Calibre locks entire machine for 1-2 mins on first startup

[HarryT]

I can confirm that on my PC cleaning up the Windows Update files seems to be reduced the duration of the lockup from 1 minute+ down to 15-20s.

[Strether]

Originally Posted by Strether

I've hesitated to join this discussion because I know zip about computers. But I had exactly the same symptoms on my computer quite a while ago and it lasted about a year and then abruptly cleared up.

However, I remember trying to think about what had changed in my computer since the last time I'd opened Calibre and the only thing I could think of was that I'd had a Windows Update. I looked at the log of updates and there were a couple of updates to the Microsoft.NET Framework and wondered if there was some conflict.

As I said, it cleared up on its own though it took a long time. But I wonder if Harry T can remember if his problem occurred after the recent Update which happened on 5/12/15, and which also involved the NET Framework, at least on my machine.

Jim

So I was half right in that the problem was caused by Windows Update but not by a specific update. There must be something that causes a clearing of the problem eventually, though, because it doesn't happen any more.

Jim

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by chaley

So there has been a remarkable improvement. And yes, given the number of other people with other programs that have reported the same level of improvement after cleaning the updates, it is probably the reason.

Still, it is strange that some machines have this problem.

This computer runs calibre x64 on Windows 7 x64, and it has never had its Windows Updates cleaned out. It never had any maintenance except for Disk Cleanup and CCleaner. Even more so... this installation is an in-place upgrade of Vista x64, and it's 7 (!) years old. This computer has never been re-installed during its working life.

Calibre starts within 5-6 seconds, and during its startup, the computer is not locked.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Still, it is strange that some machines have this problem.

This computer runs calibre x64 on Windows 7 x64, and it has never had it's Windows Updates cleaned out. It never had any maintenance except for Disk Cleanup and CCleaner. Even more so... this installation is an in-place upgrade of Vista x64, and it's 7 (!) years old. This computer has never been re-installed during its working life.

Calibre starts within 5-6 seconds, and during its startup, the computer is not locked.

What that probably says is that something else is triggering the scan during the boot process. That is my case. When you boot, does your machine get non-responsive for a time? For me, it is loading a utility to tweak the memory speed of the graphics driver. I seldom notice it because I don't attempt to do anything until the machine is fully up.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by chaley

..
As was said before, bonjour is used for mDNS, also known as "zeroconf", a system for advertising services on a network. Calibre's content server and wireless device driver both use it to make themselves available. There are many client programs that use it on many platforms including iOS, Windows, and Android. Calibre Companion is only one example.

But the combo of calibre + content server + CC works just fine with bonjour uninstalled ( for me anyway) , so is there any good reason for other calibre users to keep it ?.
I don't much care for programs that sneak onto my PC, even if well intention-ed, and AFAIK it is not bundled in any way with calibre installer ?

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Still, it is strange that some machines have this problem.

This computer runs calibre x64 on Windows 7 x64, and it has never had its Windows Updates cleaned out. It never had any maintenance except for Disk Cleanup and CCleaner. Even more so... this installation is an in-place upgrade of Vista x64, and it's 7 (!) years old. This computer has never been re-installed during its working life.

Calibre starts within 5-6 seconds, and during its startup, the computer is not locked.

My is a fresh Win 7 install of 2011, and in 2013 my system disk died, and I restarted from an early backup. Never did a cleanup of updates before, but both Calibre 32 and Calibre 64 showed the freeze FIRST time after a boot.

It is now consistently 18 s (after 3 secondes of start).

My opinion is now that I will die without a solution to this mystery (but not from it killing me!) so the problem can be closed, no ?

Originally Posted by cybmole

But the combo of calibre + content server + CC works just fine with bonjour uninstalled ( for me anyway) , so is there any good reason for other calibre users to keep it ?.
I don't much care for programs that sneak onto my PC, even if well intention-ed, and AFAIK it is not bundled in any way with calibre installer ?

I quite agree with this. Everything works fine AFTER removing 'bonjour', and as of now, no one here complained about the removal (even some .net stuf) and vidéo.

But while I removed it, it was 'Calibre' that was said to be damaged by the
remove, nothing else. I have no idea HOW this came onto my system.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by cybmole

But the combo of calibre + content server + CC works just fine with bonjour uninstalled ( for me anyway) , so is there any good reason for other calibre users to keep it ?.
I don't much care for programs that sneak onto my PC, even if well intention-ed, and AFAIK it is not bundled in any way with calibre installer ?

Browsers don't use mDNS (Bonjour) (AFAIK).

mDNS is one of the mechanisms used by clients to find calibre. CC has a second one. In your case the second one is working well enough that mDNS isn't needed. This is most assuredly not always the case. Many CC users would no longer be able to connect if mDNS wasn't there. I think this is true of apps like Stanza, FB Reader, Moon+, and the like: their auto-connect scheme depends on mDNS. It is a bad idea to tell people to uninstall Bonjour unless you are prepared to be their technical support person when their app stops working.

As for how it gets installed: I don't know. I have never looked at the calibre install system. I do know that the word "Bonjour" appears many times in calibre source.

[JSWolf]

The Bonjour service is installed in Windows with iTunes.

[kovidgoyal]

calibre does not install the bonjour service. calibre install no services. BonJour is run when you start the calibre server, but it is part of the server, not a separate service.

[Dopedangel]

Wow I really though the windows update cleanup might be just be placebo but it brought down my startup from 30 seconds to around 5

[cybmole]

i dont think this problem is fully solved yet.
yes we have collectively whittled down the freeze from minutes to seconds, but I still see an oaccasional total freeze i.e. cannot move mouse, when calibre in launching for the first time after a reboot.

No other program freezes my controls like that and in my case it is for 5 -10 secs when it happens.
Possibly it is because my wireless mouse uses the logitech unifying receiver which is a USB device, so if calibre is scanning that for some weird reason, in case it might have morphed into an e-reader... ?

is anyone else experiencing occasional short freezes, despite all the "fixes" in this thread ?

NB it is not on every launch; as a test I just exited calibre completely and relaunched it while continuing to type here, with no interference - but an hour ago, after a reboot, I manually launched calibre , many minutes after the reboot, and had the mouse lock up for several seconds before any calibre window appeared. No other active processes at the time.
I have no idea where to look or what to check to get into why this happens. I already have calibre's program files folder as an excluded folder in malwarebytes

[NSILMike]

Originally Posted by cybmole

i dont think this problem is fully solved yet.
[snipped]
is anyone else experiencing occasional short freezes, despite all the "fixes" in this thread ?

[snipped]
I have no idea where to look or what to check to get into why this happens. I already have calibre's program files folder as an excluded folder in malwarebytes

I have not seen this, but I have an idea if your OS is windows. When it is likely to occur open task manager to the processes tab, and set it to sort by maximum to minimum CPU (click CPU until it sorts correctly.)
You will be able to see what process is consuming resources, and that may provide a clue on how to solve this.

[theducks]

cyb

by any chance do you have a non-traditional location for your program or user temp and config folders?

[cybmole]

All is in Default locations. Early in the thread are reports that task manager also freezes if used to investigate this. I rarely reboot but will try to remember to try it though. It is a rare event, will need multiple users comparing notes to solve, I suspect