[X-Unix] monitor processes all night for usage?

[William H. Magill]

On 11 Jul, 2004, at 11:39, luke wrote:
> is there a simple way to monitor ALL processes all night in such a way 
> that in the morning i know why my fans in my powerbook keep running 
> all night and the machine is overly warm in the morning?

No, it's not as simple a problem as it appears on the surface.

One assumes that you are checking the dock and quitting any "inactive" 
applications. A great many apps are anything but "inactive" when simply 
"sitting there." (Mail is one that comes immediately to mind.)

You could let top run and look at the cumulative CPU time ... (Or the 
GUI version in Applications/Utilities  -- "Activity Monitor")

Disk activity is probably the culprit, but there is not an easy way to 
map which process is causing the activity. I/O statistics are reported 
by device, not process.

> would be nice if i could correlate the heat with an app or two.

You don't happen to have a CD or DVD in the drive, by chance?

If you do, it is spun up periodically (every 15 minutes?) to see what's 
on it.


T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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