I have a relatively simple Rainmeter layout as it uses 10% of my CPU at most. But lately, I noticed that it can take as much as 30% and that is pretty alarming. I tried unloading the skins to see what is the problem. But to my surprise, the CPU usage is still the same even when I unloaded all the skins so I must suspect that its the Rainmeter application itself thats taking the CPU, not the skins.
PS: when I enable Game Mode releases the CPU instead of manually disabling all of them...
I want to ask for anyone who knows what could be the problems thanks...
It is currently April 19th, 2024, 7:52 pm
Rainmeter itself is using so much CPU
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TheJArzelle
- Posts: 5
- Joined: January 22nd, 2023, 5:16 am
Rainmeter itself is using so much CPU
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Brian
- Developer
- Posts: 2679
- Joined: November 24th, 2011, 1:42 am
- Location: Utah
Re: Rainmeter itself is using so much CPU
Hmmm, never seen anything like this for the main Rainmeter app. Once a skin is unloaded, it isn't processing anything anymore.
The only thing I can think of is the few places where a separate thread is created. This usually only happens with the following measures Webparser, RecycleManager, and NowPlaying - and the plugins ActionTimer, FileView, InputText, Ping, RunCommand, and UsageMonitor.
While Webparser can hang occasionally, I have never seen it use CPU after the skin unloads. RecycleManager and FileView can take some time to complete their thread, but usually do not hang infinitely causing the spiked CPU usage. ActionTimer, InputText, Ping, RunCommand and UseageMonitor usually exit gracefully when the skin is closed. I have never heard of them hanging at all.
Theoretically, the RunCommand plugin could run an external program that might cause its thread to keep running, but any extra CPU usage should show under the external program, not Rainmeter - since it runs in its own address space.
The only other thing I can think of is if one of your skins is running a 3rd party plugin (or an addon) that is having an issue and causing the CPU usage.
What I would do is, start Rainmeter and unload all skins. Then restart Rainmeter (or you could use Rainmeter Safe Start). CPU should be virtually 0%. Load just 1 of the skins you were using when this happened. Let it run for a while and periodically check the CPU usage. If the CPU spikes, close the skin and check CPU again. If the high CPU usage remains, then that is the skin that causing the issue. If CPU usage returns to normal after closing the skin, then try the next skin, and repeat the process.
The key is to only have 1 skins running at a time when the issue happens, so we can narrow down the problem skin.
Once you know what skin it is, we can try to help find the issue from there.
-Brian
The only thing I can think of is the few places where a separate thread is created. This usually only happens with the following measures Webparser, RecycleManager, and NowPlaying - and the plugins ActionTimer, FileView, InputText, Ping, RunCommand, and UsageMonitor.
While Webparser can hang occasionally, I have never seen it use CPU after the skin unloads. RecycleManager and FileView can take some time to complete their thread, but usually do not hang infinitely causing the spiked CPU usage. ActionTimer, InputText, Ping, RunCommand and UseageMonitor usually exit gracefully when the skin is closed. I have never heard of them hanging at all.
Theoretically, the RunCommand plugin could run an external program that might cause its thread to keep running, but any extra CPU usage should show under the external program, not Rainmeter - since it runs in its own address space.
The only other thing I can think of is if one of your skins is running a 3rd party plugin (or an addon) that is having an issue and causing the CPU usage.
What I would do is, start Rainmeter and unload all skins. Then restart Rainmeter (or you could use Rainmeter Safe Start). CPU should be virtually 0%. Load just 1 of the skins you were using when this happened. Let it run for a while and periodically check the CPU usage. If the CPU spikes, close the skin and check CPU again. If the high CPU usage remains, then that is the skin that causing the issue. If CPU usage returns to normal after closing the skin, then try the next skin, and repeat the process.
The key is to only have 1 skins running at a time when the issue happens, so we can narrow down the problem skin.
Once you know what skin it is, we can try to help find the issue from there.
-Brian
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TheJArzelle
- Posts: 5
- Joined: January 22nd, 2023, 5:16 am
Re: Rainmeter itself is using so much CPU
So I tried your suggestion of loading them one by one, and yes I dont see any CPU spikes(just a maximum of 10%) so I tried loading them all one by one also and surprisingly, I dont see any CPU spikes even when they are all loaded.
Although when I tried to load the Backup layout that was generated by safe start (my original layout), the CPU usage spikes up again immediately... Weird... Here's the logs when I loaded my original layout: The Plugins used:
Although when I tried to load the Backup layout that was generated by safe start (my original layout), the CPU usage spikes up again immediately... Weird... Here's the logs when I loaded my original layout: The Plugins used:
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SilverAzide
- Rainmeter Sage
- Posts: 2604
- Joined: March 23rd, 2015, 5:26 pm
Re: Rainmeter itself is using so much CPU
You might have mentioned from the beginning that the log was filled with severe errors. Kind of important...TheJArzelle wrote: ↑January 28th, 2023, 9:38 am So I tried your suggestion of loading them one by one, and yes I dont see any CPU spikes(just a maximum of 10%) so I tried loading them all one by one also and surprisingly, I dont see any CPU spikes even when they are all loaded.
It looks to me like the problem is your Windows Performance Counters database is corrupted. It happens occasionally; it's nothing you did, so no worries there. The good news is that It is easy to fix. Go to the thread Fixing problems with UsageMonitor plugin. Scroll down to the second item, "Corrupted Performance Monitor counters database", and run the commands as described to rebuild the database. After that, reboot your PC. Check the Rainmeter log and ensure the errors regarding UsageMonitor no longer appear. Your CPU usage should also improve substantially.
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TheJArzelle
- Posts: 5
- Joined: January 22nd, 2023, 5:16 am
Re: Rainmeter itself is using so much CPU
Wow it actually worked!SilverAzide wrote: ↑January 28th, 2023, 4:38 pm You might have mentioned from the beginning that the log was filled with severe errors. Kind of important...
It looks to me like the problem is your Windows Performance Counters database is corrupted. It happens occasionally; it's nothing you did, so no worries there. The good news is that It is easy to fix. Go to the thread Fixing problems with UsageMonitor plugin. Scroll down to the second item, "Corrupted Performance Monitor counters database", and run the commands as described to rebuild the database. After that, reboot your PC. Check the Rainmeter log and ensure the errors regarding UsageMonitor no longer appear. Your CPU usage should also improve substantially.
Thank you so much..... I only saw the Logs when I was looking thru the Rainmeter a second time so yah thanks....
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