[Solved] System suddenly delaying opening files

[chippywood]

My system has suddenly developed a ~25 sec delay when opening files, and I can't figure out what could be causing it. This includes starting Nemo for the first time (I guess it leaves a process active as subsequently starts do not delay). On boot up I also get the message "No system tray detected on this system" from the HPLIP status service, but I think this is a side effect of the same delay and not a separate issue.

I'm thinking that there's some sort of file access hang-up. I tried temporarily removing an NFS drive and second HDD I have defined in FSTAB, with no effect. I'd appreciate suggestions as to what might be causing this, and how to go about tracking the problem down.

I'm not aware of making any changes before this behaviour started (but everyone says that, don't they?)

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-73-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa 
  base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: P5K v: Rev 1.xx serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: American Megatrends v: 1201 date: 10/14/2008 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Penryn rev: A L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 21371 
  Speed: 2006 MHz min/max: 1998/2664 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2004 2: 2006 
  3: 2004 4: 2004 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Cape Verde PRO [Radeon HD 7750/8740 / R7 250E] 
  vendor: PC Partner Limited driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: ati,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 2560x1440~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD VERDE (DRM 2.50.0 5.4.0-73-generic LLVM 11.0.0) 
  v: 4.5 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 82801I HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK P5K PRO : 82801IR 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  Device-2: AMD Oland/Hainan/Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7000 
  Series] 
  vendor: PC Partner Limited driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-73-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros Attansic L1 Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: ASUSTeK P5B-MX/WiFi-AP P5KPL-VM driver: atl1 v: 2.1.3 port: c000 
  bus ID: 02:00.0 
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 763.85 GiB used: 259.98 GiB (34.0%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: HD502HI size: 465.76 GiB 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Samsung model: HD321KJ size: 298.09 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 228.27 GiB used: 67.85 GiB (29.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 32.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 36 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 237 Uptime: 4h 18m Memory: 7.77 GiB used: 1.72 GiB (22.1%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 
  inxi: 3.0.38

Thanks

[gittiest personITW]

How long has it been going on?
Is this delay just from startup or throughout the session?
Is it all files or just docs, for instance, or apps?
Have you done an update or changed any settings?

If it started a few days ago, could you Timeshift back to before the problem?

[mikeflan]

My system has suddenly developed a ~25 sec delay when opening files

Does it happen when you double click on a file in Nemo?
Does it happen when you select File - Open from within LibreOffice and then select a LO document?
Does it happen when you open a terminal in a directory with a text file and type xed file.txt in the terminal?

[chippywood]

How long has it been going on?

2 or 3 weeks.

Is this delay just from startup or throughout the session?

Throughout the whole session.

Is it all files or just docs, for instance, or apps?

All files, not just docs. As far as I can tell, apps start immediately, even if they are internally opening files. But using a file chooser within an app suffers the same delay.

Have you done an update or changed any settings?

Not aware of making any changes.

If it started a few days ago, could you Timeshift back to before the problem?

I guess I could although since I've not made any changes I feel this would be a last resort. And while Timeshift is set up and running, I've never used it to restore so would be a bit nervous doing this!

[chippywood]

My system has suddenly developed a ~25 sec delay when opening files

Does it happen when you double click on a file in Nemo?

Yes

Does it happen when you select File - Open from within LibreOffice and then select a LO document?

Yes. The delay happens before the Open dialog appears (but only the first time).

Does it happen when you open a terminal in a directory with a text file and type xed file.txt in the terminal?

Ah, good call! Yes it does, but I also get this message:
Error creating proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.gtk.vfs.GPhoto2VolumeMonitor: Timeout was reached (g-io-error-quark, 24)

Of course, now I remember installing gphoto2 a couple of weeks ago for doing live view camera control. How easily we forget, not that I would have connected it with this problem..
This describes the issue, and the solution:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1305553 ... org-gtk-vf

Thanks guys for your help!

[mikeflan]

Great. So 'gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor' does not have execution permissions.
Running this in a terminal fixes it:

Code: Select all

chmod +x /usr/libexec/gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor

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