You don't mean "dtrace", perchance? I couldn't find "trace" anywhere, but dtrace seems to be good for the job. I am still running rc3, and haven't had that problem with high idle anymore since I reported it last week. Nor did I have any other problems, but I don't do anything fancy -- all I do is xterms, emacs and occasionally I run gimp, and then I don't do anything extraordinary in gimp. What would you consider to be "serious pounding"? I suspect (but cannot instantly prove) that it went into that expensive loop, which I saw it do a couple times, because I put it to sleep while working with the Wacom tablet. It could be because I disconnected the tablet while it slept, or surprised it in some other way. I feel that It didn't go into that loop without me nudging it. Someone borrowed the tablet; I won't get it back until next week. If anyone has a similar tablet (if it matters, mine is Bamboo One), could you please verify that your X survives "accidental" disconnects of the tablet wire -- in the middle of a live session, or during sleep? When are you planning to get it out the door? --Gene