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qemu/kvm memory question (programming.dev)
submitted 1 week ago by transporter_ii@programming.dev to c/linux4noobs@programming.dev
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Moved to Mint months back. I had to install Win10 in a kvm for a couple of things impossible on Linux. I allocated 16 gig of ram to the kvm. I can't really find anything on how that works, exactly. According to Stacer, I have a consistent 16 gig of ram being used, but that's between a running Win10 kvm and all of my other running Linux programs. I've never seen my system memory use move higher or lower than 16 gig of ram when the vm is running. Again, that's the kvm + normal Linux programs.

If I allocated 16 gig of ram to the kvm, shouldn't my memory usage be over 16 gig or ram with other Linux programs running?

About once a week, maybe two weeks, I open a new tab on a browser and it hangs my system. Nothing works but the mouse pointer.

I initially thought of a memory leak with Firefox, but it will also do it opening a new tab in Chrome.

The last time it hung up, I think I noticed the virtual machine manager icon was missing from the menu bar. I'm waiting for it to hang up again to verify this.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

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[-] refalo@programming.dev 1 points 1 week ago

If you can still switch to the console, then check dmesg and/or journalctl -eb for any issues. But this at least tells you the system itself is not frozen. The kernel still works.

I would try to restart your login manager/desktop environment and see if that brings you back to a working desktop. If so then it sounds like a software bug in your DE. You could try switching to a different one and see if that helps anything. As a last resort you could also try a completely different Linux distro.

[-] transporter_ii@programming.dev 1 points 2 days ago

Ugh. It took me a couple of weeks to everything I needed working on this pc. If I have to reboot every week or two, not that big a deal.

I did try and restart my desktop, but it failed. I don't think I did it right. I found some instructions specific to Cinnamon. I will try them next time.

I still think it possibly has something to do with either video or memory. It isn't every single time, but no small number of times it freezes, I am doing something on youtube, and then open a new tab in either Firefox or Chromium. It's like moving that video to the background or opening that new tab went over a limit with memory. I was sure it was videos, but then I have done it a few times with no videos going. For sure, it always involves a browser, but that's because I work on web pages all day long and that's what I'm always using. Still, it's never done it when I'm in any other program.

this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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