Subject: grub-pc: Is excruciatingly slow when compared to grub (legacy)
Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:35:35 +0200
Package: grub-pc
Version: 1.96+20080413-1
Severity: important
I have tried grub-pc a few times during my installation tests and
noticed that it is really significantly slower than grub "legacy".
This may or may not be very visible on real hardware, but in Virtualbox
(running on a fast, modern host system) the difference is 30 seconds.
With grub I am looking at the grub menu 4 seconds after I start the
virtual machine (which includes ~2 seconds of allowing to select a
different boot medium by the VM's "bios").
With grub-pc this is 34 (!) seconds.
You can clearly see the different stages too, even of the menu being
built up (numbers are seconds:
0- 3: start virtual machine and BIOS stuff
3 : "Welcome to GRUB!" is displayed
3-28: occasional disk activity, but display remains the same
28 : "GNU GRUB version 1.96" is displayed
30-32: slooowly the border is built up from top to bottom and the help
text below is displayed
32-33: no visible action
33-34: menu items are shown and the blue background is filled in
Note that there's also #476479 ("takes 10 seconds to get to the menu")
which is currently assigned to grub-common. I'm willing to bet that report
is about grub-pc too, and not about grub "legacy".
Also, scrolling through the menu is quite slow and there's "flashing" of
the (previously highlighted) menu item line while scrolling. This is
different from the flashing mentioned in #437275.
With grub "legacy", the menu appears almost instantaneously and the
scrolling is fast and smooth.
>From my PoV as one of the core D-I developers this is a major usability
issue which would need to be resolved before I personally would consider
allowing grub-installer to install grub-pc by default.
This testing was done on an em64t dual core 3.2MHz host running Debian
amd64/unstable. Virtualbox VM had cleanly installed i386/lenny (which
also means that this should be trivial to reproduce ;-).
Cheers,
FJP
Subject: Re: Bug#477083: grub-pc: Is excruciatingly slow when compared to
grub (legacy)
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:38:47 +0200
Frans Pop schrieb:
> I have tried grub-pc a few times during my installation tests and
> noticed that it is really significantly slower than grub "legacy".
> This may or may not be very visible on real hardware, but in Virtualbox
> (running on a fast, modern host system) the difference is 30 seconds.
I can confirm this here. However, I believed this was an issue in
VirtualBox (never tried with grub-legacy) and thus did not report it
as a bug.
Subject: Re: Bug#477083: grub-pc: Is excruciatingly slow when compared to grub (legacy)
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:28:11 +0200
On Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 10:35:35PM +0200, Frans Pop wrote:
>
> I have tried grub-pc a few times during my installation tests and
> noticed that it is really significantly slower than grub "legacy".
> This may or may not be very visible on real hardware, but in Virtualbox
> (running on a fast, modern host system) the difference is 30 seconds.
>
> With grub I am looking at the grub menu 4 seconds after I start the
> virtual machine (which includes ~2 seconds of allowing to select a
> different boot medium by the VM's "bios").
> With grub-pc this is 34 (!) seconds.
>
> You can clearly see the different stages too, even of the menu being
> built up (numbers are seconds:
> 0- 3: start virtual machine and BIOS stuff
> 3 : "Welcome to GRUB!" is displayed
> 3-28: occasional disk activity, but display remains the same
> 28 : "GNU GRUB version 1.96" is displayed
> 30-32: slooowly the border is built up from top to bottom and the help
> text below is displayed
> 32-33: no visible action
> 33-34: menu items are shown and the blue background is filled in
That's strange. In my laptop it just takes ~2 seconds from MBR load up
untill menu is displayed.
What are the constraints in your test environment? I assume CPU will be
ultra-slow but disk access (through BIOS) relatively fast?
> Note that there's also #476479 ("takes 10 seconds to get to the menu")
> which is currently assigned to grub-common. I'm willing to bet that report
> is about grub-pc too, and not about grub "legacy".
Now that I check, the "Welcome to GRUB!" string is actually GRUB2-specific.
I'm reassigning that one...
> Also, scrolling through the menu is quite slow and there's "flashing" of
> the (previously highlighted) menu item line while scrolling. This is
> different from the flashing mentioned in #437275.
Ah, I see what you mean. It's erasing the whole line and then drawing it
again, right?
> With grub "legacy", the menu appears almost instantaneously and the
> scrolling is fast and smooth.
Well, notice there's a handicap of sorts. The code for drawing in text mode
is a BIOS callback and hasn't changed much (you can try it by setting
GRUB_TERMINAL=console in /etc/default/grub and re-run update-grub), but
the gfxterm/vbe stack is (forcibly) more expensive. There's probably room
for optimization though.
--
Robert Millan
"The technological evasion of the license is as unacceptable as the
legal evasion of the license [...]. That's the provision in section
1 regarding keys. [...] We say one thing: when you sell somebody a
home... give him the keys" -- Eben Moglen on GPLv3
On Thursday 24 April 2008, Robert Millan wrote:
> What are the constraints in your test environment? I assume CPU will be
> ultra-slow but disk access (through BIOS) relatively fast?
There are no real constraints that I know of. Sure CPU is slower than on
real hardware, but certainly no "ultra slow", especially as my host system
really is quite fast. I also don't see any significant slowdown during for
example the installation of Debian itself.
VirtualBox is a lot faster than qemu for example.
I have just also tested using qemu and the results there are similar, though
that's a bit faster:
0- 1: start emulator
1 : "Welcome to GRUB!" is displayed
1-15: occasional disk activity, but display remains the same
15 : "GNU GRUB version 1.96" is displayed
15-16: the border is built up from top to bottom and the help
text below is displayed
16-17: no visual activity
17 : menu items are shown and the blue background is filled in
And again, with grub "legacy" the menu is displayed almost instantaneously.
I'd suggest that you install VirtualBox or qemu and try it for yourself.
For VirtualBox I use the Debian virtual-ose package so installation should
be trivial. It might make sense for grub2 upstream to contact the upstream
VirtualBox developers.
> > Also, scrolling through the menu is quite slow and there's "flashing"
> > of the (previously highlighted) menu item line while scrolling. This is
> > different from the flashing mentioned in #437275.
>
> Ah, I see what you mean. It's erasing the whole line and then drawing it
> again, right?
Yes, that could well be what's happening.
FYI, I'm getting the same slowness issue described using QEMU (with
KQEMU), so the problem must have something to do with being run in a
virtual environment. This is on an Athlon K7.
Best regards,
Nathan A. Stine
Subject: Re: Bug#477083: grub-pc: Is excruciatingly slow when compared to grub (legacy)
Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 00:37:59 +0200
I can confirm this behaviour, especially "takes 10 seconds to get to the menu" (#476479) on REAL Hardware.
I'm cainloading grub2 via grub legacy [kernel (hd0,8)/boot/grub/core.img]
My hardware:
AMD Duron 1200 (K7)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-7VKML KM266
256 MB DDR-RAM
On-Board LAN (Build in RTL8100L Chipset)
Sound on Board (AC97)
Video on board, /var/log/xorg.0.log says:
(**) | |-->Device "S3 Inc. VT8375 [ProSavage8 KM266/KL266]"
(--) Chipset ProSavageDDR found
2 Harddisks, 9 + 2 Partitions, various filesystems
BIOS: Licensed AMI BIOS, 2M bit Flash ROM
Christian Meyer
_____________________________________________________________________
Der WEB.DE SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen!
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Package: grub-pc
Version: 1.96+20080626-1
Followup-For: Bug #477083
i seem to have an absurdly slow boot as well, taking quite some time to
even get around to displaying the menu.
when i comment out the "insmod lvm" line it boots reasonably fast.
i've got / on an lvm'ed filesystem, but /boot is just on a regular
partition, so i don't actually appear to *need* lvm for booting. this
is also in a virtualbox environment.
version 1.96+20080512-1 works fine, even with "insmod lvm".
thanks!
live well,
vagrant
Subject: Bug#477083: fixed in grub2 1.96+20080704-1
Date: Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:02:03 +0000
Source: grub2
Source-Version: 1.96+20080704-1
We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
grub2, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive:
grub-common_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub-common_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
grub-efi_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub-efi_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
grub-ieee1275_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub-ieee1275_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
grub-linuxbios_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub-linuxbios_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
grub-pc_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub-pc_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
grub-rescue-pc_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub-rescue-pc_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
grub2_1.96+20080704-1.diff.gz
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub2_1.96+20080704-1.diff.gz
grub2_1.96+20080704-1.dsc
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub2_1.96+20080704-1.dsc
grub2_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub2_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
grub2_1.96+20080704.orig.tar.gz
to pool/main/g/grub2/grub2_1.96+20080704.orig.tar.gz
A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.
Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed. If you
have further comments please address them to [email protected],
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.
Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Robert Millan <[email protected]> (supplier of updated grub2 package)
(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing [email protected])
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Format: 1.8
Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 21:39:07 +0200
Source: grub2
Binary: grub2 grub-of grub-common grub-pc grub-rescue-pc grub-linuxbios grub-efi grub-ieee1275
Architecture: source amd64
Version: 1.96+20080704-1
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: high
Maintainer: GRUB Maintainers <[email protected]>
Changed-By: Robert Millan <[email protected]>
Description:
grub-common - GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (common files)
grub-efi - GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (EFI version)
grub-ieee1275 - GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (Open Firmware version)
grub-linuxbios - GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (LinuxBIOS version)
grub-of - GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 [dummy]
grub-pc - GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (PC/BIOS version)
grub-rescue-pc - GRUB bootable rescue images, version 2 (PC/BIOS version)
grub2 - GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (dummy package)
Closes: 464086476479477083488375489133
Changes:
grub2 (1.96+20080704-1) unstable; urgency=high
.
* New SVN snapshot.
* default/grub: Add commented example to disable graphical terminal.
* Use substvars to support linking with liblzo1.
* Bring 03_disable_floppies.diff to pre-r805 state. (Closes: #488375)
* patches/02_old_linux_version_comparison.diff: New patch. Steal version
comparison code from GRUB Legacy's update-grub. (Closes: #464086, #489133)
* patches/00_speed_up_font_load.diff: New patch. Generate font files with
only the needed characters. (Closes: #476479, #477083)
Checksums-Sha1:
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14afe6bb8eaaa47b4fde9ff6b562dbb249e2020b 42191 grub2_1.96+20080704-1.diff.gz
0315f7e36da204185b1a997f4b4aa65888bc9d73 117410 grub2_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
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63c1fdbf00c272640063ee63ced3de5beffb290b 888844 grub-efi_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
717a996e2a3aeecdecce7911282095a4bc043cc1 998276 grub-ieee1275_1.96+20080704-1_amd64.deb
Checksums-Sha256:
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Files:
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Thank you. Your patch did half of the work:
"Welcome to GRUB!" is displayed for half a second or so (instead of 5 - 7 before),
The remaining problem is:
the screen turns black for 5 more seconds before graphical menu is displayed.
For me it seems to have to do with one of these modules: gfxterm, vbe or png
In reply to: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=477083#35
I have no lvm installed, no lvm module loaded.
Christian Meyer
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
set default=0
set timeout=5
set root=(hd0,9)
search --fs-uuid --set a7abc87e-7b9d-4585-b292-fdd1fc33f1b4
if font /usr/share/grub/ascii.pff ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
terminal gfxterm
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set root=(hd0,9)
search --fs-uuid --set a7abc87e-7b9d-4585-b292-fdd1fc33f1b4
insmod png
if background_image /boot/grub/debian-blueish-wallpaper-640x480.png ; then
set color_normal=black/black
set color_highlight=magenta/black
else
set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
_____________________________________________________________________
Der WEB.DE SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen!
http://smartsurfer.web.de/?mc=100071&distributionid=000000000066
Christian Meyer schrieb:
> "Welcome to GRUB!" is displayed for half a second or so (instead of 5 - 7 before),
Same improvement here! The menu is still sluggish, though.
> The remaining problem is:
> the screen turns black for 5 more seconds before graphical menu is displayed.
> For me it seems to have to do with one of these modules: gfxterm, vbe or png
Yep, same here.
--
Dipl.-Phys. Fabian Greffrath
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Lehrstuhl für Energieanlagen und Energieprozesstechnik (LEAT)
Universitätsstr. 150, IB 3/134
D-44780 Bochum
Telefon: +49 (0)234 / 32-26334
Fax: +49 (0)234 / 32-14227
E-Mail: [email protected]
On Saturday 05 July 2008, Debian Bug Tracking System wrote:
> #477083: grub-pc: Is excruciatingly slow when compared to grub (legacy)
>
> It has been closed by Robert Millan <[email protected]>.
That really fixed it! The only thing that still remains is the slow
build-up of the display (title -> border -> menu/background). But that
HUGE delay before that point is completely gone.
Kudos!
I'd already tested it in qemu, but only just did a full install in
VirtualBox. Both are more than acceptable now, though having that display
build-up slowness improved would still very much improve usability (or
better: result in increased quality perception).
One major blocker gone.
Cheers,
FJP
Subject: Re: Bug#477083: grub-pc: Is excruciatingly slow when compared to grub (legacy)
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:23:59 +0200
On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 10:09:33PM +0200, Frans Pop wrote:
> On Saturday 05 July 2008, Debian Bug Tracking System wrote:
> > #477083: grub-pc: Is excruciatingly slow when compared to grub (legacy)
> >
> > It has been closed by Robert Millan <[email protected]>.
>
> That really fixed it! The only thing that still remains is the slow
> build-up of the display (title -> border -> menu/background). But that
> HUGE delay before that point is completely gone.
>
> Kudos!
>
> I'd already tested it in qemu, but only just did a full install in
> VirtualBox. Both are more than acceptable now, though having that display
> build-up slowness improved would still very much improve usability (or
> better: result in increased quality perception).
With the current framework, there's much less room for improvement there
(unless you switch to the console terminal), because of the gfxterm
abstraction. I expect it'll get better by the end of summer when fancy
graphics support is implemented.
--
Robert Millan
<GPLv2> I know my rights; I want my phone call!
<DRM> What good is a phone call… if you are unable to speak?
(as seen on /.)
On Sun, Jul 06, 2008 at 06:20:10PM +0200, Christian Meyer wrote:
> Thank you. Your patch did half of the work:
>
> "Welcome to GRUB!" is displayed for half a second or so (instead of 5 - 7 before),
>
> The remaining problem is:
> the screen turns black for 5 more seconds before graphical menu is displayed.
You mean in qemu/vbox?
> For me it seems to have to do with one of these modules: gfxterm, vbe or png
Try inserting a few "echo" calls and see what is at fault.
If you reply to this message, *PLEASE* do so by filing a new bug instead of
repliing to this one. This is not related to #477083 anymore.
--
Robert Millan
<GPLv2> I know my rights; I want my phone call!
<DRM> What good is a phone call… if you are unable to speak?
(as seen on /.)
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