ASUS Com Service (atkexComSvc.exe) Memory Leak

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Das_Saunamies
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ASUS Com Service (atkexComSvc.exe) Memory Leak

Post by Das_Saunamies » Thu Feb 21, 2013 3:38 am

Since this isn't strictly silence-related, I thought I'd put it in Off-Topic.

The problem: Asus software has a memory leak.

The story: Noticed something had eaten up a lot of RAM while playing Bad Company 2. Typically the consumption is high, but this time over 80% of my 8 GB were gone. I quit the game, quit Steam and ran the cleaner I use to keep Windows afloat, but the consumption wouldn't go below 3 GB. Exploring the task list showed that the Asus service had gone from the typical <10 MB into gigabyte-fraction territory.

The solution: The temporary solution was to simply restart the service and claim that .5 GB or more, as suggested by this article. The long-term solution is to use Speedfan and get rid of the dozen-or-so Asus components and their leak(s?).

Hooray for Speedfan! ... although the configuration interface is still stuck in the 90s.

lodestar
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Re: ASUS Com Service (atkexComSvc.exe) Memory Leak

Post by lodestar » Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:25 am

I think the long term solution is to use BIOS fan control and not rely on fan control software unless absolutely necessary. This eliminates any issues involved with software - even SpeedFan had some memory leak issues until the most recent releases. Most Asus motherboards have a choice of Silent, Standard and Turbo BIOS profiles. Some boards add a manual profile option in the BIOS. GigaByte have added a Silent profile to the BIOS to some of their recent motherboards.

However if I had the problem you describe and really couldn't get by with BIOS control then updating the Asus AI Suite software to the latest version might be worth trying. If that didn't work I would try the automated workaround that your forum link suggests.

edh
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Re: ASUS Com Service (atkexComSvc.exe) Memory Leak

Post by edh » Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:36 am

lodestar wrote:I think the long term solution is to use BIOS fan control and not rely on fan control software unless absolutely necessary.
+1. I don't trust software that comes from motherboard makers. They always seem to forego all user interface standards to have a dodecahdral interface rimmed with kryptonite. On the way this might add some marginal improvement for asian scripts but leaves the software worse in other ways.

Das_Saunamies
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Re: ASUS Com Service (atkexComSvc.exe) Memory Leak

Post by Das_Saunamies » Thu Feb 21, 2013 2:17 pm

BIOS control would be ideal, but so far it's been less than acceptable, both in functionality and reliability in my case. I burned out a video card because a BIOS-controlled fan stopped and the machine could not take any action to warn me or rectify the situation. The Silent settings so far haven't been well-matched with the typical 1000-1300 RPM fans I've used.

PS. Didn't know about the Speedfan memory leak(s). How hard is it to code in a safeguard for something like this?

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Re: ASUS Com Service (atkexComSvc.exe) Memory Leak

Post by aristide1 » Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:16 pm

Once Asus gets their act together they make a great product. If and when they manage to reach that stage is an entirely different beast. Run like the wind from their version 1.0 (or lower) motherboards. The Nexus 7, which they build, has more than ample teething problems. One of them was(?) spontaneous breakage of the screen, which they never acknowledged the problem exists let alone owning up to it. Newegg reviews of recently released products shows they do have interest in what's going on if enough people complain. The results (patches) help later buyers and those than can implement BIOS and firmware updates when possible. The rest are SOL.

There's a fine line between getting a technical marvel at bargain prices (such as the Nexus 7) and the old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true it probably is."

Das_Saunamies
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Re: ASUS Com Service (atkexComSvc.exe) Memory Leak

Post by Das_Saunamies » Sun Feb 24, 2013 3:21 pm

Ditto, aristide. "Mainstream" Asus products have been good value, but that value has come at a price - so to speak.

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Re: ASUS Com Service (atkexComSvc.exe) Memory Leak

Post by aristide1 » Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:58 pm

Ergo, Nexus 7 32GB plus accident coverage = $350. I can get a Kindle 8.9 32GB for that kind of money. A little less flexible in some ways, a little more in other ways.

Apparently the Nexus 7 doesn't want to play with USB On The Go. Don't care for that.

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