# Delays during boot and shutdown [SOLVED]

## dufeu

It used to be that my boot and shutdown processes would take place quickly. Generally, the only delay during  booting was the required wait for dhcp to verify that the IP address that my dhcp server (commercial router) wanted to assign me was not used by anyone else. Shutdown was the same kind of thing with no single step taking any real time.

The boot and shutdown processes of later kernels {2.6.33 and 2.6.34, possibly earlier} are now behaving rather oddly for me.

In general, I normally see a blinking cursor {CLI mode} during the entire boot and shutdown processes. 

What happens now is that the blinking cursor sometimes goes solid and stops blinking. When it does, if I hit 'enter', the process completes the current step and moves on to the next with the cursor resuming it's blinking status. This can and does happen multiple times during the boot/shutdown processes.

When the cursor is in it's "solid" state, it will time out eventually, complete the current step and move onto the next. However, if I don't want to be waiting what seems like   f o r e v e r ,   I need to keep hitting the enter key to keep the boot/shutdown processes moving in a tolerable fashion.

In addition the above weird behavior, there are no significant messages in syslog {i.e., no message indicating a timeout for instance}. Nor is there any indication of anything strange in dmesg.

Anyone else encounter this kind of strangeness?

This is a partial dump of my current configuration:

```
# emerge --info

Portage 2.2_rc67 (default/linux/amd64/10.0, gcc-4.4.3, glibc-2.11.1-r0, 2.6.33.5 x86_64)

=================================================================

System uname: Linux-2.6.33.5-x86_64-AMD_Phenom-tm-_9600_Quad-Core_Processor-with-gentoo-2.0.1

Timestamp of tree: Tue, 01 Jun 2010 02:00:01 +0000

ccache version 2.4 [enabled]

app-shells/bash:     4.1_p7

dev-java/java-config: 2.1.11

dev-lang/python:     2.5.4-r4, 2.6.5-r2, 3.1.2-r3

dev-python/pycrypto: 2.1.0

dev-util/ccache:     2.4-r8

dev-util/cmake:      2.8.1-r2

sys-apps/baselayout: 2.0.1

sys-apps/openrc:     0.6.1-r1

sys-apps/sandbox:    2.2

sys-devel/autoconf:  2.13, 2.65

sys-devel/automake:  1.8.5-r4, 1.9.6-r3, 1.10.3, 1.11.1

sys-devel/binutils:  2.20.1-r1

sys-devel/gcc:       4.4.3-r2

sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.1

sys-devel/libtool:   2.2.7b

virtual/os-headers:  2.6.33

ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64 ~amd64"

ACCEPT_LICENSE="* -@EULA dlj-1.1 PUEL"

CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"

CFLAGS="-march=opteron -O2 -pipe"

CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
```

```
CXXFLAGS="-march=opteron -O2 -pipe"

DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"

FEATURES="assume-digests ccache distlocks fixpackages news parallel-fetch preserve-libs protect-owned sandbox sfperms strict unmerge-logs unmerge-orphans userfetch"

GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://distfiles.gentoo.org"

LANG="en_US.utf8"

LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1"

LINGUAS="en"

MAKEOPTS="-j6"

PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/var/lib/layman/zugaina /var/lib/layman/x11 /usr/local/portage"
```

----------

## jongust

I also got the issue when i was compiling in  a shell in Xwindows, which seemed to have fixed itself, but still getting the delays during shutdown and startup.

  I am not sure what to post on this one.

emerge --info

Portage 2.1.8.3 (default/linux/amd64/10.0/desktop, gcc-4.4.3-asneeded, glibc-2.11.2-r0, 2.6.32-gentoo-r7 x86_64)

=================================================================

System uname: Linux-2.6.32-gentoo-r7-x86_64-AMD_Phenom-tm-_II_X4_B50_Processor-with-gentoo-1.12.13

Timestamp of tree: Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:00:19 +0000

app-shells/bash:     4.0_p37

dev-java/java-config: 2.1.9-r1

dev-lang/python:     2.4.6, 2.5.4-r3, 2.6.5-r2, 3.1.2-r3

dev-util/cmake:      2.6.4-r3

sys-apps/baselayout: 1.12.13

sys-apps/sandbox:    1.6-r2

sys-devel/autoconf:  2.13, 2.65

sys-devel/automake:  1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r2, 1.10.3, 1.11.1

sys-devel/binutils:  2.20.1-r1

sys-devel/gcc:       4.3.4, 4.4.3-r2

sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.4.1

sys-devel/libtool:   2.2.6b

virtual/os-headers:  2.6.30-r1

ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64"

ACCEPT_LICENSE="* -@EULA"

CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"

CFLAGS="-march=k8 -O2 -pipe"

CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"

CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/share/config"

CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/ca-certificates.conf /etc/env.d /etc/env.d/java/ /etc/fonts/fonts.conf /etc/gconf /etc/php/apache2-php5/ext-active/ /etc/php/cgi-php5/ext-active/ /etc/php/cli-php5/ext-active/ /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/sandbox.d /etc/terminfo"

CXXFLAGS="-march=k8 -O2 -pipe"

DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"

FEATURES="assume-digests distlocks fixpackages news parallel-fetch protect-owned sandbox sfperms strict unmerge-logs unmerge-orphans userfetch"

GENTOO_MIRRORS="ftp://gentoo.arcticnetwork.ca/pub/gentoo/ ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo/ http://cudlug.cudenver.edu/gentoo/ ftp://gentoo.mirrors.tds.net/gentoo http://gentoo.mirrors.easynews.com/linux/gentoo/"

LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1 -Wl,--as-needed"

MAKEOPTS="-j5"

PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"

PORTAGE_CONFIGROOT="/"

PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages"

PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"

PORTDIR="/usr/portage"

SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage"

USE="3dnow 3dnowext 3dnowprefetch X a52 aac acl acpi alsa amd64 apache2 avahi bash-completion berkdb bluetooth branding bzip2 cairo caps cdr cgi cli consolekit cracklib crypt ctype cups cxx dbus dri dts dvd dvdr eapi-2 emboss encode exif extras fam ffmpeg filter firefox flac foomaticdb force-cgi-redirect fortran gd gdbm gif gmp gnome gnutls gphoto2 gpm gstreamer gtk gtk2 hal hvm iconv ipv6 jpeg kde lame lcms libg++ libnotify loop-aes mad md5summer mikmod mmx mmxext mng modules mp3 mp4 mpeg mplayer mudflap multilib mysql mysqli ncurses nls nptl nptlonly nsplugin nvidia nx ogg opengl openmp pam pango pcre pdf perl php png ppds pppd python qt3support qt4 readline reflection sdl session spell spl sql srt sse sse2 sse3 sse4a ssl startup-notification svg symlink syscall sysfs tcpd threads tiff truetype udev unicode usb utemper v4l2 vorbis webkit wxwindows x264 xcb xine xml xorg xulrunner xv xvid zlib" ALSA_CARDS="emu10k1" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mmap_emul mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" APACHE2_MODULES="actions alias auth_basic authn_alias authn_anon authn_dbm authn_default authn_file authz_dbm authz_default authz_groupfile authz_host authz_owner authz_user autoindex cache cgi cgid dav dav_fs dav_lock deflate dir disk_cache env expires ext_filter file_cache filter headers include info log_config logio mem_cache mime mime_magic negotiation rewrite setenvif speling status unique_id userdir usertrack vhost_alias" ELIBC="glibc" FOO2ZJS_DEVICES="hpp1006" INPUT_DEVICES="evdev keyboard mouse" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" RUBY_TARGETS="ruby18" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="nvidia" XTABLES_ADDONS="quota2 psd pknock lscan length2 ipv4options ipset ipp2p iface geoip fuzzy condition tee tarpit sysrq steal rawnat logmark ipmark dhcpmac delude chaos account" 

Unset:  CPPFLAGS, CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, FFLAGS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LC_ALL, LINGUAS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS, PORTDIR_OVERLAY

Python-updater is stil fixed all of the way on my machine, could this cause the problem?

----------

## dufeu

I have finally, today, tracked this down for my system.

The issue was a BIOS setting. Specifically, this setting applies to AMD based motherboards with support for newer CPUs.

The setting is 

```
AMD C1E Support
```

What this setting does is automatic throttling of the CPU during periods of low usage. Use of this setting requires coordination of kernel settings. The requisite kernel settings are unknown to me at this time.

Generally, you either [Disable] or [Enable] this setting in your BIOS. Depending on mobo manufacturer and BIOS revision, you may be offered multiple [Enable] setting choices. On this motherboard, I have a Software and a Hardware choice.

Changing this setting to [Disable] eliminated the problem. It also eliminated several stability issues I was having including issues with the built in sound chip {ATI HD}, LAN chips {both built-in and add-in PCI cards} and memory. This makes sense because, depending in the mobo manufacturers implementation, the method used for throttling and how well the implementation was done, all can potentially have a huge impact on PCIe data lines.

The setting is intended as a power saving measure. If you experience no stability problems, then leave this setting [Enable]d. If you experience the truly weird boot and/or shutdown behavior or are having stability issues, then set this BIOS setting to [Disable]d.

You can read more about the AMD C1E setting at Linux Weekly News {lwn}. From the article, this paragraph is of special interest: *Quote:*   

>  ... by the dreaded ATI chipset timer wreckage. On those which have the problem, the box needs help from the keyboard to continue working.

 

{edit w/additional info}

The other problem that disabling C1E solved was my not being able to get GigaEthernet speeds out of the built-in chip nor PCI add-on cards. All NICs insisted on running at FastEthernet speeds. Now - the built-in Realtek 8188 Gigabit NIC is running at 1000mbs. Sweet.

Stability -- Imagine that!

----------

## dufeu

 *jongust wrote:*   

> System uname: Linux-2.6.32-gentoo-r7-x86_64-AMD_Phenom-tm-_II_X4_B50_Processor-with-gentoo-1.12.13

 

Go into your BIOS and disable your "AMD C1E Setting". This is usually on by default.

----------

## jongust

Thanks for the fix to the problem....silly one. but those are the ones that get ya I guess. 

 Thanks!

 Jon

----------

## theotherjoe

Dufeu, thanks for posting. had the same strange behaviour with any kernel

> 2.6.31 on an AMD board. oddest thing was that there was no way to reproduce

the delays/time-outs during shutdown (rarely during startup).

Will disable C1E in BIOS and post results.

edit: disabled C1E and tried 2.6.35, things look good sofar. it will take

some longer testing but it looks as if you nailed it! thanks again.

----------

## dufeu

 *jongust wrote:*   

> Thanks for the fix to the problem....

 

 *theotherjoe wrote:*   

>  ... thanks again.

 

You're both quite welcome.

Out of curiosity and if possible, I'd be interested in knowing which ATI chipset you have. 

My problem child is a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H-Rev1 with the ATI 780G and SB700 chips. I'm running a Phenom 9600 CPU.

Take care and I was glad to help.

----------

## theotherjoe

GA-MA785G-UD3H rev1.1 bios f7 over here with an

Athlon II 630.

And while I'm at it: yesterday I ran into complete lockups

with kernel 2.6.35 while running heavy loads. only way to

resolve it was to reset the box. 

So Timbers2k might be 

right in the https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-838842-highlight-.html

that there are other problems with the cpuidle driver in at least

2.6.35 (havent looked at any other release).

----------

## dufeu

 *theotherjoe wrote:*   

> And while I'm at it: yesterday I ran into complete lockups
> 
> with kernel 2.6.35 while running heavy loads. only way to
> 
> resolve it was to reset the box.

 

Are you running the built-in graphics or a separate card? If you have a separate card you can plug in, you might want to try it for awhile.

I have the built-in graphics disabled with a separate card. I ran the built-in graphics for awhile and seemed to have lock ups under heavy load too. It's hard to tell because nothing gets reported in terms of errors. I think disabling the IGP and setting the initial graphics to [PEG] has been an improvement. There may be an issue with the way the UMA memory for the IGP is taken from RAM. 

BTW - I just upgraded my BIOS to F8 today. Not exactly easy either since I don't have a floppy drive installed.

I'm running 2.6.35 now with the separate GPU and it's been running well.

----------

## theotherjoe

 *Quote:*   

> I just upgraded my BIOS to F8 today. Not exactly easy either since I don't have a floppy drive installed. 

 

Ran bios version F8 before but downgraded to F7 during the chase wrt shutdown delays.

For me here is nothing of interest in the F8 anyway.

Regarding the upgrade procedure, I am using a USB pendrive. The QFlash utility on my mainboard 

allows the selection of a flash-image from a set of devices.

The lockups yesterday was the first nasty event that I ran into with this machine. Was

running BOINC client and later realised that the software engages GPU to speed things up,

though I dont know if it really utilises the IGP (no messages in system/kernel logs) but

it definitely needs more monitoring. Well, it might just be that the latest ati-drivers upgrade

10.6 -> 10.7 also contributes. lots of open questions.....

----------

## dufeu

 *theotherjoe wrote:*   

> For me here is nothing of interest in the F8 anyway.

 

I had still been on F2. So I got the fixes for audio and for USB keyboard. F9 is still beta and is for 6 core support so no real interest there.

 *Quote:*   

> Regarding the upgrade procedure, I am using a USB pendrive. The QFlash utility on my mainboard 
> 
> allows the selection of a flash-image from a set of devices.

 

I was actually delighted when I dug up my USB floppy drive and Q-flash recognized that. Woot!

 *Quote:*   

> The lockups yesterday was the first nasty event that I ran into with this machine. Was
> 
> running BOINC client and later realised that the software engages GPU to speed things up,
> 
> though I dont know if it really utilises the IGP (no messages in system/kernel logs) but
> ...

 

I'm using the xf86-video-ati drivers.

----------

## theotherjoe

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> I was actually delighted when I dug up my USB floppy drive and Q-flash recognized that. Woot! 

 

Great! Think Gigabyte did a good job with this flexible little thing.

 *Quote:*   

> I'm using the xf86-video-ati drivers.

 

Built this new box in april(?) to replace an aging dual opteron 248 ws

which is still working fine but the CPUs didnt have hardware virtualisation

capabilities yet - and it was time to run more energy efficient stuff.

At that time the xorg drivers didnt implement Xv properly thus I needed

to choose ati-drivers. I havent looked lately, could be that the newest

xorg driver is working ok now wrt Xv; another item on the todo list  :Smile: 

edit: turns out the lockups were a result of undervolting the CPU, 

simply ran out of juice under load. D'oh...

----------

## iss

I had this problem for months. I thought it was something with changing RCU implementation in kernel but didn't want to stick with old kernel because of radeon support.

Now, when I disabled AMD C1E it looks like my problem is gone.

Thanks!

----------

## jongust

 *dufeu wrote:*   

>  *jongust wrote:*   Thanks for the fix to the problem.... 
> 
>  *theotherjoe wrote:*    ... thanks again. 
> 
> You're both quite welcome.
> ...

 

I am running a Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P  chipset...but im running an Nvidia video card with an 8800GT, with on board video disabled

----------

## figueroa

I was so glad to find this thread last night as I was researching an unrelated baselayout2 issue.

I've had the pause on boot problem for about a year.  I'm running the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H-Rev1 with the ATI 780G and SB700 chips, BIOS is at F8, using an external GeForce 8400 GS GPU, and AMD Phenom(tm) II X3 720 Processor.  As soon as I disabled the C1E setting in the bios, the pause problem went away.

I have had instability issues with my wife's motherboard.  Her's is an Asus M2N68-AM Green, no rev #, with the Geforce 7025/NF630 chipset and AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+.  This baby just locks up during the night, but never while being used during the day.  I've disabled the C1E setting in the bios on this box with high hopes of that situation improving.

Both of these are running kernel 2.6.34-gentoo-r12

----------

