the device in the nm trace is an ethernet port that isn't being used

i _think_ these were all while compcache was being used (compressed paging, in staging/ for .35 but as a vendor module in ubuntu much earlier)

(from /var/log/messages*)
[131795.470041] Xorg: page allocation failure. order:1, mode:0x50d0
[53787.665546] perf_2.6.32-23: page allocation failure. order:4, mode:0xc0d0
[76350.528398] Xorg: page allocation failure. order:1, mode:0x50d0
[96743.901635] NetworkManager: page allocation failure. order:3, mode:0x4020

from dmesg, for networkmanager:

[184006.440727] PM: resume of devices complete after 6059.213 msecs
[184006.440944] PM: resume devices took 6.060 seconds
[184006.440975] PM: Finishing wakeup.
[184006.440976] Restarting tasks ... done.
[184006.643612] __ratelimit: 40 callbacks suppressed
[184006.643616] NetworkManager: page allocation failure. order:3, mode:0x4020
[184006.643621] Pid: 931, comm: NetworkManager Not tainted 2.6.32-24-generic #38-Ubuntu
[184006.643623] Call Trace:
[184006.643634]  [<ffffffff810fad0e>] __alloc_pages_slowpath+0x56e/0x580
[184006.643640]  [<ffffffff8105b130>] ? default_wake_function+0x0/0x20
[184006.643644]  [<ffffffff810fae7e>] __alloc_pages_nodemask+0x15e/0x1a0
[184006.643648]  [<ffffffff81132de2>] kmalloc_large_node+0x62/0xb0
[184006.643652]  [<ffffffff81137475>] __kmalloc_node_track_caller+0x125/0x180
[184006.643657]  [<ffffffff81455f66>] ? __netdev_alloc_skb+0x36/0x60
[184006.643660]  [<ffffffff81455c20>] __alloc_skb+0x80/0x190
[184006.643663]  [<ffffffff81455f66>] __netdev_alloc_skb+0x36/0x60
[184006.643683]  [<ffffffffa00d11ea>] rtl8169_rx_fill+0xba/0x250 [r8169]
[184006.643688]  [<ffffffff81019d60>] ? nommu_map_page+0x0/0xc0
[184006.643693]  [<ffffffffa00d1d53>] rtl8169_init_ring+0x73/0xb0 [r8169]
[184006.643698]  [<ffffffffa00d1fca>] rtl8169_open+0x14a/0x3d0 [r8169]
[184006.643703]  [<ffffffff814618f2>] dev_open+0xa2/0x100
[184006.643707]  [<ffffffff81461021>] dev_change_flags+0xa1/0x1e0
[184006.643711]  [<ffffffff8146d2bf>] do_setlink+0x1af/0x430
[184006.643715]  [<ffffffff812c7394>] ? nla_parse+0x34/0x110
[184006.643719]  [<ffffffff8146dd72>] rtnl_setlink+0x132/0x180
[184006.643723]  [<ffffffff8146ce40>] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x1e0/0x220
[184006.643726]  [<ffffffff8146cc60>] ? rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x0/0x220
[184006.643731]  [<ffffffff81484119>] netlink_rcv_skb+0xa9/0xd0
[184006.643734]  [<ffffffff8146cc45>] rtnetlink_rcv+0x25/0x40
[184006.643737]  [<ffffffff81483d7e>] netlink_unicast+0x2de/0x2f0
[184006.643740]  [<ffffffff81484b6e>] netlink_sendmsg+0x1fe/0x2e0
[184006.643745]  [<ffffffff8144ebfb>] sock_sendmsg+0x10b/0x140
[184006.643748]  [<ffffffff8144f2ee>] ? sock_recvmsg+0x11e/0x150
[184006.643752]  [<ffffffff81085430>] ? autoremove_wake_function+0x0/0x40
[184006.643757]  [<ffffffff8144e154>] ? move_addr_to_kernel+0x64/0x70
[184006.643760]  [<ffffffff81459359>] ? verify_iovec+0x69/0xc0
[184006.643763]  [<ffffffff8144f063>] sys_sendmsg+0x233/0x3a0
[184006.643766]  [<ffffffff8144ee08>] ? sys_sendto+0x178/0x180
[184006.643771]  [<ffffffff81145665>] ? fput+0x25/0x30
[184006.643775]  [<ffffffff8114175d>] ? filp_close+0x5d/0x90
[184006.643779]  [<ffffffff810131b2>] system_call_fastpath+0x16/0x1b
[184006.643781] Mem-Info:
[184006.643783] Node 0 DMA per-cpu:
[184006.643786] CPU    0: hi:    0, btch:   1 usd:   0
[184006.643788] CPU    1: hi:    0, btch:   1 usd:   0
[184006.643790] Node 0 DMA32 per-cpu:
[184006.643793] CPU    0: hi:  186, btch:  31 usd: 162
[184006.643795] CPU    1: hi:  186, btch:  31 usd: 101
[184006.643800] active_anon:387827 inactive_anon:113970 isolated_anon:0
[184006.643801]  active_file:23149 inactive_file:43222 isolated_file:0
[184006.643802]  unevictable:8 dirty:16 writeback:1 unstable:0
[184006.643803]  free:105846 slab_reclaimable:10360 slab_unreclaimable:30588
[184006.643804]  mapped:18539 shmem:28315 pagetables:10616 bounce:0
[184006.643807] Node 0 DMA free:11808kB min:32kB low:40kB high:48kB active_anon:0kB inactive_anon:108kB active_file:1256kB inactive_file:1328kB unevictable:0kB isolated(anon):0kB isolated(file):0kB present:15348kB mlocked:0kB dirty:0kB writeback:0kB mapped:0kB shmem:0kB slab_reclaimable:260kB slab_unreclaimable:688kB kernel_stack:24kB pagetables:0kB unstable:0kB bounce:0kB writeback_tmp:0kB pages_scanned:0 all_unreclaimable? no
[184006.643817] lowmem_reserve[]: 0 2946 2946 2946
[184006.643821] Node 0 DMA32 free:411576kB min:6928kB low:8660kB high:10392kB active_anon:1551308kB inactive_anon:455772kB active_file:91340kB inactive_file:171560kB unevictable:32kB isolated(anon):0kB isolated(file):0kB present:3017444kB mlocked:32kB dirty:64kB writeback:4kB mapped:74156kB shmem:113260kB slab_reclaimable:41180kB slab_unreclaimable:121664kB kernel_stack:2880kB pagetables:42464kB unstable:0kB bounce:0kB writeback_tmp:0kB pages_scanned:0 all_unreclaimable? no
[184006.643832] lowmem_reserve[]: 0 0 0 0
[184006.643835] Node 0 DMA: 14*4kB 17*8kB 14*16kB 6*32kB 7*64kB 4*128kB 0*256kB 2*512kB 1*1024kB 2*2048kB 1*4096kB = 11808kB
[184006.643846] Node 0 DMA32: 86550*4kB 6809*8kB 660*16kB 0*32kB 0*64kB 1*128kB 1*256kB 0*512kB 0*1024kB 0*2048kB 0*4096kB = 411616kB
[184006.643856] 159493 total pagecache pages
[184006.643858] 64807 pages in swap cache
[184006.643860] Swap cache stats: add 900953, delete 836146, find 143941/215061
[184006.643862] Free swap  = 2736152kB
[184006.643863] Total swap = 4200956kB
[184006.659302] 769024 pages RAM
[184006.659305] 13530 pages reserved
[184006.659306] 162325 pages shared
[184006.659308] 549196 pages non-shared

and some older ones from logs:
xorg:

Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470041] Xorg: page allocation failure. order:1, mode:0x50d0
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470050] Pid: 1052, comm: Xorg Not tainted 2.6.32-23-generic #37-Ubuntu
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470054] Call Trace:
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470076]  [<ffffffff810fad0e>] __alloc_pages_slowpath+0x56e/0x580
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470093]  [<ffffffff810fae7e>] __alloc_pages_nodemask+0x15e/0x1a0
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470101]  [<ffffffff8112dba7>] alloc_pages_current+0x87/0xd0
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470105]  [<ffffffff81133b17>] new_slab+0x2f7/0x310
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470108]  [<ffffffff81136329>] __slab_alloc+0x169/0x2d0
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470114]  [<ffffffff8134b462>] ? agp_alloc_page_array+0x62/0x70
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470117]  [<ffffffff81137788>] __kmalloc+0x108/0x1d0
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470120]  [<ffffffff8134b462>] agp_alloc_page_array+0x62/0x70
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470124]  [<ffffffff8134b60b>] agp_create_user_memory+0x9b/0x100
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470127]  [<ffffffff8134b687>] agp_generic_alloc_user+0x17/0x60
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470130]  [<ffffffff8134b772>] agp_allocate_memory+0xa2/0x150
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470174]  [<ffffffffa01508ac>] drm_agp_bind_pages+0x5c/0x100 [drm]
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470197]  [<ffffffffa0235bdf>] i915_gem_object_bind_to_gtt+0x13f/0x330 [i915]
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470209]  [<ffffffffa0235e75>] i915_gem_object_pin+0xa5/0xb0 [i915]
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470219]  [<ffffffffa023690c>] i915_gem_object_pin_and_relocate+0x5c/0x390 [i915]
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470231]  [<ffffffffa0237a6e>] i915_gem_do_execbuffer+0x53e/0xd90 [i915]
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470235]  [<ffffffff81121100>] ? __vmalloc_area_node+0x100/0x190
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470246]  [<ffffffffa0238370>] i915_gem_execbuffer2+0xb0/0x1e0 [i915]
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470256]  [<ffffffffa0149e5c>] drm_ioctl+0x27c/0x480 [drm]
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470268]  [<ffffffffa02382c0>] ? i915_gem_execbuffer2+0x0/0x1e0 [i915]
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470275]  [<ffffffff810397a9>] ? default_spin_lock_flags+0x9/0x10
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470281]  [<ffffffff8154348f>] ? _spin_lock_irqsave+0x2f/0x40
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470288]  [<ffffffff81153cd2>] vfs_ioctl+0x22/0xa0
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470291]  [<ffffffff81153f81>] do_vfs_ioctl+0x81/0x380
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470294]  [<ffffffff81154301>] sys_ioctl+0x81/0xa0
Jun 27 14:26:07 krang kernel: [131795.470300]  [<ffffffff810131b2>] system_call_fastpath+0x16/0x1b

and perf:
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665546] perf_2.6.32-23: page allocation failure. order:4, mode:0xc0d0
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665553] Pid: 13057, comm: perf_2.6.32-23 Not tainted 2.6.32-23-generic #37-Ubuntu
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665557] Call Trace:
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665570]  [<ffffffff810fad0e>] __alloc_pages_slowpath+0x56e/0x580
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665577]  [<ffffffff810fae7e>] __alloc_pages_nodemask+0x15e/0x1a0
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665585]  [<ffffffff8112dba7>] alloc_pages_current+0x87/0xd0
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665591]  [<ffffffff810f9d8e>] __get_free_pages+0xe/0x50
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665598]  [<ffffffff81022f07>] reserve_bts_hardware+0x57/0x220
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665606]  [<ffffffff81115273>] ? do_wp_page+0xd3/0x860
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665611]  [<ffffffff8102333d>] __hw_perf_event_init+0x26d/0x2b0
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665616]  [<ffffffff810f2c77>] ? T.772+0x37/0x420
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665621]  [<ffffffff8102339e>] hw_perf_event_init+0x1e/0x50
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665626]  [<ffffffff810f2f18>] T.772+0x2d8/0x420
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665632]  [<ffffffff810f3137>] sys_perf_event_open+0xd7/0x400
Jun 28 16:50:49 krang kernel: [53787.665640]  [<ffffffff810131b2>] system_call_fastpath+0x16/0x1b

if the part i omitted was important, i can post them later

is this a problem at all, or just some extra noise