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rmin
Asked: 2017-05-16 16:22:14 +0800 CST

Ubuntu 16.04 slow boot/login time - xorg crashing on startup

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I'm running Ubuntu 16.04, 64 bit, 11.7GB ram, Intel i7-3770 processor, 2TB rotating disk. I've got 3 monitors and I use 6 virtual work spaces and I'm using unity.

On a reboot, the desktop loads very slowly after I log in and the visual layout of panels gets "stuck" for a while with fragmented panels. The mouse is trapped inside one monitor and unity is partially responsive with a lot of lag. After about 20-30 seconds it fixes itself and my desktop becomes normal. Could this slowness be related to having a rotating disk?

I get the usual "System Program Problem Detected" pop up after my first login. I cleaned out my /var/crash/ dir and rebooted and I still get the error so I don't think it's stale crash logs.

There is one crash file (which I've elided):

_usr_lib_xorg_Xorg.0.crash:

ProblemType: Crash
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue May 16 09:11:00 2017
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
ExecutablePath: /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg
ExecutableTimestamp: 1485390561
ProcCmdline: /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg -core :0 -seat seat0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch
ProcCwd: /
ProcEnviron: 
ProcMaps:
 ...
ProcStatus:
 Name:  Xorg
 Umask: 0022
 State: S (sleeping)
 ...
 voluntary_ctxt_switches:   4088352
 nonvoluntary_ctxt_switches:    204945
Signal: 6
Uname: Linux 4.8.0-49-generic x86_64
UserGroups: 
CoreDump: base64
 ...

I've done a couple of reboots clearing the crash logs each time and consistently get the same ProcCmdline:

/usr/lib/xorg/Xorg -core :0 -seat seat0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch

Here is the output of systemd-analyze blame | head:

8.827s docker.service
7.404s dev-sda2.device
3.171s apparmor.service
2.087s ModemManager.service
1.893s dev-loop2.device
1.864s accounts-daemon.service
1.710s thermald.service
1.667s NetworkManager.service
1.569s plymouth-start.service
1.408s systemd-timesyncd.service

Thanks in advance!

boot

2 Answers

  1. More of a comment, but I lack the reputation... The crash log you've provided points to LightDM crashing. LightDM, among other things, is responsible for showing the greeter/login screen. Since your problem occurs after you login, the crash log is likely unrelated. Nevertheless, you could try installing a different display manager. Here are instructions on how to switch from LightDM to GDM. Probably not your root cause, but always worth a shot when LightDM is giving you lemons.

    • 2
  2. Best Answer

    Switching to a solid state disk fixed this. Reduced boot time by 20+ seconds!

    Like Josh A. pointed out, it wasn't related to xorg crashing.

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