System not freeing up memory/Programs continually using up more and more memory

How could I test for a memory leak? I used Valgrind on Plasma Shell, but it didn’t show anything out of the ordinary.

You can try Waterfox in Aur, that is what I use, and I don’t have these memory issues on KDE. Also, a bonus, Waterfox uses KDE’s Global Menu out of the box, if that applies to your setup.

No matter what browser I use, it still happens. I think it’s either a driver or something in the system causing this.

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What tool are you using to determine that swap is actually being used? I have seen the memory disappear countless times (on all DEs I have tried) - but I haven’t hit swap in 10 years or more…

I use both KDE’s built in memory checker (just called Memory Information) and I also use free -m as well as that other command.

Question. Does Swap automatically clear when not used or do you have to reboot to clear it?

There is no simple answer to this, it depends on many thing.

But it is safe to think about it this way: the kernel clears the swap memory whenever it needs to reuse it.

The post you replied to has the necessary steps to diagnose a hardware-related issue. :wink:

I tried the following:
-Swapping RAM
-Swapping GPU
-Disabling Discord Canary

But Plasma Shell and the other programs still have an increasing memory floor, if you know what I mean. I don’t know what to do :frowning:

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What is the Motherboard? Is there a UEFI BIOS update for it? Also have you tested the memory? How is it setup? Dual boot? Linux on its own drive? It could be a lot of things.

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  1. Motherboard: MSI X370 gaming plus
  2. Last stable BIOS release was back in 2019, and I updated it this year, so I’m covered.
  3. I’m going to double check my memory again
  4. Linux and Windows are on their own drive.

Edit: RAM is fine. Swapped it out and used Window’s mem checker.

I see you have a pretty high power consuming video card. Does it have separate power cables going to it or are they together? What about the power supply?

Separate power cables. I have a 750W G2 power supply. Right now, I’m using my old 1050 TI, which uses 75W

Okay that sounds good. So is it doing it also with the Nvidia card too or did you just change it?

Edit: Power supply sounds adequate.

It does it with a NVIDIA GPU as well.

I have the MSI X570 Gaming Plus. Matter of fact I just flashed the UEFI today. I am running the Ryzen 7 3800X with 32 GB memory. Triple boot Xfce, Cinnamon and KDE no issues.

Edit: Running AMD RX590

What do you think the issue is, or what can I do to fix it?

At this point I really don’t know. You say it’s the same on Windows too? You’ve checked ram, tried another video card. Reinstalled? What about the drives? All you have left is the drives and the board or the OS.

Edit:You’re sure the power supply is good? You can test it. Or get a tester to test it or have it tested?

Funny thing is, my PC froze right as I sent that message. I honestly will make a checklist and try to test everything I can. I’m new at Arch, and sort of Linux as well, so is there a command that automatically reinstalls drivers?

There probably is a command to reinstall all the packages but I don’t know it off the top of my head.

Edit:
It’s just odd. Did you say it happend also in Windows?