SUMMARY plasmashell process reads the /usr/share/zoneinfo/{MY_AREA}/{MY_CITY} file 20-40 times per second, which creates unnecessary extra load to the hard drive. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. run: "sudo timeout 3s fatrace -p PID_OF_PLASMASHELL 2>&1 | grep R | wc -l" - see about 100 reads every 3 seconds (~30 per second) 2. run: "sudo timeout 3s strace -v -f -T -y -p PID_OF_PLASMASHELL 2>&1 | grep zoneinfo | grep 'read(' | grep ' = 0 ' | wc -l" - see about 120 reads every 3 seconds (~40 per second) OBSERVED RESULT strace logs are flooded with "read(46</usr/share/zoneinfo/{MY_AREA}/{MY_CITY}" lines. EXPECTED RESULT I think plasmashell should read this file only once when being started, and one more time if the current timezone is changed by the user. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Linux/KDE Plasma: openSUSE Leap 15.2 distro KDE Plasma Version: 5.18.6 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.71.0 Qt Version: 5.12.7 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Thanks for the detailed steps to reproduce, but I don't see this on my own system.
Okay I've nailed it down - it's a "Digital Clock" widget issue. Right-click the digital clock on the panel, then open "Configure Digital Clock..." and check the "Show seconds" checkbox, and then plasmashell will start to read the zoneinfo file 30-40 times every single second. P.S. there is a wrong command in my first comment - in "fatrace -p PID_OF_PLASMASHELL" the "-p" option will _ignore_ the provided PID, so a right command is: sudo timeout 3s fatrace 2>&1 | grep "($(pidof plasmashell))" | grep R | wc -l
Thanks. However I still cannot reproduce the issue when I enable "show seconds" in the Digital Clock. Note that I am using Plasma 5.23 (git master) while you are using 5.18, which is quite old at this point. So there is a chance this has been fixed since then.
I think I've nailed it down: I have multiple time zones set in the digital clock widget (to know which time it is in the different cities when I hover the mouse cursor above the digital clock). If I remove all time zones except the main one then the issue disappears. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. right click on the widget -> Configure Digital Clock 2. enable Appearance -> Show seconds 3. tick several time zones in Time Zones tab. 4. Apply, and run "sudo fatrace | grep $(pidof plasmashell)"
Interesting. Cannot reproduce with git master everything KDE on top of Fedora 36. Are you still using 5.18.6 with openSUSE Leap 15.2?
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #5) > Interesting. Cannot reproduce with git master everything KDE on top of > Fedora 36. Are you still using 5.18.6 with openSUSE Leap 15.2? I have upgraded to openSUSE Leap 15.3 however the new distro version still has the same version of KDE. Operating System: openSUSE Leap 15.3 KDE Plasma Version: 5.18.6 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.76.0 Qt Version: 5.12.7 Possibly they make some backports from the current version same as they do with the kernel, still I think that the reason of this bug is an old KDE version.
Yeah. I guess you would need to talk to them about it. Or just accept that experiencing old bugs is a consequence of using a "stable release" distro. :)