PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
Hello all,
I have been running into the following issue recently, seemingly out of nowhere.
PrusaSlicer sometimes takes around 45 seconds (!) to go from launching the software (frow a windlows quick search or double clicking the exe/shortcut) to displaying the splash screen, even though in the past (and IIRC with the same version) it used to take a fraction of a second.
Then, after closing this slow-to-start instance of the program and launching it again, it goes back to its usual and expected behavior of reaching the splash screen in a fraction of a second (and then reaching the actual interface about a second later).
I cannot pinpoint when exactly this started to happen. I've used various versions of the slicer for the last 9 months or so, over two OSes (win7 pro 64 and win10 64), and through a machine rebuild and never had such an issue initially. I've had up to 3 versions of the software installed at the same time, but I am currently using 2.6.0 alpha6. Version 2.5.2 is still installed but I am not using it anymore.
My suspicion is that there is some kind of unwanted check going on startup. This is the only app on my system with such a weird behavior on startup.
Any help appreciated.
RE:
FWIW, I upgraded the slicer to 2.6.0 beta3 and I am still getting the same thing : 45 seconds between launching the software, and it showing up ; and on the next launch, less than one second.
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
Perhaps the Windows malware scanner? Try to switch it off temporarily and try again. Could be the signature is not in their database already. Despite people in this forum maybe thinking otherwise, this is still a niche software! :-))
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
Also do you use any network shares or external removable storage media ? If those are on a list of recently accessed places then I think the OS scans them to present the list to PS for use. If something is not accessible then it has to time out (for everything) before it passes the current list to PS which can then open.
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
I also work with a windows maschine with the scanner on, and do not have these problems.
Therefore, I think it is best to uninstall all installed versions of Prusa slicer.
Possibly manually uninstall all Prusa directories.
And then install the prusa version you want to use.
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
I have had different versions of PrusaSlicer coexisting on the same Windows laptop without problems. Alpha, Beta, and Stable versions each use a separate folder/subfolder structure for their config profiles. You can import/export profiles between them, but normally the branches do not interfere with each other. They even ask you at installation before overwriting something and give you options for importing or not.
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
Hello all,
These suggestions (network location and threat detection) are both good candidates, and could both fit with the fact that the issue is happening on a newly rebuilt machine. Now I just have to find a way to consistently reproduce the issue in order to properly test things out.
Of course if anyone has any more suggestions I am all ears.
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
If you have an external USB-HDD or an internal HDD (the platter kind) that is normally spun down if it is not used, you should hear it spin up if PrusaSlicer searches for it during startup.
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
Hello again,
Shortly after my last post things started to behave as expected again, without any hardware change (instantenous launch). I have been on version 2.6.0 beta3 ever since.
Now just a few days/a week or so ago, the same behavior started to happen again (45 seconds wait on startup). This leads me to believe that the problem is likely coming from the Prusa server pushing something. I obviously can't repro this consistently, since the problem only happens once and then sortes itself out for a while.
Any suggestion for a testing protocol is welcome.
@walter : I do have external drives, but this seem unrelated.
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
Bumping this is up as this is still happening, and sure enough this must be affecting other users.
Any ideas ?
What other software is loaded? I don't have Windows but this action sounds like slow memory swapping. If the computer is 'full' then multitasking will swap the current state of the least busy software out to 'Swap space' on disc before loading the new program - if this is a slow disc it can take a while. When it is next needed something else will be swapped out and and the current state swapped back in. If you close down the program and reload it before the unswap is triggered then there is already space ready for the reload and it starts at full speed.
If this is the cause I would expect PrusaSlicer loads after a new boot to be quick but not after awakening from sleep mode - and even then something alse loaded later may suffer as PS is swapped out...
Cheerio,
RE: PrusaSlicer unexplicably slow on startup, then back to normal
Hello,
Unfortunately none of that applies here, as the computer performance is not the issue.
OK, so for the next few starts copy your active tasks list (what do Windows call it? anyone?) and note the success or otherwise of the load. You should spot if there's any correlation and find potential contention candidates.
Cheerio,
RE:
Some new findings : it turns out that there are three steps to the launch on PrusaSlicer on Windows.
- First, it sets itself as a background process, initally displaying nothing.
- Then, still as a background process, it displays its splash screen for about a second.
- And then, it becomes a foreground process a soon as the splash screen closes and the 3D UI appears.
It's the first step of these three steps that can vary between half a second to 45 seconds on my setup (and nothing in between), depending on the software having been launched earlier or not.
Any suggestion on how to determine precisely WTH is going on during this first sequence would be appreciated.