Slow startup?

[Aries K]

So I decided to try the Zesty Beta today and so far experience is fairly good with the exception of very slow boot-up (running on an SSD). Is anyone else experiencing similar issues?

[Snowhog]

Have you removed "quiet splash" from the boot kernel line so you can maybe see where it's bogged down? How long is it taking from powerup to Desktop?

[GreyGeek]

In a Konsole enter the command:
systemd-analyze blame
It will tell you the times for each service.

Mine looks like this (for KDE Neon User Edition fully updated and with tons of additions daemons and services) and show why from power on to active desktop takes my box about 3 minutes and change. This listing is only about 70% of the whole listing. There are lots of activities that take a second or less.

$ systemd-analyze blame
24.416s apt-daily.service
11.688s dev-sda1.device
11.104s ModemManager.service
10.885s snort.service
10.867s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
8.095s teamviewerd.service
7.992s NetworkManager.service
7.747s postfix.service
7.300s grub-common.service
5.714s ondemand.service
5.540s motion.service
5.538s udev-configure-printer@-devices-pci0...3\x2d2.service
5.395s apparmor.service
4.759s accounts-daemon.service
4.685s pppd-dns.service
4.685s systemd-user-sessions.service
4.610s gpu-manager.service
4.602s systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
4.399s bluetooth.service
4.398s thermald.service
4.299s ufw.service
3.628s polkitd.service
3.215s lvm2-monitor.service
3.107s binfmt-support.service
3.057s console-setup.service
2.450s systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
2.000s networking.service
1.960s rsyslog.service
1.882s systemd-modules-load.service
1.822s systemd-udevd.service
1.741s wpa_supplicant.service
1.475s sys-kernel-debug.mount
1.474s dev-mqueue.mount

[Aries K]

Have you removed "quiet splash" from the boot kernel line so you can maybe see where it's bogged down? How long is it taking from powerup to Desktop?

I have not removed the quiet splash. Everything is very quick except it is stuck on the Kubuntu splash for a while. Once it is past that point it gets to the desktop very quickly.

GreyGeek

In a Konsole enter the command:
systemd-analyze blame
It will tell you the times for each service.

Mine looks like this (for KDE Neon User Edition fully updated and with tons of additions daemons and services) and show why from power on to active desktop takes my box about 3 minutes and change. This listing is only about 70% of the whole listing. There are lots of activities that take a second or less.
$ systemd-analyze blame
24.416s apt-daily.service
11.688s dev-sda1.device
11.104s ModemManager.service
10.885s snort.service
10.867s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
8.095s teamviewerd.service
7.992s NetworkManager.service
7.747s postfix.service
7.300s grub-common.service
5.714s ondemand.service
5.540s motion.service
5.538s udev-configure-printer@-devices-pci0...3\x2d2.service
5.395s apparmor.service
4.759s accounts-daemon.service
4.685s pppd-dns.service
4.685s systemd-user-sessions.service
4.610s gpu-manager.service
4.602s systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
4.399s bluetooth.service
4.398s thermald.service
4.299s ufw.service
3.628s polkitd.service
3.215s lvm2-monitor.service
3.107s binfmt-support.service
3.057s console-setup.service
2.450s systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
2.000s networking.service
1.960s rsyslog.service
1.882s systemd-modules-load.service
1.822s systemd-udevd.service
1.741s wpa_supplicant.service
1.475s sys-kernel-debug.mount
1.474s dev-mqueue.mount

Looks like it's the apt-daily.service?

This is what I got:

$ systemd-analyze blame
27.556s apt-daily.service
613ms dev-sda1.device
442ms systemd-resolved.service
222ms networking.service
206ms gpu-manager.service
148ms systemd-timesyncd.service
147ms keyboard-setup.service
125ms plymouth-quit.service
125ms systemd-modules-load.service
108ms apparmor.service
105ms upower.service
83ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
80ms accounts-daemon.service
74ms NetworkManager.service
71ms apport.service
70ms ModemManager.service
68ms grub-common.service
65ms irqbalance.service
63ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
61ms systemd-logind.service
53ms thermald.service
51ms geoclue.service
47ms avahi-daemon.service
46ms systemd-journald.service
45ms alsa-restore.service
39ms user@1000.service
37ms NetworkManager-wait-online.service
33ms rsyslog.service
32ms pppd-dns.service
31ms plymouth-start.service
30ms packagekit.service
29ms snapd.autoimport.service
29ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
28ms udisks2.service
25ms ureadahead-stop.service
24ms systemd-update-utmp.service
22ms systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service
18ms systemd-udevd.service
16ms wpa_supplicant.service
14ms dev-hugepages.mount
14ms sys-kernel-debug.mount
13ms resolvconf.service
13ms dev-mqueue.mount
12ms polkit.service
12ms kmod-static-nodes.service
11ms teamviewerd.service
11ms plymouth-read-write.service
10ms console-setup.service
9ms systemd-remount-fs.service
7ms systemd-sysctl.service
6ms systemd-journal-flush.service
4ms systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service
4ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount
3ms systemd-random-seed.service
3ms systemd-user-sessions.service
3ms rtkit-daemon.service
3ms ufw.service
2ms sddm.service
2ms setvtrgb.service
402us snapd.socket

[Aries K]

So looks like I might have found a solution. I did:

kdesudo kate /etc/systemd/system.conf

and change these 2 lines:

#DefaultTimeoutStartSec=90s
#DefaultTimeoutStopSec=90s

Remove the leading #'s which disable the line, and change the value.

Now my 2 lines look as such:

DefaultTimeoutStartSec=01s
DefaultTimeoutStopSec=01s

Now bootup is instant like an SSD should be. Hopefully there's no ill effects of doing this but now it is blisteringly quick at bootup.

Now it looks like:

$ systemd-analyze blame
7.633s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
659ms dev-sda1.device
403ms systemd-resolved.service
249ms networking.service
173ms gpu-manager.service
130ms upower.service
128ms systemd-modules-load.service
126ms keyboard-setup.service
111ms systemd-timesyncd.service
110ms ModemManager.service
110ms grub-common.service
106ms apparmor.service
103ms accounts-daemon.service
95ms NetworkManager.service
93ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
88ms irqbalance.service
79ms apport.service
73ms plymouth-quit.service
70ms teamviewerd.service
60ms thermald.service
57ms geoclue.service
54ms systemd-logind.service
54ms pppd-dns.service
52ms alsa-restore.service
50ms systemd-journald.service
49ms rsyslog.service
44ms avahi-daemon.service
38ms plymouth-start.service
37ms user@1000.service
35ms systemd-udevd.service
32ms packagekit.service
28ms udisks2.service
28ms ureadahead-stop.service
23ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
22ms wpa_supplicant.service
20ms resolvconf.service
20ms polkit.service
19ms snapd.autoimport.service
19ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
16ms dev-mqueue.mount
16ms ufw.service
14ms sys-kernel-debug.mount
14ms dev-hugepages.mount
12ms kmod-static-nodes.service
12ms console-setup.service
11ms plymouth-read-write.service
9ms rtkit-daemon.service
8ms systemd-sysctl.service
7ms systemd-update-utmp.service
7ms setvtrgb.service
6ms systemd-remount-fs.service
6ms systemd-journal-flush.service
5ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount
4ms systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service
4ms systemd-user-sessions.service
3ms systemd-random-seed.service
2ms sddm.service
445us snapd.socket

[GreyGeek]

mmmm... Aries, what happened to your apt-daily.service Normally, apt-daily.service is activated by apt-daily.timer and runs during boot and then becomes inactive (dead), but it remains listed as one of the services in the boot process which took some time. By not being listed it suggests that your changes disabled it.

I mimicked your changes on my KDE Neon User Edition and got:

$ systemd-analyze blame
25.976s apt-daily.service
24.182s dev-sda1.device
13.370s networking.service
12.348s irqbalance.service
11.015s ondemand.service
10.206s accounts-daemon.service
9.377s alsa-restore.service
.....

Making those changes in my system did not remove or reduce either of the first two entries and, in fact, increased the load time of my HD by about 12 seconds!

Side note: I have installed
kde-config-systemd
systemd-ui
and the systemd GUI editor displays in the System Settings panel at the bottom. It allows you to edit all configurations for systemd, services, units, sockets, etc. It also shows inactive, disabled and muted services. Perhaps your changes disabled or muted apt-daily-services. Is apt-daily.timer showing as active?

Our two postings sure illustrates the speed difference between booting a 5,000 RPM HD and an SSD !!!
I wish your changes had made a comparable difference in my boot time.

EDIT:
I reverted the changes and rebooted. Now systemd-analyze blame gives me this:

$ systemd-analyze blame
13.702s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
13.593s dev-sda1.device
9.541s accounts-daemon.service
8.607s grub-common.service
7.761s ModemManager.service
7.049s udev-configure-printer@-devices-pci0...3\x2d2.service
5.951s systemd-logind.service
5.836s systemd-user-sessions.service
5.835s rsyslog.service
5.292s teamviewerd.service
5.128s apparmor.service
4.791s gpu-manager.service
4.685s systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
4.650s ufw.service
4.625s NetworkManager.service
4.111s console-setup.service
3.686s colord.service
3.678s snort.service
3.583s postfix.service
3.264s binfmt-support.service
3.234s polkitd.service
3.111s irqbalance.service
3.100s systemd-udevd.service
2.932s lvm2-monitor.service
2.735s systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
2.627s miredo.service
2.248s systemd-random-seed.service
2.194s atop.service
2.194s ondemand.service
2.177s motion.service
1.784s setvtrgb.service
1.775s systemd-modules-load.service
1.730s networking.service
1.422s wpa_supplicant.service
1.237s keyboard-setup.service
1.106s packagekit.service
....

Timing my reboot process it took 60 seconds from the grub to the login screen. From there to the desktop took 87 seconds. If you added up all the times shown above you'd get more than 180 seconds, but that is because while the listing is sorted by time, the actual processes are often simultaneous. You can see this by running in a Konsole:
systemd-analyze plot > blame.svg
and viewing blame.svg in your browser.

[Aries K]

mmmm... Aries, what happened to your apt-daily.service Normally, apt-daily.service is activated by apt-daily.timer and runs during boot and then becomes inactive (dead), but it remains listed as one of the services in the boot process which took some time. By not being listed it suggests that your changes disabled it.

I mimicked your changes on my KDE Neon User Edition and got:

Making those changes in my system did not remove or reduce either of the first two entries and, in fact, increased the load time of my HD by about 12 seconds!

Side note: I have installed
kde-config-systemd
systemd-ui
and the systemd GUI editor displays in the System Settings panel at the bottom. It allows you to edit all configurations for systemd, services, units, sockets, etc. It also shows inactive, disabled and muted services. Perhaps your changes disabled or muted apt-daily-services. Is apt-daily.timer showing as active?

Our two postings sure illustrates the speed difference between booting a 5,000 RPM HD and an SSD !!!
I wish your changes had made a comparable difference in my boot time.

EDIT:
I reverted the changes and rebooted. Now systemd-analyze blame gives me this:

Timing my reboot process it took 60 seconds from the grub to the login screen. From there to the desktop took 87 seconds. If you added up all the times shown above you'd get more than 180 seconds, but that is because while the listing is sorted by time, the actual processes are often simultaneous. You can see this by running in a Konsole:
systemd-analyze plot > blame.svg
and viewing blame.svg in your browser.

Not quite sure lol, I must have accidentally fixed something. I ran it again and looks like it is back again but boot times are still blisteringly quick:

$ systemd-analyze blame
7.653s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
773ms apt-daily.service
627ms dev-sda1.device
395ms systemd-resolved.service
227ms networking.service
187ms gpu-manager.service
179ms systemd-timesyncd.service
156ms ModemManager.service
146ms accounts-daemon.service
146ms keyboard-setup.service
127ms systemd-modules-load.service
124ms irqbalance.service
106ms apparmor.service
103ms grub-common.service
101ms systemd-logind.service
101ms upower.service
97ms systemd-udev-trigger.service
93ms apport.service
74ms teamviewerd.service
70ms plymouth-quit.service
68ms NetworkManager.service
66ms avahi-daemon.service
63ms rsyslog.service
57ms thermald.service
52ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
50ms geoclue.service
44ms systemd-journald.service
41ms user@1000.service
36ms alsa-restore.service
35ms systemd-udevd.service
34ms pppd-dns.service
31ms packagekit.service
29ms udisks2.service
29ms polkit.service
27ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
25ms plymouth-start.service
25ms ureadahead-stop.service
22ms snapd.autoimport.service
17ms resolvconf.service
17ms systemd-update-utmp.service
15ms systemd-user-sessions.service
15ms console-setup.service
15ms setvtrgb.service
13ms ufw.service
13ms wpa_supplicant.service
13ms kmod-static-nodes.service
12ms plymouth-read-write.service
10ms dev-mqueue.mount
9ms sys-kernel-debug.mount
8ms dev-hugepages.mount
6ms systemd-random-seed.service
6ms rtkit-daemon.service
6ms systemd-journal-flush.service
5ms systemd-remount-fs.service
5ms systemd-update-utmp-runlevel.service
4ms systemd-sysctl.service
2ms sys-fs-fuse-connections.mount
2ms sddm.service
1ms snapd.socket

[GreyGeek]

Well, you can't argue with success!

[Aries K]

Well, you can't argue with success!

For sure . Thanks for the help, learn something new everyday!

[GreyGeek]

My pleasure!