Dimitar Georgievski <dgeorgievski(at)horizonk(dot)com> writes:
> the process under which the update is running reports among the usual
> process data "UPDATE waiting".
I don't think the UPDATE is doing anything at all --- that ps output
implies that it's waiting for some other backend to release an exclusive
lock on the table, or an update lock on one of the rows to be updated.
The pg_locks view might help you determine who's the culprit.
regards, tom lane