qemu/kvm memory question (programming.dev)

submitted 1 month ago by transporter_ii@programming.dev to c/linux4noobs@programming.dev

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Moved to Mint months back. I had to install Win10 in a kvm for a couple of things impossible on Linux. I allocated 16 gig of ram to the kvm. I can't really find anything on how that works, exactly. According to Stacer, I have a consistent 16 gig of ram being used, but that's between a running Win10 kvm and all of my other running Linux programs. I've never seen my system memory use move higher or lower than 16 gig of ram when the vm is running. Again, that's the kvm + normal Linux programs.

If I allocated 16 gig of ram to the kvm, shouldn't my memory usage be over 16 gig or ram with other Linux programs running?

About once a week, maybe two weeks, I open a new tab on a browser and it hangs my system. Nothing works but the mouse pointer.

I initially thought of a memory leak with Firefox, but it will also do it opening a new tab in Chrome.

The last time it hung up, I think I noticed the virtual machine manager icon was missing from the menu bar. I'm waiting for it to hang up again to verify this.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

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[-] transporter_ii@programming.dev 1 points 3 weeks ago

It's pretty much a default install of Linux Mint, with Cinnamon. I haven't even installed that many programs, yet. Pretty much a vm, vscode, 4 browsers, gimp, and some small utilities.

this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026

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