# Slow Kernel Boot

## privateGeorge

I recently tried upgrading to kernel 2.6.13.4 but after installing it my system now takes twice as long to boot up.  My old kernel 2.6.12 boots up fine and every thing is fast.  I have pretty much the same config for both kernels but the 2.6.13 series of kernels just makes my sytem run very slow.  I have a P4 3.2ghz on a Dell inspiron 9100 with hyperthreading on.  Help please!

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## bollucks

Check dmesg for problems like - irq ignored nobody cared

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## privateGeorge

looked at dmesg and everything looks normal, it seems to boot as fast as my old p2 450... I don't know what else to do.

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## tomalok

do you use hyperthreading?  if so, some things changed between 2.6.12 and 2.6.13...

http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5165

use the patch in comment #16 -- worked for me!

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## jakertberry

Hmm.. doesn't appear to be fixed in 2.6.14 either.

I've just reverted back to my 2.6.12 (added any kernels higher to my portage.mask) until this gets resolved..Last edited by jakertberry on Wed Jan 06, 2021 3:45 am; edited 1 time in total

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## augury

is it just pokey or are there hang ups?

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## jakertberry

I haven't been patient enough for a hangup yet. Here's an example boot:

>>Select kernel to boot, initialization goes fine (or at least appears to be going normally)

>>As soon the "Gentoo Linux" line flies by, the system slows down by an incredible amount. All of a sudden text starts moving very slowly across the screen, and the module autoloading (with no modules in the autoload) can take up to 5 minutes.

>>From this point on, boot can take up to 20 minutes, and starting an X server can take just as long. I've never really made it all the way to a prompt as I get too impatient (other posts on the forums and the posts at the kernel site confirm this otherwise).

Now revert back to a 2.6.12-r* kernel and it automagically works fine again.

For the sake of trial and error, I went into my BIOS, disabled the HyperThreading, and booted my 2.6.14 kernel. Lo and behold, the kernel boots up at normal speed and everything is dandy.

System:

Dell Inspiron 9100

Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.0GHz

1024MB RAM @ 400MHzLast edited by jakertberry on Wed Jan 06, 2021 3:46 am; edited 1 time in total

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## zeke7237

 *tomalok wrote:*   

> do you use hyperthreading?  if so, some things changed between 2.6.12 and 2.6.13...
> 
> http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=5165
> 
> use the patch in comment #16 -- worked for me!

 

thankyouthankyouthankyou

I've been stuck on .12 kernels, and never got around to tracking it down

Inspiron XPS Series 1, P4EE hyperthreaded

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## fxjr

augury, I'm having problems with slow boot since 2.6.12 final. on 2.6.12rc1 this didn't happen.

When booting, on "Mounting FileSystems" message, my system just do a little hang and stays there for a while. Later, it mounts the filesystem and works normally from now on.

I also had a similar hang on message which say "setting system to use udev". I fixed that after I upgraded to udev 064.

Do you have something similar to that? I tested with 2.6.13 final and 2.6.14 and the same occur. I get the hang on Mounting filesystem.

Thanks in advance.

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## G2k

has this issue been solved in 2.6.15? or in gentoo-sources-2.6.14-r4? I had this same problem so out of laziness I've been stuck on the 2.6.12 kernel for quite a while now.

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## nielchiano

 *bollucks wrote:*   

> Check dmesg for problems like - irq ignored nobody cared

 

What would that indicate? I've been seeing this on one of my machines, but It ran OK, so I ignored it

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## jakertberry

The latest kernel in the stable gentoo-sources tree (linux-2.6.14-gentoo-r4) still has this problem. I will attempt to use the latest vanilla kernel and report back any success...

UPDATE: vanilla-sources-2.6.15_rc5 has no luck yet...   :Confused: 

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## G2k

god how can't they fix such a huge problem after 3 kernel updates and multiple release candidates??? If I use a kernel after version 2.6.12 my computer takes forever to boot and once I am finally able to do so, my whole system is slow (so slow that when I watch a move the framerate drops low causing Xine to give me error messages.)

Fix this plz!   :Rolling Eyes: 

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## jakertberry

I think they'll have a final patchset in the next kernel release...

They were hesitant to release the first patch found because it broke suspend/resume for everyone.

The 2.6.15_rc5 kernel has that patchset included in the kernel, but you need to apply another patch (http://bugzilla.kernel.org/attachment.cgi?id=6774&action=view) to get it working.

At any rate, we'll just have to see if all goes well when 2.6.15 is released

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## G2k

suspend/resume barely works for anyone anyways...

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## jakertberry

The new gentoo-sources (2.6.14-r5) has this fixed for me. My laptop still reports two processors and the system runs nice and fast again.

Huzzah Gentoo devs.. you guys rock   :Cool: Last edited by jakertberry on Wed Jan 06, 2021 3:47 am; edited 1 time in total

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## G2k

It has sped up a bit but it's still slower than 2.6.12 for me. The boot process is still slower and videos lag. Even X takes twice or three times as long to startup  :Crying or Very sad:  I hope this will be fixed soon. [I'm using a Sony Vaio VGN-FS660/W]

*boots back in to good ol' 2.6.12*

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