[Discuss] chronic cpu spikes - X and kworker have gone mad

[rpug at linux.com (Ryan Pugatch)]

> hi all,
>
> i'm playing with a new laptop.  tried running ubuntu 11.04 but it kept
> crashing.  tried running fedora 15 but it kept crashing.  guessed it had
> something to do with the environment so i installed xubuntu.  it's
> currently not crashing but i am getting a constant stream of spikes in
> cpu usage.  it appears x and kworker are eating up almost 100% of the
> cpu about once a second.
>
> any tips on how to stop this?  all my other linux boxes are happy.  but
> this inexpensive laptop is giving me the blues.
>

I ran into this after falling down the stairs with my laptop (ow!)  I did
some research and found that kworker eating lots of CPU can sometimes be
related to hardware problems.  I reseated the memory in the laptop and the
problem was resolved.  I'm not saying it's a hardware problem, but it
could be.

Ryan