On Tuesday 04 May 2010 17:23:25 DB wrote: > Sometimes when I start my desktop, System Monitor tells me that "X" is > running at max CPU %-age. Other times, "X" is 4th or 5th in the list (I > selected the CPU column to put the highest users on top), using 1 or 2 %. > > So, my question to you all: What is "X" doing & how can I stop it doing > whatever & keep my CPU chip cool????? BTW, I have no idea what X is!!! > I've tried killing it & that usually kills my desktop; just now killing > it caused the system to restart. man Xserver says: <quote> NAME Xserver - X Window System display server SYNOPSIS X [option ...] DESCRIPTION X is the generic name for the X Window System display server. It is frequently a link or a copy of the appropriate server binary for driving the most frequently used server on a given machine. </quote> In other words, simply put, X is the program that produces picture on your monitor. KDE uses X to draw windows, mouse pointer (the "arrow") is drawn on the screen by X, and so on. X is the thing that sits between the graphics card driver and everything else on the system that wants to draw things on your screen. Killing X is a synonym to killing your "desktop". The only situation when X is not used is when you boot into runlevel 3 (terminal consoles, white- text-on-black-background experience). If X is spiking the CPU, the problem is probably due to your video card drivers, or KDE desktop effects or Compiz or a movie or game being played or some other graphics-intensive activity. If you describe what you are doing on the system when it spikes, it might help narrow down the problem. Otherwise, it's impossible to tell. HTH, :-) Marko -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines