Need help with system performance and tools to monitor.
Noticed that the system would pause during normal usage. Loose control of the mouse/keyboard and system would have to catch up to continue to use. Pauses last around 45 to 60 seconds
HW probe https://bsd-hardware.info/index.php?probe=4b7eaf5a6a
Which application(s) is(are) running at the time of the pause? If no particular app can be associated with the pause symptom, it could be the GPU locking up and then restarting / recovering, which would be indicated in Xorg’s log (in /var/log).
Myself, ran across an infrequent bug in firefox-esr with U-block Origin add-on, where firefox-esr-68 would spin up one core of my CPU between 90 ~ 100% (AMD 64 box) and nothing would correct it except a reboot (even issuing ‘killall firefox-esr’ in console had no effect). The cure was to do a fresh install of the latest version of firefox-esr (version 78.4 at the time of this writing).
@byronc Firefox-esr 68 is consistently on during these along with Idle 3.7 and qpdfview. Thanks for the tip will have to see if I can find any entries in the /var/log to help troubleshoot. How do you monitor the CPU, using top?
Yes, use top and maybe also iostat to measure file system writes.
Please, a little look for the generals.
First Time Is freebsd.org but It’s good alternate start for you i think.
https://github.com/hukl/freebsd-toolbox/blob/master/commands.md
@Ime. Top also paused during my reviewing. This quite a mystery.
@byronc While looking at the Xorg.log file did not notice anything (but also, not sure what to look for)
@greyulv, in the lower portion of the xorg log file, there would be something along the lines of “gpu locked up, attempting to recover or restart…”, etc.
According to the HW Probe via your link in the first post, it indicates the i386 version of Nomad is being used. Since your laptop is a 64 bit machine, have you tried NomadBSD 1.3.2 (amd64) image? That would be the first thing I would do. That amd64 image, BTW, if for both AMD and Intel 64 bit processors.
@byronc, thanks for the tip. Did not know that about the image. Will have to test that out with another USB stick. As for the xorg log, no such details are found.
@byronc, update now running Nomad 1.3.2(amd64) on different thumb drive. Noticed automatically that other issues are not there. Example: MPV and VLC now work by playing movies. Other issues with Firefox Tabs crashing on known sites also fixed. I also re-ran a new hw-probe with the following results: https://bsd-hardware.info/?probe=bf763e72ad
Will have to setup the same environment and test for the pausing. Why, would there be a difference between running i386 on a 64bit Intel vs AMD 64 on a 64bit Intel?
That can entail quit a technical discussion on computing architecture. Here’s one dissertation on “32 bit vs. 64 bit” that may be of help:
‘32-Bit vs. 64-Bit: Understanding What These Options Really Mean | Digital Trends’
HTH, Byron
Update: I have since moved to NomadBSD 1.4 (AMD64) and still have issues with freezing.
Symptoms are no matter what program is open or for how long there will be a 2-5 minute pause where I cannot click or select anything but have free movement of the mouse.
Ex: while playing a video in Firefox on one screen, on the second screen working in LibreOffice. The video will stop playing but the sound will continue and eventually the video will play. The LibreOffice document will not be accessible via keyboard and trying to pause the video will not function as there is no way to control. If I scroll the mouse in the document I will see the screen move to a new section and then pause. The mouse never fails for tracking across the screens.
Running systat does not really give any clues. Xorg.log does not show anything either like major errors.
Here’s a longshot:
So that’s an HP Probook 640, and I searched around for freezing and found this moldie-oldie which is probably NOT your issue, but it did make me think a little…
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/hp-probook-640-random-freezing-and-restarts.187838/
The suggestion was that some sort of tethering might have been an issue. Again, stone-age problem on a totally different setup.
But made me wonder if something is caught sleeping, ie are you running from a usb stick, or did you install to an old spinning hard drive? Are you running from an otg-type of stick?
Just trying to cut down variables… I know this looks like ridiculous noise…
More thoughts - more of my own hot-air most likely but again just tossing out things to narrow down variables…
Are you running through the dock (if you have it)?
Are you using any special video adapters ie hdmi<>dvi
Is the problem still there if you run Chromium instead of Firefox?
To help chase hardware issues, can you duplicate the problem by flashing the latest Knoppix and running that as a test / diagnostic? (Not trying to switch you, but just seeing what can be duplicated or not)
Somebody else running a dual monitor setup may recognize the issue right away, so sorry if these tests may seem to just be random noise. 
Me again, ugh.
After a rethink, are you just over-taxing the laptop’s capabilities with dual-displays, running both LibreOffice in one monitor and watching say youtube-videos in a browser on another and eventually things are starting to over-heat?
And after a self-imposed cool-off, video returns after awhile only to overheat again later?
Could this be the problem / solution:
When you have your videos up in Firefox, are you allowing Youtube to display them in auto-resolution, where HD videos will start to play and eventually tax the system into overheat?
If so, with all you have going on, have you tried manually changing the res in Youtube by dropping out of HD (if left on auto), and pulling it back to say 720 with the cog?
My thought here is if you desire to do both relatively taxing tasks, try pulling the resolution of Youtube out of Auto, and bring the res down to a point where the laptop is not getting over-taxed.
Anway - just an idea - hard to truly diagnose it at this distance …
As a new user of NomadBSD, I have noticed these hangs when running ‘live’ from my USB3 pendrive, they aren’t as many if running from my USB2 pendrive - maybe that is of some help in pinpointing the problem(?).
Once ‘installed’ to my USB3 pendrive, they seem to go away.
(Now have laptop installs to play with.) 
