>>>The problem is your assumption about the CPU time >>>accounting. On Unix, and Solaris can certainly be regarded >>>as such, there are 3 types of state that CPU can be in: ...processors execute the idle loop too and that is neither user nor kernel...just fyi >>>1) User mode, working on a user process. There is no problem with >>> accounting for that time. >>>2) Kernel mode, when the CPU is processing a system call >>> on behalf of a process which invoked the system call. >>>3) Interrupt stack, when the CPU is servicing an external >>> interrupt, coming from some device, outside of a process >>> context. That means that not a single process is charged >>> with the CPU time servicing clock interrupt or NIC interrupts. -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l