> This is true even when some other Windows 
> program currently 
> 		> has the focus
> 		> (e.g. Launch Mozilla then Cygwin/XFree86. 
> Alt/Tab from 
> 		> Cygwin/XFree86 to
> 		> Mozilla. The KDE task bar can be activated by 
> simply moving 
> 		> the mouse over
> 		> that area even though Cygwin/XFree86 does not 
> have the active focus. 
> 		> Now position the Mozilla (or other Windows 
> program) partly over the
> 		> Cygwin/XFree86 title bar. With the KDE 
> auto-hide task bar NOT 
> 		> active, there
> 		> is a path to the Cygwin/XFree86 title bar 
> that does NOT 
> 		> activate the KCD
> 		> task bar. When minimized like this, the CPU 
> load is NOT increased.
> 		> 
> 		> My belief is that the interaction between the 
> KDE auto-hide bar and
> 		> Cygwin/XFree86 requires that the mouse 
> messages be monitored 
> 		> by the KDE. So
> 		> I presume the socket for the X messages must 
> then be getting 
> 		> used by KDE
> 		> asking "Has the mouse moved away from the 
> active bar area?". 
> 		> It seems to me
> 		> that it has but that Cygwin/XFree86 can not 
> determine this. 
> 		> I know very little about X messages. Is there 
> something that 
> 		> can be done
> 		> about this besides move the task bar to the 
> bottom bar and/or 
> 		> make it not
> 		> auto-hide? 
> 		> Also, is there some way to make the Alt/Space 
> combination activate the
> 		> Cygwin/XFree86 Windows system menu?
> 		> 
> 		> Thank you,
> 		> 
> 		> Steve Stone
> 		> 
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> 
> 	> Steve Stone
> 	> 503.672.5771
> 	> 
> 	> 
>