11 ms·

Codex is wearing out our devices

64 points by spenvo 2mo ago

spenvo 2mo ago
OpenAI's first related fix was in 0.142.x on June 22 but apparently it wasn't sufficient and user have continued to complain. Seems like a thread with decent additional context: https://x.com/0x_kaize/status/2078872972245225586 https://x.com/0x_kaize/status/2078872972245225586
- mirashii 2mo ago
  A Github issue with actual data instead of just someone reposting info: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224 https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224 Previously discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626930 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626930
embedding-shape 2mo ago
Seems to be the GUI only? Meaning no one on Linux is affected, or any of the people just using the TUI, as far as I can tell. I've used codex for a some time, and my current drive is ~1 year old (7624 hours on), only 86TB written so far, ~1% of lifetime writes.
- saidnooneever 2mo ago
  its gui only and i dont think it happen for everyone.i dont see it on my machine, but its good to check. didnt notice anything on cli nor gui, but i started gui only on last 2 versions
deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
haebom 2mo ago
Use "TUI"
jpadkins 2mo ago
This reddit thread is devoid of any useful information. Just fear and speculation.
- mirashii 2mo ago
  A Github issue with actual data instead of just someone reposting info: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224 https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224 Previously discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626930 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626930
  - jrflo 2mo ago
    Looks like the issue was closed?
    - mirashii 2mo ago
      There’s a number of comments and linked threads suggesting it is not, but easier to just link the biggest thread than try to track all the subthreads.
- donchulijo 2mo ago
  This comment should be updated or put lower on the list because it is factually incorrect.
- jrflo 2mo ago
  Just like 99% of reddit threads these days unfortunately, lol
hyperhello 2mo ago
The GUI app does run the fan very hard and heat the laptop for something supposedly running on the cloud. If it is using my computer to cache things and assist with tasks, okay, but if it’s just revving the motor I don’t want it to.
- jsmith99 2mo ago
  Mine too, on windows. It seems to be some very aggressive and poorly planned rg (ripgrep) calls mostly, when running parallel sessions. Multiple simultanous Claude code sessions don't have same problem.
jacobgold 2mo ago
> Codex Desktop for macOS triggers a persistent macOS Gatekeeper/SystemPolicy loop after launch. As a Linux guy, I recently did some macOS development and was incredibly annoyed by the "security" features, which seem designed to shift blame for security issues from Apple to users. macOS is constantly throwing up security screens and warnings about completely normal programs the user knowingly installed and trusted. If a developer pays for an Apple Developer account, signs their software, and a user knowingly downloads and installs it, that software should be allowed to run and do what the user wants.
- deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
  - deleted 2mo ago
    [deleted]
- frizlab 2mo ago
  Fully disagree. I actively want to know when a program tries to access my hard drive and stuff…
  - jacobgold 2mo ago
    I understand the motivation, but the implementation results in little more than security theater in practice. If you say "yes", the program can do almost anything and you'll have no idea what it's actually doing. If you say "no", you often can't use it for its intended purpose. They took the iOS model and applied it to their desktop OS and it's just lazy and broken.
    - nfbdhdfbf 2mo ago
      At least 50% of the time I see these warnings, the application is attempting to access something I wouldn’t have expected to access. I’m very happy to have the option to say “no” in those cases, so I can either validate that it’s legitimate or delete the sloppy software before it messes things up. It might be a lazy model, I imagine Apple could’ve done something better if they still gave a damn about desktop, but I’ll take this over nothing. It actively provides value to me.
port3000 2mo ago
Does writing to an SSD often really 'wear out' the device?
- sokoloff 2mo ago
  Yes. NAND cells can only be erased and rewritten a finite number of times.
- aqfamnzc 2mo ago
  Yes, they have a finite number of writes. The controller keeps track of this so you can even see what % of your SSD life is remaining in that sense.
  - port3000 2mo ago
    Interesting, thanks, had no idea
    - shortercode 2mo ago
      There are also some cases where this can be magnified by certain write patterns or system behaviours. I think there was a case of Teslas having these sorts of failures at one point due to them writing logs quite aggressively. Another example was MacOS causing rapid wear due to virtual memory swaps if I recall on devices with smaller amounts of RAM.
      - dragontamer 2mo ago
        Those Teslas were controller-less SSDs IIRC, common in the cheap embedded world. Modern proper SSDs for computers do their best to spread out the writes (TRIM, and other features). They still wear out of course, nothing can beat physics. But if you buy a 2TB drive, there's a lot of room to spread out the write cycles that a normal user probably never has to worry about (no normal user is going to hit 500TBs of writes that breaks a modern 2TB SSD write balancing algorithm) But it probably should be noted that embedded controller-free SSDs have significant write amplification issues. Embedded systems assumed you were trying to save money and/or compute... and also assumed you didn't do too many writes. So they really weren't designed for the write cycles that Teslas logging system did.
arto 2mo ago
A related GitHub issue: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/25719 https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/25719
recitedropper 2mo ago
Vibe code giveth, vibe code taketh.

64 points by spenvo 2mo ago

OpenAI's first related fix was in 0.142.x on June 22 but apparently it wasn't sufficient and user have continued to complain. Seems like a thread with decent additional context: https://x.com/0x_kaize/status/2078872972245225586 https://x.com/0x_kaize/status/2078872972245225586

mirashii 2mo ago
A Github issue with actual data instead of just someone reposting info: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224 https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224 Previously discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626930 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626930

embedding-shape 2mo ago

Seems to be the GUI only? Meaning no one on Linux is affected, or any of the people just using the TUI, as far as I can tell. I've used codex for a some time, and my current drive is ~1 year old (7624 hours on), only 86TB written so far, ~1% of lifetime writes.

saidnooneever 2mo ago
its gui only and i dont think it happen for everyone.i dont see it on my machine, but its good to check. didnt notice anything on cli nor gui, but i started gui only on last 2 versions

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]

haebom 2mo ago

Use "TUI"

jpadkins 2mo ago

This reddit thread is devoid of any useful information. Just fear and speculation.

mirashii 2mo ago
A Github issue with actual data instead of just someone reposting info: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224 https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224 Previously discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626930 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48626930
- jrflo 2mo ago
  Looks like the issue was closed?
  - mirashii 2mo ago
    There’s a number of comments and linked threads suggesting it is not, but easier to just link the biggest thread than try to track all the subthreads.
donchulijo 2mo ago
This comment should be updated or put lower on the list because it is factually incorrect.
jrflo 2mo ago
Just like 99% of reddit threads these days unfortunately, lol

hyperhello 2mo ago

The GUI app does run the fan very hard and heat the laptop for something supposedly running on the cloud. If it is using my computer to cache things and assist with tasks, okay, but if it’s just revving the motor I don’t want it to.

jsmith99 2mo ago
Mine too, on windows. It seems to be some very aggressive and poorly planned rg (ripgrep) calls mostly, when running parallel sessions. Multiple simultanous Claude code sessions don't have same problem.

jacobgold 2mo ago

> Codex Desktop for macOS triggers a persistent macOS Gatekeeper/SystemPolicy loop after launch. As a Linux guy, I recently did some macOS development and was incredibly annoyed by the "security" features, which seem designed to shift blame for security issues from Apple to users. macOS is constantly throwing up security screens and warnings about completely normal programs the user knowingly installed and trusted. If a developer pays for an Apple Developer account, signs their software, and a user knowingly downloads and installs it, that software should be allowed to run and do what the user wants.

deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
- deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
frizlab 2mo ago
Fully disagree. I actively want to know when a program tries to access my hard drive and stuff…
- jacobgold 2mo ago
  I understand the motivation, but the implementation results in little more than security theater in practice. If you say "yes", the program can do almost anything and you'll have no idea what it's actually doing. If you say "no", you often can't use it for its intended purpose. They took the iOS model and applied it to their desktop OS and it's just lazy and broken.
  - nfbdhdfbf 2mo ago
    At least 50% of the time I see these warnings, the application is attempting to access something I wouldn’t have expected to access. I’m very happy to have the option to say “no” in those cases, so I can either validate that it’s legitimate or delete the sloppy software before it messes things up. It might be a lazy model, I imagine Apple could’ve done something better if they still gave a damn about desktop, but I’ll take this over nothing. It actively provides value to me.

port3000 2mo ago

Does writing to an SSD often really 'wear out' the device?

sokoloff 2mo ago
Yes. NAND cells can only be erased and rewritten a finite number of times.
aqfamnzc 2mo ago
Yes, they have a finite number of writes. The controller keeps track of this so you can even see what % of your SSD life is remaining in that sense.
- port3000 2mo ago
  Interesting, thanks, had no idea
  - shortercode 2mo ago
    There are also some cases where this can be magnified by certain write patterns or system behaviours. I think there was a case of Teslas having these sorts of failures at one point due to them writing logs quite aggressively. Another example was MacOS causing rapid wear due to virtual memory swaps if I recall on devices with smaller amounts of RAM.
    - dragontamer 2mo ago
      Those Teslas were controller-less SSDs IIRC, common in the cheap embedded world. Modern proper SSDs for computers do their best to spread out the writes (TRIM, and other features). They still wear out of course, nothing can beat physics. But if you buy a 2TB drive, there's a lot of room to spread out the write cycles that a normal user probably never has to worry about (no normal user is going to hit 500TBs of writes that breaks a modern 2TB SSD write balancing algorithm) But it probably should be noted that embedded controller-free SSDs have significant write amplification issues. Embedded systems assumed you were trying to save money and/or compute... and also assumed you didn't do too many writes. So they really weren't designed for the write cycles that Teslas logging system did.

arto 2mo ago

A related GitHub issue: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/25719 https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/25719

recitedropper 2mo ago

Vibe code giveth, vibe code taketh.