Public bug reported:
Ubuntu release: 24.04.4 LTS (Noble)
Affected package: linux-image-7.0.0-28-generic 7.0.0-28.28~24.04.1
Previous working kernel: 6.17.0-40-generic
Expected:
The host remains responsive after booting the supported HWE kernel with the
i915 driver loaded.
Actual:
Normal boots of 7.0.0-28 with i915 on Intel Sandy Bridge graphics [8086:0116]
generate tens of thousands of "Purging GPU memory" messages, extreme memory and
swap pressure, major page faults, and systemd-oomd kills. SSH may accept TCP
but interactive sessions stall.
A representative 7.0 boot recorded 42,761 purge messages, 17 killed
user.slice groups, load average 132.43 on 4 logical CPUs, 122 blocked
tasks, 4,633 major page faults/s, about 130 MB/s disk reads, swap-in up
to 5,989 pages/s and swap-out up to 2,053 pages/s.
The regression is isolated to normal 7.0/i915 operation:
- 6.17.0-40 normal boot: stable, 0 purge messages, 0 OOMD kills.
- 7.0.0-28 normal boot: repeated purge storm and system thrashing across
multiple boots.
- 7.0.0-28 recovery boot with nomodeset: stable, 0 purge messages and 0 OOMD
kills with the same main services running.
- Returning to 6.17.0-40 normal boot restores stable memory, empty swap and
zero memory PSI.
The report was collected while booted into the 6.17 fallback because
normal 7.0 boots become nearly unusable. Full Apport hardware data,
previous-boot log excerpts, comparison counts, sysstat evidence and
workaround are attached.
Workaround:
Boot and pin 6.17.0-40-generic, keeping a visible GRUB menu for controlled
testing of a fixed kernel.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: linux-image-7.0.0-28-generic 7.0.0-28.28~24.04.1
Regression: Yes
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.17.0-40.40~24.04.1-generic 6.17.13
Uname: Linux 6.17.0-40-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.28.2-0ubuntu0.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: michal 2278 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/seq: michal 2271 F.... pipewire
BootComparison:
6.17.0-40 normal boot before update: 0 GPU purge messages and 0 user.slice
OOMD kills; stable for multiple days.
7.0.0-28 normal boot at 2026-07-17 05:54 CEST: 42,761 GPU purge messages and
17 user.slice OOMD kills.
Other normal 7.0 boots recorded 24,261; 37,077; 20,805; 17,789; 24,263;
10,298; 9,323; and 6,946 GPU purge messages.
7.0.0-28 recovery boot with nomodeset: 0 GPU purge messages, 0 OOMD kills and
stable memory while the same main services were running.
6.17.0-40 normal fallback after incident: 0 GPU purge messages, 0 OOMD kills,
empty swap and zero memory PSI.
CRDA: N/A
CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown
CurrentDmesg: Error: command ['pkexec', 'dmesg'] failed with exit code 127:
Error creating textual authentication agent: Error opening current controlling
terminal for the process (`/dev/tty'): No such device or address
Date: Fri Jul 17 08:26:08 2026
IncidentSummary:
Expected: the host remains responsive after booting the supported HWE kernel.
Actual: normal boots of 7.0.0-28 with i915 loaded produce tens of thousands of
"Purging GPU memory" messages, extreme memory/swap pressure, major page faults,
load above 130 on 4 logical CPUs and systemd-oomd kills. SSH accepts TCP
intermittently but sessions stall. Booting 7.0.0-28 recovery with nomodeset is
stable, and normal 6.17.0-40 is stable with the same services.
Hardware: Intel Sandy Bridge integrated graphics 8086:0116 (Lenovo subsystem
17aa:21dd), i915.
Regression introduced by: linux-image-7.0.0-28-generic 7.0.0-28.28~24.04.1,
upgraded from HWE 6.17.0-40.
The report was collected while booted into the stable 6.17.0-40 fallback
because normal 7.0 boots become nearly unusable.
InstallationDate: Installed on 2025-03-01 (503 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS "Noble Numbat" - Release amd64 (20250215)
MachineType: LENOVO 78544VG
ProcEnviron:
LANG=pl_PL.UTF-8
PATH=(custom, no user)
SHELL=/bin/bash
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.17.0-40-generic
root=UUID=57f8951f-9d0f-4e72-8b66-e760f92fe1da ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
PulseList: Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: No
PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
RelatedPackageVersions:
linux-restricted-modules-6.17.0-40-generic N/A
linux-backports-modules-6.17.0-40-generic N/A
linux-firmware 20240318.git3b128b60-0ubuntu2.27
ReproductionSteps:
1. Install linux-image-7.0.0-28-generic on Ubuntu 24.04.4 HWE with the Intel
8086:0116 GPU.
2. Boot normally without nomodeset so i915 loads.
3. Observe journalctl -k for "Purging GPU memory", vmstat/sar for swap and
major faults, and systemd-oomd for user.slice kills.
4. Boot the same kernel in recovery with nomodeset, or boot 6.17.0-40
normally, and compare.
SourcePackage: linux-hwe-7.0
SysstatEvidence: Representative 7.0 boot peak/observed values: load average
132.43, 122 blocked tasks, 4,633 major page faults/s, about 130 MB/s disk
reads, swap-in up to 5,989 pages/s, swap-out up to 2,053 pages/s and committed
memory around 164 percent.
Title: [noble] linux 7.0.0-28 i915 regression causes GPU purge storm, swap
thrashing and systemd-oomd kills
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
Workaround: Boot linux 6.17.0-40-generic and pin its exact GRUB menu entry. The
host is stable on this kernel. Keep a visible GRUB menu for controlled testing
of a fixed kernel.
acpidump: Error: command ['pkexec', '/usr/share/apport/dump_acpi_tables.py']
failed with exit code 127: Error creating textual authentication agent: Error
opening current controlling terminal for the process (`/dev/tty'): No such
device or address
dmi.bios.date: 02/09/2011
dmi.bios.release: 1.5
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 8GET28WW (1.05 )
dmi.board.name: 78544VG
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.ec.firmware.release: 1.2
dmi.modalias:
dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr8GET28WW(1.05):bd02/09/2011:br1.5:efr1.2:svnLENOVO:pn78544VG:pvrThinkPadL420:rvnLENOVO:rn78544VG:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:sku:
dmi.product.family: ThinkPad L420
dmi.product.name: 78544VG
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad L420
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
** Affects: linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: amd64 apport-bug i915 kernel-7.0 noble regression-update
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2161052
Title:
[noble] linux 7.0.0-28 i915 regression causes GPU purge storm, swap
thrashing and systemd-oomd kills
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