#295 Memory leaks using scripts

[Jim Ward]

Just upgraded to xfe 2.0 on three MX Linux installs. Thought there might be a mount command built in, but nope, so put together a simple script to do it (udiskclt mount ...). Works fine (sometimes, at least), but each time it's used, xfe's memory footprint seems to grow and grow. (Using ps_mem.py to report app memory usage, FWIW.) Is this a problem with the script or with xfe calling it?

BTW, love xfe's lightness (except for this issue!)! Still trying to get used to the xfwrite -> xfw change, though....

[Jim Ward]

Just ran an example. Prior to mounting one of my partitions via script, xfe's memory footprint was 30.5 MB. After mount, it's 32.7 MB. Then, after using xfe unmount menu action, it's 33.3 MB.

Did another one, went to 35 MB then 38.3 MB.

[Roland Baudin]

HI, thanks for the report. Here are my answers:

• custom mount command: it's in Edit / Preferences / Programs / Volume management
• memory leak: yes, I already found it and it's fixed in the next version (to be released very soon)
• name change: from the beginning, application names wer xfe, xfi, xfp, xfw and now xfa. Long time ago, the Debian package maintainer changed the name of xfi, xfw, and xfp applications because of name conflicts with some other (rather obscure?) packages.

[Jim Ward]

Thanks, Roland! I guess I didn't (still don't) know how to use the mount tool. I DID try it and could not get it to work for me.

FWIW, the main environment this is a bigger issue for me is in an MX Linux install on an HP Stream 13 notebook, which has a non-upgradable 2 GB RAM. On that machine, I don't keep anything always running like daemonized Thunar or udiskie.

The way I've been doing this is by making a bookmark to /dev/disks/by-uuid and when a USB stick is plugged in, it shows up there. I click on the entry for the USB, and tried the Tools > Mount approach, either the original mount command or the mount command in my script (or pmount), and it does nothing. If I use the Scripts > [my script], it works. What am I doing wrong?

As for the memory leak, it also happens when unmounting an auto-mounted drive. But I suppose you also knew that....

BTW, are there more lightweight tools developed with the Fox libraries out there? Xfe, xfw, et. al., are great!

[Roland Baudin]

In Xfe, mount points are directory paths, not devices. So if you have an automounter, Xfe will retrieve the mount point by reading /proc/mounts, and it will show up in the Places view.

If you don't have an automounter, then you need to define the mount point in /etc/fstab, like this (example):

/dev/sdd1 /media/my_name vfat defaults 0 0

and then, in Xfe you can mount / umount the USB disk, but only in root mode.

[Jim Ward]

Thanks, Roland, BUT -- not only did that not work for me, it caused me not to be able to boot my HP Stream 13 notebook running MX Linux 23.5 Fluxbox edition.

I finally waited long enough during the boot to see a message about a "timeout waiting for dev-sda.device...." I had to plug in a bootable USB linux and edit the /etc/fstab -- first thinking I must have flubbed the syntax or didn't have a CRLF at the end of the line or something. THEN I saw the comment at the top of the file:

# Pluggable devices are handled by uDev, they are not in fstab

I removed the line in fstab and the HP was able to boot again.

Apparently, uDev populates the /dev/disk/... tree when I plug in a USB stick in one of two places -- "by-id" or "by-uuid" . So I have these two as bookmarks and look for an obvious entry when I plug in a USB (they can wind up in different places), then I use my mount script (diskctl mount --block-device "&arg") and it works fine. I'll keep using this and live with the memory leak!

Thanks for your help, and thanks for this very fine app!!!

[Roland Baudin]

Maybe you need to tweak the options in fstab: I used 'defaults' but there are plenty others...
And the best would be to install an automounter...

[Jim Ward]

Yes, I CAN use "udiskie" to auto-mount my USB sticks. It just takes up ~25 MB (?) just sitting there all the time on my little 2 GB RAM machine, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

I spent much of the day trying various scripts, commands and such with the udev rules to auto-mount the USB sticks, and could not get it to work except to be mounted by and for root.

I have a working script solution that I'll just have to live with and use.

[Roland Baudin]

I tested this small program some time ago and it worked: https://github.com/tom5760/usermount

There is also this one: https://github.com/rbrito/usbmount (not tested), reported as working here: https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=311091

[Jim Ward]

I have fixed my problem regarding the automounts. Found out about udevil/devmon and started using it (added devmon & to my startup script). It's very small, way smaller than udiskie. Had to change the xfe unmount command to "udevil umount" so non-root user could unmount. Works, and I don't need to use the script I had. Thanks for your great software! (Still waiting for the fix to the memory leaks, however!)

[Roland Baudin]

Hi, I released today Xfe 2.0.1 with a fix for this memory leak.