There's some stuff i need to clear out.

[waxmaster_c]

Yo peeps, i'm on Mint Cinnamon for a month and a half already, it's super cool and basically i have no complaints.
However, in this time, i noticed some stuff that's kinda confusing and i am not sure if this is normal or abnormal for Mint, or Linux basically. So i have three questions.

1. Is it normal for the RAM usage to increase over time? Normally it takes about 800 Mb at boot. Over the next couple of hours, it is usually at a Gig and half. When running for 20 hours or more, the RAM usage is usually at 4 Gigs or more.(I have 16 Gigs so it's plenty) but i still want to know if that's normal. Ctrl+Alt+Esc combo to reset Cinnamon reverts it back to about 800 Mb. Also one thing related to this RAM usage. CPU utilization is normally 0 % when idling. When running for more than 15 hours, CPU usage is 1 ~ 2 % when idling. Is this normal? Resetting Cinnamon gets it back at 0 %.

2.Idle network activity. My system monitor shows both incoming and outgoing network activity while the system is idling (zero open programs, only sys monitor is opened.) Both average about 400 bytes/sec with the blue and red lines reminiscent of that "human pulse activity". I have disabled check internet connectivity in privacy setting. Is this normal or is something more sinister communicating with it's servers?

3. Cinnamon random crashes. I suspect some applet or desklet is causing the crashing, but i cannot determine exactly which, because the crashes are really random. Sometimes i get multiple crashes through the day, but other times i can run for more than 2 days without a single crash. Is this normal? Logs about the crashes usually gets me something like this :

Process 1628 (cinnamon) of user 1000 crashed and dumped core. Stack trace of thread 1628:
#0  0x00007f97b1be818b __GI_raise (libc.so.6 + 0x4618b)
#1  0x00007f97b1bc7859 __GI_abort (libc.so.6 + 0x25859)
#2  0x00007f97b1bc7729 __assert_fail_base (libc.so.6 + 0x25729)
#3  0x00007f97b1bd8f36 __GI___assert_fail (libc.so.6 + 0x36f36)
#4  0x00007f97b1832b72 n/a (libcairo.so.2 + 0x16b72)
#5  0x00007f97b1845f77 n/a (libcairo.so.2 + 0x29f77)
#6  0x00007f97b18a195f cairo_arc (libcairo.so.2 + 0x8595f)
#7  0x00007f97b1a8f003 n/a (libcjs.so.0 + 0x8a003)
#8  0x00001c1459e9b140 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#9  0x0000560978a5b0c8 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#10 0x00001c1459e9ad93 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#11 0x00005609782fa348 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#12 0x00001c14598de69f n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#13 0x00007f97aed86cdd n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x86ccdd)
#14 0x00007f97ae679f76 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x15ff76)
#15 0x00007f97ae67a3ad n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x1603ad)
#16 0x00007f97ae67b543 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x161543)
#17 0x00007f97ae7174b1 _Z15JS_CallFunctionP9JSContextN2JS6HandleIP8JSObjectEENS2_IP10JSFunctionEERKNS1_16HandleValueArrayENS1_13MutableHandleINS1_5ValueEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x1fd4b1)
#18 0x00007f97b1a3fb78 n/a (libcjs.so.0 + 0x3ab78)
#19 0x00007f97b1a6c032 n/a (libcjs.so.0 + 0x67032)
#20 0x00007f97b2277802 g_closure_invoke (libgobject-2.0.so.0 + 0x14802)
#21 0x00007f97b228b814 n/a (libgobject-2.0.so.0 + 0x28814)
#22 0x00007f97b229647d g_signal_emit_valist (libgobject-2.0.so.0 + 0x3347d)
#23 0x00007f97b22970f3 g_signal_emit (libgobject-2.0.so.0 + 0x340f3)
#24 0x00007f97b204995d clutter_canvas_emit_draw (libmuffin-clutter-0.so + 0x7295d)
#25 0x00007f97b2050c45 clutter_content_invalidate (libmuffin-clutter-0.so + 0x79c45)
#26 0x00007f97b096bff5 n/a (libffi.so.7 + 0x6ff5)
#27 0x00007f97b096b40a n/a (libffi.so.7 + 0x640a)
#28 0x00007f97b1a45b04 n/a (libcjs.so.0 + 0x40b04)
#29 0x00007f97b1a45fcc n/a (libcjs.so.0 + 0x40fcc)
#30 0x00001c1459e9aaf7 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#31 0x000056097b25ad48 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#32 0x00001c1459e9ad93 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#33 0x00005609772ec630 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#34 0x00001c1459ebc75e n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#35 0x0000560976e1b5b8 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#36 0x00001c1459ebc75e n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#37 0x0000560979424b68 n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#38 0x00001c14598de69f n/a (n/a + 0x0)
#39 0x00007f97aed86cdd n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x86ccdd)
#40 0x00007f97ae679f76 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x15ff76)
#41 0x00007f97ae67a3ad n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x1603ad)
#42 0x00007f97ae67b543 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x161543)
#43 0x00007f97ae7e6bf0 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2ccbf0)
#44 0x00007f97ae67a5b3 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x1605b3)
#45 0x00007f97ae67b543 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x161543)
#46 0x00007f97ae716ec0 _ZN2JS4CallEP9JSContextNS_6HandleINS_5ValueEEES4_RKNS_16HandleValueArrayENS_13MutableHandleIS3_EE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x1fcec0)
#47 0x00007f97b1a7143e n/a (libcjs.so.0 + 0x6c43e)
#48 0x00007f97b1a716f8 n/a (libcjs.so.0 + 0x6c6f8)
#49 0x00007f97b1a709e2 n/a (libcjs.so.0 + 0x6b9e2)
#50 0x00007f97b218c04e g_main_context_dispatch (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x5204e)
#51 0x00007f97b218c400 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x52400)
#52 0x00007f97b218c6f3 g_main_loop_run (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x526f3)
#53 0x00007f97b1de3702 meta_run (libmuffin.so.0 + 0x4f702)
#54 0x00005609738fdafc main (cinnamon + 0x2afc)
#55 0x00007f97b1bc90b3 __libc_start_main (libc.so.6 + 0x270b3)
#56 0x00005609738fdc1e _start (cinnamon + 0x2c1e)

Stack trace of thread 1638:
#0  0x00007f97b0b06376 futex_wait_cancelable (libpthread.so.0 + 0x10376)
#1  0x00007f97aef1c027 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl4waitERNS0_9MutexImplE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02027)
#2  0x00007f97aef1c208 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl8wait_forERNS0_9MutexImplERKNS_16BaseTimeDurationINS_27TimeDurationValueCalculatorEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02208)
#3  0x00007f97ae79e2a9 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2842a9)
#4  0x00007f97ae79e344 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x284344)
#5  0x00007f97ae799b05 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x27fb05)
#6  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#7  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1636:
#0  0x00007f97b0b06376 futex_wait_cancelable (libpthread.so.0 + 0x10376)
#1  0x00007f97aef1c027 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl4waitERNS0_9MutexImplE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02027)
#2  0x00007f97aef1c208 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl8wait_forERNS0_9MutexImplERKNS_16BaseTimeDurationINS_27TimeDurationValueCalculatorEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02208)
#3  0x00007f97ae79e2a9 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2842a9)
#4  0x00007f97ae79e344 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x284344)
#5  0x00007f97ae799b05 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x27fb05)
#6  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#7  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1642:
#0  0x00007f97b0b06376 futex_wait_cancelable (libpthread.so.0 + 0x10376)
#1  0x00007f97aef1c027 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl4waitERNS0_9MutexImplE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02027)
#2  0x00007f97aef1c208 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl8wait_forERNS0_9MutexImplERKNS_16BaseTimeDurationINS_27TimeDurationValueCalculatorEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02208)
#3  0x00007f97ae79e2a9 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2842a9)
#4  0x00007f97ae79e344 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x284344)
#5  0x00007f97ae799b05 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x27fb05)
#6  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#7  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 12210:
#0  0x00007f97b1cbd89d syscall (libc.so.6 + 0x11b89d)
#1  0x00007f97b21d9746 g_cond_wait_until (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x9f746)
#2  0x00007f97b215c581 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x22581)
#3  0x00007f97b21b64ca n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7c4ca)
#4  0x00007f97b21b5ad1 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7bad1)
#5  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#6  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1641:
#0  0x00007f97b0b06376 futex_wait_cancelable (libpthread.so.0 + 0x10376)
#1  0x00007f97aef1c027 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl4waitERNS0_9MutexImplE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02027)
#2  0x00007f97aef1c208 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl8wait_forERNS0_9MutexImplERKNS_16BaseTimeDurationINS_27TimeDurationValueCalculatorEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02208)
#3  0x00007f97ae79e2a9 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2842a9)
#4  0x00007f97ae79e344 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x284344)
#5  0x00007f97ae799b05 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x27fb05)
#6  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#7  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 12208:
#0  0x00007f97b1cbd89d syscall (libc.so.6 + 0x11b89d)
#1  0x00007f97b21d9746 g_cond_wait_until (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x9f746)
#2  0x00007f97b215c581 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x22581)
#3  0x00007f97b21b64ca n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7c4ca)
#4  0x00007f97b21b5ad1 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7bad1)
#5  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#6  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1643:
#0  0x00007f97b0b06376 futex_wait_cancelable (libpthread.so.0 + 0x10376)
#1  0x00007f97aef1c027 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl4waitERNS0_9MutexImplE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02027)
#2  0x00007f97aef1c208 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl8wait_forERNS0_9MutexImplERKNS_16BaseTimeDurationINS_27TimeDurationValueCalculatorEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02208)
#3  0x00007f97ae79e2a9 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2842a9)
#4  0x00007f97ae79e344 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x284344)
#5  0x00007f97ae799b05 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x27fb05)
#6  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#7  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 12211:
#0  0x00007f97b1cbd89d syscall (libc.so.6 + 0x11b89d)
#1  0x00007f97b21d9746 g_cond_wait_until (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x9f746)
#2  0x00007f97b215c581 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x22581)
#3  0x00007f97b21b64ca n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7c4ca)
#4  0x00007f97b21b5ad1 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7bad1)
#5  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#6  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1639:
#0  0x00007f97b0b06376 futex_wait_cancelable (libpthread.so.0 + 0x10376)
#1  0x00007f97aef1c027 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl4waitERNS0_9MutexImplE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02027)
#2  0x00007f97aef1c208 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl8wait_forERNS0_9MutexImplERKNS_16BaseTimeDurationINS_27TimeDurationValueCalculatorEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02208)
#3  0x00007f97ae79e2a9 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2842a9)
#4  0x00007f97ae79e344 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x284344)
#5  0x00007f97ae799b05 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x27fb05)
#6  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#7  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1637:
#0  0x00007f97b0b06376 futex_wait_cancelable (libpthread.so.0 + 0x10376)
#1  0x00007f97aef1c027 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl4waitERNS0_9MutexImplE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02027)
#2  0x00007f97aef1c208 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl8wait_forERNS0_9MutexImplERKNS_16BaseTimeDurationINS_27TimeDurationValueCalculatorEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02208)
#3  0x00007f97ae79e2a9 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2842a9)
#4  0x00007f97ae79e344 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x284344)
#5  0x00007f97ae799b05 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x27fb05)
#6  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#7  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1640:
#0  0x00007f97b0b06376 futex_wait_cancelable (libpthread.so.0 + 0x10376)
#1  0x00007f97aef1c027 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl4waitERNS0_9MutexImplE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02027)
#2  0x00007f97aef1c208 _ZN7mozilla6detail21ConditionVariableImpl8wait_forERNS0_9MutexImplERKNS_16BaseTimeDurationINS_27TimeDurationValueCalculatorEEE (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0xa02208)
#3  0x00007f97ae79e2a9 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x2842a9)
#4  0x00007f97ae79e344 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x284344)
#5  0x00007f97ae799b05 n/a (libmozjs-78.so.0 + 0x27fb05)
#6  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#7  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1633:
#0  0x00007f97b1cb7aff __GI___poll (libc.so.6 + 0x115aff)
#1  0x00007f97b218c36e n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x5236e)
#2  0x00007f97b218c4a3 g_main_context_iteration (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x524a3)
#3  0x00007f97b218c4f1 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x524f1)
#4  0x00007f97b21b5ad1 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7bad1)
#5  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#6  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1635:
#0  0x00007f97b1cb7aff __GI___poll (libc.so.6 + 0x115aff)
#1  0x00007f97b218c36e n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x5236e)
#2  0x00007f97b218c4a3 g_main_context_iteration (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x524a3)
#3  0x00007f97aac6199d n/a (libdconfsettings.so + 0xa99d)
#4  0x00007f97b21b5ad1 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7bad1)
#5  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)
#6  0x00007f97b1cc4293 __clone (libc.so.6 + 0x122293)

Stack trace of thread 1634:
#0  0x00007f97b1cb7aff __GI___poll (libc.so.6 + 0x115aff)
#1  0x00007f97b218c36e n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x5236e)
#2  0x00007f97b218c6f3 g_main_loop_run (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x526f3)
#3  0x00007f97b23e1f8a n/a (libgio-2.0.so.0 + 0x11ef8a)
#4  0x00007f97b21b5ad1 n/a (libglib-2.0.so.0 + 0x7bad1)
#5  0x00007f97b0aff609 start_thread (libpthread.so.0 + 0x9609)

Thats about it. Kernel 5.13.0-21

 

[Condobloke]

Linux Mint 20.2

New Features in Linux Mint 20.2 'Uma' Cinnamon Edition - Linux Mint

Linux Mint is an elegant, easy to use, up to date and comfortable desktop operating system.

www.linuxmint.com

Performance and resource usage​

5 memory leaks were fixed in Cinnamon 5 and a new monitor was implemented to detect, log and tackle cases where Cinnamon takes too much memory.

Using the system settings you can now limit the maximum amount of RAM Cinnamon can use:


Memory limit in Cinnamon 5.0
If that maximum amount is reached Cinnamon will restart itself. You won't lose your session or your windows, Cinnamon will just be unresponsive for about a second while it restarts itself internally. It will keep a log of such events so that you can see if this happens often and help the development team troubleshoot the issue.

The Cinnamon screensaver daemon used to run constantly in the background. In Cinnamon 5.0 it now only runs on-demand when the screensaver needs to be activated. This results in a net minimum gain of about 20MB RAM on lean specs and up to a few hundred MB of RAM on some computers.

Although it's technically more akin to a code change and not a resource usage optimization, the response time for quickly switching between two applications using Alt+Tab was improved, giving the impression of a snappier desktop environment.

 

[KGIII]

1. Is it normal for the RAM usage to increase over time?

Yes.

2.Idle network activity.

Even though you're doing nothing, the computer is always doing something - from making sure your clock is accurate to checking for updates. It's also responding from things like keepalive from your MODEM/router.

You can check to see what's using your network easily enough.

3. Cinnamon random crashes.

Yeah, it does that. It's probably an extension/applet/desklet thing that Cinnamon has. Press Alt + F2, and then R and hit Enter and you can restart Cinnamon.

You can go through the applets/desklets one by one to try to figure out what it is and you can do an honest assessment to determine how many of those features you really 'need'.