Start-up Hang due to unknown background processing

[meet]

meet are you using SSD, if yes check this:
viewtopic.php?f=81&t=8447

Hey. No, I am using Pen Drive / Flash drive / USB.

[AcnapyxoB]

meet You are using USB, but have you HDD on your PC?

[meet]

meet You are using USB, but have you HDD on your PC?

Yes, a harddisk is present on the laptop that I am using for booting the usb at the moment.
Could that be the reason? That the OS is loading the HD and taking too much time?

[AcnapyxoB]

meet You are using USB, but have you HDD on your PC?

Yes, a harddisk is present on the laptop that I am using for booting the usb at the moment.

I ask because I had similar problem. I change my Disc with SSD and met the problem with lack of enough entropy during boot.
I solve the problem with haveged:
Take haveged from USM or
from https://packages.slackonly.com/pub/pack ... slonly.txz,
convert to module, put it in base folder, then add cliexec=haveged~start in boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg APPEND field and reboot for test!

[beny]

hi meet file system that you use for.....or you have strange file system that the boot have to mount? fdisk -l on konsole or gparted, but only to show the file system of all devices. and if i remeber well haveged is part of slackware core in /a directory

[beny]

sorry, my mistake only slackware current have this package on a/ directory not 14.2

[Ed_P]

An interesting description.

Code: Select all

PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
# haveged (A simple entropy daemon)
#
# The haveged project is an attempt to provide an easy-to-use,
# unpredictable random number generator based upon an adaptation of the
# HAVEGE algorithm.  Haveged was created to remedy low-entropy
# conditions in the Linux random device that can occur under some
# workloads, especially on headless servers.
#

How does this solve a slow start-up?

[AcnapyxoB]

An interesting description.

Code: Select all

PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
# haveged (A simple entropy daemon)
#
# The haveged project is an attempt to provide an easy-to-use,
# unpredictable random number generator based upon an adaptation of the
# HAVEGE algorithm.  Haveged was created to remedy low-entropy
# conditions in the Linux random device that can occur under some
# workloads, especially on headless servers.
#

How does this solve a slow start-up?

The Linux kernel generates entropy from keyboard timings, mouse movements, and IDE timings and makes the random character data available to other operating system processes through the special files /dev/random and /dev/urandom. This capability was introduced in Linux version 1.3.30

There are some Linux kernel patches allowing one to use more entropy sources. The audio_entropyd project, which is included in some operating systems such as Fedora, allows audio data to be used as an entropy source. Also available are video_entropyd which calculates random data from a video-source and entropybroker which includes these three and can be used to distribute the entropy data to systems not capable of running any of these (e.g. virtual machines). Furthermore, one can use the HAVEGE algorithm through haveged to pool entropy. In some systems, network interrupts can be used as an entropy source as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_(computing)

[AcnapyxoB]

In my case the system was not enough entropy after changing the HDD (rotating disk drive) with SSD!
Porteus boot on black screen, without loading DE (have to move mouse or touch keyboard to generate entropy)

Respectively solved with haveged-1.9.2, as I describe above.

[Ed_P]

Take haveged from USM or
from https://packages.slackonly.com/pub/pack ... slonly.txz,
convert to module, put it in base folder, then add cliexec=haveged~start in boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg APPEND field and reboot for test!

Would putting cliexec=haveged~start in /etc/rc.d/rc.local work also?

[AcnapyxoB]

Ed_P May be it's posible, but porteus.cfg seems like more flexible solution!

[Ed_P]

Not in my world.

Code: Select all

menuentry " Porteus 4.0 ISO - changes="       --class slackware   --class icon-porteus  {

     set boot_parms="volume=33 reboot=cold $extramods$linux_folder/Modules noload=cinnamon changes=EXIT:$linux_folder/changes/porteussave.dat cliexec=haveged~start"

     search -f $iso --set=root
     loopback loop $iso
     linux  (loop)/boot/syslinux/vmlinuz from=$iso $boot_parms
     initrd (loop)/boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
     }

[ncmprhnsbl]

somehow i don't think this is an entropy problem in this case, since the lag happens after the DE(kde in this case) loads ..
might be worth trying noauto cheatcode to stop internal drives from mounting at boot time to eliminate (something going on with that) from the equation..
tend to think of baloo search indexer when it comes to kde lag.. less drives to index might help..
the other thing to try is "Always Fresh" ie. without changes or added modules and see if the lag occurs there..

[meet]

the other thing to try is "Always Fresh" ie. without changes or added modules and see if the lag occurs there..

I deleted the save file and re-made it from a fresh boot. And now the lag is gone, at least in Cinnamon. I haven't checked in KDE though. Probably the same thing will work on that too.

Just to put it, the save file wasn't full. I hardly had 50 MB worth data in the 1.5 GB save file. But we need to find out why it happened, so that I can avoid it from happening again.

The files that I had on save.dat are back again. I have copied them again I mean. Just the setting files and my modifications in the config files are not done and hence are not present in the save.dat

[Ed_P]

I think your save.dat file is too big meet and loading it from the USB drive is slow. Try a save.dat of 512MG or less. Mine is 393 MB and I have about 120 MB free and have been using it for a long time.

BTW in the cliexec=haveged~start command mentioned above is the ~start part to be taken literally? Usually parms are preceeded by a - or /.