Timeshift very slow on updates

Hi. Since a couple of updates (basically, it happened after my summer vacation — maybe it’s a karma thing for leaving my PC unattended for almost one month…), every update became slow because there is a mysterious, 0-size timeshift snapshot that fails to be deleted. The relevant log is this (inxi data below):

(1/1) Creating Timeshift snapshot before upgrade...
Using system disk as snapshot device for creating snapshots in BTRFS mode
Mounted '/dev/nvme0n1p2' (subvolid=0) at '/run/timeshift/17041/backup'
Creating new backup...(BTRFS)
Saving to device: /dev/nvme0n1p2, mounted at path: /run/timeshift/17041/backup
Created directory: /run/timeshift/17041/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-09-07_20-14-47
Created subvolume snapshot: /run/timeshift/17041/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-09-07_20-14-47/@
Created control file: /run/timeshift/17041/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-09-07_20-14-47/info.json
BTRFS Snapshot saved successfully (0s)
Tagged snapshot '2025-09-07_20-14-47': ondemand
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mounted '/dev/nvme0n1p2' (subvolid=0) at '/run/timeshift/17170/backup'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing snapshot: 2025-09-02_20-19-01
Deleted directory: /run/timeshift/17170/backup/timeshift-btrfs/snapshots/2025-09-02_20-19-01
Removed snapshot: 2025-09-02_20-19-01
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mounted '/dev/nvme0n1p2' (subvolid=0) at '/run/timeshift/17207/backup'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing snapshot: 2025-09-02_20-33-24
Deleting subvolume: @ (Id:830)
Deleted subvolume: @ (Id:830)

Destroying qgroup: 0/830
E: Failed to destroy qgroup: '0/830'
E: Failed to remove snapshot: 2025-09-02_20-33-24
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

…and between “Deleting subvolume” and “Deleted subvolume” the command sits there a long time (sometimes 30 seconds, sometimes minutes).

The snapshot is, I think, this one:

Deleting it from the GUI does work (sometimes, but it’s somehow recreated (with different time stamps) at the next update (made with pacman -Syu or yay -Syu).

Does somebody know what it could be or how to debug it further?

Thanks!

inxi -v8
System:
  Host: ramoth Kernel: 6.12.44-3-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
    v: 15.2.1 clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
    root=UUID=51a3a5b3-a6d6-456e-bbe3-935c914bd2fe rw rootflags=subvol=@
    apparmor=1 security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: GNOME v: 48.4 tk: GTK v: 3.24.50 wm: gnome-shell
    tools: gsd-screensaver-proxy dm: GDM v: 48.0 Distro: Manjaro
    base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: N/A model: HX90 serial: 22020041149
    uuid: 03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009 UEFI: American Megatrends LLC.
    v: 5.19 date: 10/11/2021
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Keyboard
    serial: 00-00-00-00 charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes
    status: discharging
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 32 GiB available: 30.77 GiB used: 4.16 GiB (13.5%)
  Array-1: capacity: 32 GiB slots: 2 modules: 2 EC: None
    max-module-size: 16 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: Channel-A DIMM 0 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered
    (unregistered) size: 16 GiB speed: 3200 MT/s volts: curr: 1.2 min: 1.2
    max: 1.2 width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Kingston
    part-no: CBD32D4S2S8MF-16 serial: FD9C42F5
  Device-2: Channel-B DIMM 0 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered
    (unregistered) size: 16 GiB speed: 3200 MT/s volts: curr: 1.2 min: 1.2
    max: 1.2 width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Kingston
    part-no: CBD32D4S2S8MF-16 serial: FF9C48CF
PCI Slots:
  Slot: 1 type: PCIe status: available info: J3604 length: short volts: 3.3
    bus-ID: 0200:00:01.1
  Slot: N/A type: N/A status: in use info: M.2, J3711 length: short
    volts: 3.3 bus-ID: 00:01.2 children: 1: 01:00.0 class-ID: 0108
    type: mass-storage
  Slot: N/A type: N/A status: available info: M.2, J3704 length: short
    volts: 3.3 bus-ID: 0200:00:01.7
  Slot: N/A type: N/A status: available info: M.2, J3709 length: short
    volts: 3.3 bus-ID: 0200:00:01.5
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX with Radeon Graphics socket: FP6 bits: 64
    type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 gen: 3 level: v3 note: check built: 2021-22
    process: TSMC n7 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x50 (80) stepping: 0
    microcode: 0xA500012
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 8 threads: 16 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB
    desc: 8x512 KiB L3: 16 MiB desc: 1x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1099 min/max: 400/4680 boost: enabled
    base/boost: 3300/4650 scaling: driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: powersave
    volts: 1.2 V ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 1099 2: 1099 3: 1099 4: 1099
    5: 1099 6: 1099 7: 1099 8: 1099 9: 1099 10: 1099 11: 1099 12: 1099
    13: 1099 14: 1099 15: 1099 16: 1099 bogomips: 105447
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm adx aes aperfmperf apic arat avic avx avx2 bmi1
    bmi2 bpext cat_l3 cdp_l3 clflush clflushopt clwb clzero cmov cmp_legacy
    constant_tsc cpb cppc cpuid cqm cqm_llc cqm_mbm_local cqm_mbm_total
    cqm_occup_llc cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de debug_swap decodeassists erms
    extapic extd_apicid f16c flushbyasid fma fpu fsgsbase fsrm fxsr fxsr_opt
    ht hw_pstate ibpb ibrs ibs invpcid irperf lahf_lm lbrv lm mba mca mce
    misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor movbe msr mtrr mwaitx nonstop_tsc nopl npt
    nrip_save nx ospke osvw overflow_recov pae pat pausefilter pclmulqdq
    pdpe1gb perfctr_core perfctr_llc perfctr_nb pfthreshold pge pku pni
    popcnt pse pse36 rapl rdpid rdpru rdrand rdseed rdt_a rdtscp rep_good sep
    sha_ni skinit smap smca smep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3
    stibp succor svm svm_lock syscall tce topoext tsc tsc_scale umip
    user_shstk v_spec_ctrl v_vmsave_vmload vaes vgif vmcb_clean vme vmmcall
    vpclmulqdq wbnoinvd wdt xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveerptr xsaveopt xsaves
    xtopology
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
    STIBP: always-on; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa mitigation: Clear CPU buffers
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Cezanne [Radeon Vega Series /
    Radeon Mobile Series] driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: GCN-5 code: Vega
    process: GF 14nm built: 2017-20 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    ports: active: HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2 empty: DP-1,DP-2 bus-ID: 04:00.0
    chip-ID: 1002:1638 class-ID: 0300 temp: 46.0 C
  Device-2: Creative Live! Cam Sync 1080p V2 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-2.1:4
    chip-ID: 041e:40a0 class-ID: 0102 serial: Creative Live! Cam Sync 1080p
    V2 Audio
  Display: unspecified server: X.org v: 1.21.1.18 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: modesetting,radeon alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi
    gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 4480x1440 s-size: <missing: xdpyinfo>
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 pos: primary,left model: BenQ LCD
    serial: 65N01873019 built: 2022 res: mode: 2560x1440 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1)
    dpi: 123 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red: x: 0.663 y: 0.333 green: x: 0.298
    y: 0.631 blue: x: 0.145 y: 0.051 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329
    size: 530x300mm (20.87x11.81") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9
    modes: 2560x1440, 1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1600x900,
    1280x1024, 1440x900, 1280x800, 1152x864, 1280x720, 1024x768, 832x624,
    800x600, 720x576, 720x480, 640x480, 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-2 mapped: HDMI-2 pos: right model: LG (GoldStar) IPS224
    built: 2011 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2
    chroma: red: x: 0.631 y: 0.349 green: x: 0.341 y: 0.624 blue: x: 0.153
    y: 0.055 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329 size: 480x270mm (18.9x10.63")
    diag: 547mm (21.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080, 1680x1050, 1280x1024,
    1440x900, 1280x800, 1152x864, 1280x720, 1024x768, 800x600, 720x576,
    720x480, 640x480, 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: radeonsi surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 25.2.1-arch1.4
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi
    renoir ACO DRM 3.61 6.12.44-3-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:1638
    memory: 500 MiB unified: no
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo x11: xprop,xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Renoir/Cezanne HDMI/DP Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 04:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1637 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Audio Coprocessor driver: N/A
    alternate: snd_pci_acp3x, snd_rn_pci_acp3x, snd_pci_acp5x, snd_pci_acp6x,
    snd_acp_pci, snd_rpl_pci_acp6x, snd_pci_ps, snd_sof_amd_renoir,
    snd_sof_amd_rembrandt, snd_sof_amd_vangogh, snd_sof_amd_acp63,
    snd_sof_amd_acp70 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 04:00.5
    chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480
  Device-3: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 17h/19h/1ah HD Audio
    vendor: Realtek driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
    lanes: 16 bus-ID: 04:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
  Device-4: C-Media Audio Adapter (Unitek Y-247A)
    driver: cmedia_hs100b,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-1:2 chip-ID: 0d8c:0014 class-ID: 0300
  Device-5: Creative Live! Cam Sync 1080p V2 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-2.1:4
    chip-ID: 041e:40a0 class-ID: 0102 serial: Creative Live! Cam Sync 1080p
    V2 Audio
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.44-3-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-3: PipeWire v: 1.4.7 status: n/a (root, process)
    with: pipewire-media-session status: active tools: pw-cat,pw-cli
  Server-4: PulseAudio v: 17.0-43-g3e2bb status: active (root, process)
    with: pulseaudio-alsa type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I225-V driver: igc v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
    speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:15f3
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 1c:83:41:29:f5:5a
  IP v4: 192.168.1.122/24 type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: 192.168.1.255
  IP v6: fe80::cf88:48e3:3bff:cba9/64 type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Device-2: MEDIATEK MT7921K Wi-Fi 6E 80MHz driver: mt7921e v: kernel pcie:
    gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14c3:0608
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: d2:75:a6:4f:28:2a
  IF-ID-1: gpd0 state: down mac: N/A
  Info: services: httpd, NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd,
    wpa_supplicant
  WAN IP: 80.26.183.185
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: MediaTek Wireless_Device driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-4:3 chip-ID: 0e8d:0608
    class-ID: e001 serial: 000000000
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.64 TiB used: 1.67 TiB (45.9%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD Green SN350 2TB size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: 21462F800730
    fw-rev: 33006000 temp: 41.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST2000LX001-1RG174
    size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: WDZBQLPG fw-rev: SDM1 scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.82 TiB (100.00%) used: 1.06 TiB (58.5%)
    fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 51a3a5b3-a6d6-456e-bbe3-935c914bd2fe
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 632 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
    maj-min: 259:1 label: NO_LABEL uuid: 37FC-2E88
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.82 TiB (100.00%)
    used: 1.06 TiB (58.5%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
    maj-min: 259:2 label: N/A uuid: 51a3a5b3-a6d6-456e-bbe3-935c914bd2fe
  ID-4: /mnt/data raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.79 TiB (98.37%)
    used: 618.95 GiB (33.8%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1
    maj-min: 8:1 label: data uuid: 22ba0a6a-ff75-47be-a46b-5b76e6f3e011
  ID-5: /swap raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.82 TiB (100.00%)
    used: 1.06 TiB (58.5%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
    maj-min: 259:2 label: N/A uuid: 51a3a5b3-a6d6-456e-bbe3-935c914bd2fe
  ID-6: /var/cache raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.82 TiB (100.00%)
    used: 1.06 TiB (58.5%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
    maj-min: 259:2 label: N/A uuid: 51a3a5b3-a6d6-456e-bbe3-935c914bd2fe
  ID-7: /var/log raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.82 TiB (100.00%)
    used: 1.06 TiB (58.5%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
    maj-min: 259:2 label: N/A uuid: 51a3a5b3-a6d6-456e-bbe3-935c914bd2fe
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 32 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    file: /swap/swapfile
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-1:2 info: C-Media Audio Adapter (Unitek Y-247A)
    type: audio,HID driver: cmedia_hs100b,snd-usb-audio,usbhid interfaces: 4
    rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 0d8c:0014 class-ID: 0300
  Hub-2: 1-2:3 info: VIA Labs USB2.0 Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 2109:2817
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-2.1:4 info: Creative Live! Cam Sync 1080p V2 type: video,audio
    driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo interfaces: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 256mA
    chip-ID: 041e:40a0 class-ID: 0102 serial: Creative Live! Cam Sync 1080p
    V2 Audio
  Hub-3: 1-2.2:5 info: Genesys Logic USB 1.1 Hub ports: 4 rev: 1.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 05e3:0604 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-2.2.1:6 info: Logitech Nano Receiver type: keyboard,mouse
    driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 98mA
    chip-ID: 046d:c534 class-ID: 0301
  Device-2: 1-2.2.2:7 info: Trust Wireless Mouse type: mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s)
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 145f:0263 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-4: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 2-2:2 info: VIA Labs USB3.0 Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 2109:0817
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-6: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-7: 3-2:2 info: VIA Labs USB2.0 Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 2109:2817
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-4:3 info: MediaTek Wireless_Device type: bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 3 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1
    mode: 2.0 power: 100mA chip-ID: 0e8d:0608 class-ID: e001 serial: 000000000
  Hub-8: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-9: 4-2:2 info: VIA Labs USB3.0 Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 2109:0817
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 73.6 C mobo: 36.0 C gpu: amdgpu temp: 47.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: 2522 pm: pacman pkgs: 2455 libs: 511
    tools: gnome-software,pamac,yay pm: flatpak pkgs: 53 pm: snap pkgs: 14
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://manjaro.kurdy.org/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://mirror.23m.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    3: https://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    4: https://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    5: https://mirror.alpix.eu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
  CPU top: 5 of 452
  1: cpu: 31.1% command: [kworker/u64:21+btrfs-qgroup-rescan] pid: 15255
    mem: 0.00 MiB (0.0%)
  2: cpu: 30.1% command: onedrive pid: 4583 mem: 140.8 MiB (0.4%)
  3: cpu: 13.9% command: firefox pid: 4698 mem: 602.6 MiB (1.9%)
  4: cpu: 12.2% command: gnome-shell pid: 2272 mem: 367.9 MiB (1.1%)
  5: cpu: 7.7% command: firefox pid: 5350 mem: 475.6 MiB (1.5%)
  Memory top: 5 of 452
  1: mem: 602.6 MiB (1.9%) command: firefox pid: 4698 cpu: 13.9%
  2: mem: 546.7 MiB (1.7%) command: firefox pid: 5018 cpu: 2.2%
  3: mem: 475.6 MiB (1.5%) command: firefox pid: 5350 cpu: 7.7%
  4: mem: 367.9 MiB (1.1%) command: gnome-shell pid: 2272 cpu: 12.2%
  5: mem: 351.2 MiB (1.1%) command: firefox pid: 5317 cpu: 1.5%
Info:
  Processes: 452 Power: uptime: 7m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 12.29 GiB services: gsd-power,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 20.1.8 gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Sudo (sudo) v: 1.9.17p1
    default: Bash v: 5.3.3 running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.39

This looks similar to a problem reported elsewhere related to btrfs quotas. I have never used quotas, but if you have them enabled maybe you need to do something with them to prevent this issue.

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Yep, it seems related:

> sudo btrfs qgroup show . | grep stale | wc -l 
179

…now (well, tomorrow) I have to find a way to:

  1. See how I can check if I have enabled quota (I didn’t, not willingly at least), and
    solved: the command is btrfs qgroups show . and if it shows qgroups then quota is enabled, otherwise it says ERROR: can't list qgroups: quotas not enabled
  2. disable (and clean) the whole thing keeping timeshift working.
    solved the command is sudo btrfs quota disable .

For now, it seems that

sudo btrfs qgroup clear-stale .

at least worked to remove the 179 stale qgoups (whatever they are :wink: )

Thanks!

1 Like

An extra question: if I disable quotas, will timeshift continue working?

i disabled quota and it keeps working. still i also see rather some time between deletion of old snapshots 0 and 1

I did a test in a vm with manjaro unstable because unstable has updates.
First i deleted all snapshots with

sudo timeshift --delete

I noticed updates and the snapshot 0 and 1 were made and fast.

1 Like

Timeshift does not need quotas in any way. :footprints:

There is a warning about quotas in the wiki

2 Likes

So, I am disabling the quota. What I did is:

Check that quotas are really enabled:

> sudo btrfs qgroup show .

if you have a list, quotas are enabled. If you have stale qgroups, you can remove them with

> sudo btrfs qgroup clear-stale .

That did not speed up the update process. So then I tried to disable the quotas:

> sudo btrfs quota disable .  

check:

> sudo btrfs qgroup show .  
ERROR: can't list qgroups: quotas not enabled

It seems that timeshift is still working, but now it doesn’t show the size of the snapshot:

> sudo timeshift --list   
Mounted '/dev/nvme0n1p2' (subvolid=0) at '/run/timeshift/14460/backup'
btrfs: Quotas are not enabled
Device : /dev/nvme0n1p2
UUID   : 51a3a5b3-a6d6-456e-bbe3-935c914bd2fe
Path   : /run/timeshift/14460/backup
Mode   : BTRFS
Status : OK
5 snapshots, 824.3 GB free

Num     Name                 Tags  Description                                    
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0    >  2025-05-23_09-02-18  O     All working 23 may 2025                        
1    >  2025-09-05_19-36-16  O     {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade}  
2    >  2025-09-07_20-14-47  O     {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade}  
3    >  2025-09-09_19-27-26  O     {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade}  
4    >  2025-09-09_19-51-20  O     {timeshift-autosnap} {created before upgrade}  

Then, as suggested by @andreas85, I removed all the timeshift snapshots:

> sudo timeshift --delete-all

…and added one new with the current status.

I will see if this works to remove the upgrade slowdown, and in that case, I’ll mark this post as the answer, hoping to help future users.

:partying_face::partying_face:EDIT:partying_face::partying_face:: I can confirm that now the updates are fast again :partying_face:. Also look at the following messages about “defragmenting” the volume…

2 Likes

You also may need to look into usage. Because heavy fragmentation can be a source of slowdown also.

sudo btrfs filesystem usage /   

If you share, what you get, i will help you to interpret it :wink:

Interesting lines may be especially:

  • Data (%)
  • Metadata (%)
  • Unallocated (GiB)

And please have a look into your mount-options :wink:

mount -t btrfs |grep 'on / type'   
/dev/sda2 on / type btrfs (rw,noatime,compress=zstd:9,ssd,discard=async,space_cache,subvolid=83648,subvol=/@)

:footprints:

1 Like

Here, there is:

Usage:

Overall:
    Device size:		   1.82TiB
    Device allocated:		   1.44TiB
    Device unallocated:		 385.70GiB
    Device missing:		     0.00B
    Device slack:		   512.00B
    Used:			   1.03TiB
    Free (estimated):		 805.41GiB	(min: 612.56GiB)
    Free (statfs, df):		 805.41GiB
    Data ratio:			      1.00
    Metadata ratio:		      2.00
    Global reserve:		 512.00MiB	(used: 0.00B)
    Multiple profiles:		        no

Data,single: Size:1.42TiB, Used:1.01TiB (71.23%)
   /dev/nvme0n1p2	   1.42TiB

Metadata,DUP: Size:9.00GiB, Used:5.97GiB (66.37%)
   /dev/nvme0n1p2	  18.00GiB

System,DUP: Size:8.00MiB, Used:192.00KiB (2.34%)
   /dev/nvme0n1p2	  16.00MiB

Unallocated:
   /dev/nvme0n1p2	 385.70GiB

Options:

/dev/nvme0n1p2 on / type btrfs (rw,relatime,ssd,discard=async,space_cache=v2,subvolid=256,subvol=/@)

That looks like you could do with a serious btrfs balance on that filesystem. You should be able to reclaim about 400 GiB worth of free but currently already allocated space.

3 Likes

Ok. First time hearing of balance, but I read this: https://wiki.tnonline.net/w/Btrfs/Balance and then issued

> sudo btrfs balance start -dusage=10 / 
Done, had to relocate 271 out of 1470 chunks

And now the status is:

>  sudo btrfs filesystem usage /     
Overall:
    Device size:		   1.82TiB
    Device allocated:		   1.18TiB
    Device unallocated:		 656.70GiB
    Device missing:		     0.00B
    Device slack:		   512.00B
    Used:			   1.03TiB
    Free (estimated):		 805.15GiB	(min: 476.80GiB)
    Free (statfs, df):		 805.15GiB
    Data ratio:			      1.00
    Metadata ratio:		      2.00
    Global reserve:		 512.00MiB	(used: 0.00B)
    Multiple profiles:		        no

Data,single: Size:1.16TiB, Used:1.01TiB (87.50%)
   /dev/nvme0n1p2	   1.16TiB

Metadata,DUP: Size:9.00GiB, Used:6.07GiB (67.43%)
   /dev/nvme0n1p2	  18.00GiB

System,DUP: Size:8.00MiB, Used:192.00KiB (2.34%)
   /dev/nvme0n1p2	  16.00MiB

Unallocated:
   /dev/nvme0n1p2	 656.70GiB

which seems better.

Thank everybody for chiming in. I’ll mark the problem solved in my summary above, I hope this thread can be useful for other users.

1 Like

You could do a balance with -dusage=50%, or up to 90 % to claim even more free space after deleting a lot of snapshots

You could do a balance with -musage=50%, or up to 75% to reduce the number of Metadata-chunks (maybe reduce 9 to 7)
After disabling quotas, this may help to reduce the size of necessary caching of metadata

I suggest adding of noatime (to reduce writing of unnecessary metadata)

And i am a fan of the transparent compression of btrfs. You may try

:footprints:

Once in a while

a balance is good medicine. But do not do it weekly, or without reason :wink:

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