[iterm2-discuss] Pizza wheel of dea^H^Hpause!

[a***@cybersecurityteam.com]

Hi,

I've found - I think from iTerm 3.2.0beta9* - that when iTerm starts or
opens a new window there is a pause - between a few seconds and a minute -
during which the "pizza wheel of death" is shown. After the pause, iTerm
continues normally. I've just updated to the release version of 3.2.0 but
with no change.

The computer is a MacBookPro running the latest Mojave public beta -
18A365a. (* But this issue may well have started following a Mojave beta
install - I can't be sure; unfortunately).

I can see from Console the following log entry:

Saved spin report for iTerm2 version 3.2.0 (3.2.0) to
iTerm2_2018-08-18-074752_jarvis.spin


And have found the file at:

/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iTerm2_2018-08-18-074752_jarvis.spin


I think it contains too much data on my system to post into a public forum;
so I've not attached the full file here - but I have attached a redux
version with just the entries pertaining to iTerm2 (just all the other
processes removed).

I can see that in the effected thread that iTermMetalDriver is in the call
path. I've just disabled GPU Rendering in iTerm2's Preferences and the
delay does indeed disappear - so it looks like the issue is definitely with
the new GPU renderer.

If I use the util gfxCardStatus; I can see I'm currently using the discrete
GPU - Nvidia GeForce GT 650M - as I have an external display attached.

To find out more, I re-enabled GPU rendering, and within iTerm2's
preferences there are three GPU Advanced options:

- Disable Metal renderer when disconnected from power
- Maximise throughput
- Prefer integrated to discrete GPU

All three were enabled - I've disabled each in turn - restarting iTerm at
each point but this didn't remove the delay.

Beyond the obvious disabling of GPU Rendering - any suggestions on a fix?
Anything I can provide to help implement a fix?

Many thanks,

aid

[a***@cybersecurityteam.com]

FYI:

I've just tried the latest nightly release (18th Aug). I no longer have
this pause on this nightly release - with GPU rendering enabled. I've
verified that GPU is indeed active by enabling the "show FPS" setting and
the frame rate is displayed.

*(The nightly release does feel very slow otherwise (e.g. moving between
Preferences tabs) - is this a normal thing for the nightly releases -
perhaps due to debug symbols or compiled under different optimisation
options?)*

So, looks like a fix for the issue I've seen is already in the code base.
Many thanks to whoever! ;-)

Cheers,

aid



PS: Ohh, dark mode support enabled in the nightly beta. Happy times...




On Saturday, August 18, 2018 at 8:19:13 AM UTC+1,

Post by a***@cybersecurityteam.com
Hi,
I've found - I think from iTerm 3.2.0beta9* - that when iTerm starts or
opens a new window there is a pause - between a few seconds and a minute -
during which the "pizza wheel of death" is shown. After the pause, iTerm
continues normally. I've just updated to the release version of 3.2.0 but
with no change.
The computer is a MacBookPro running the latest Mojave public beta -
18A365a. (* But this issue may well have started following a Mojave beta
install - I can't be sure; unfortunately).
Saved spin report for iTerm2 version 3.2.0 (3.2.0) to
iTerm2_2018-08-18-074752_jarvis.spin
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iTerm2_2018-08-18-074752_jarvis.spin
I think it contains too much data on my system to post into a public
forum; so I've not attached the full file here - but I have attached a
redux version with just the entries pertaining to iTerm2 (just all the
other processes removed).
I can see that in the effected thread that iTermMetalDriver is in the call
path. I've just disabled GPU Rendering in iTerm2's Preferences and the
delay does indeed disappear - so it looks like the issue is definitely with
the new GPU renderer.
If I use the util gfxCardStatus; I can see I'm currently using the
discrete GPU - Nvidia GeForce GT 650M - as I have an external display
attached.
To find out more, I re-enabled GPU rendering, and within iTerm2's
- Disable Metal renderer when disconnected from power
- Maximise throughput
- Prefer integrated to discrete GPU
All three were enabled - I've disabled each in turn - restarting iTerm at
each point but this didn't remove the delay.
Beyond the obvious disabling of GPU Rendering - any suggestions on a fix?
Anything I can provide to help implement a fix?
Many thanks,
aid

[George Nachman]

Yeah, don't use 3.2.0 on Mojave. The nightly build has a bunch of fixes for
it which I will cherrypick into 3.2.1. I hope to get a beta out this
weekend.

Post by a***@cybersecurityteam.com
I've just tried the latest nightly release (18th Aug). I no longer have
this pause on this nightly release - with GPU rendering enabled. I've
verified that GPU is indeed active by enabling the "show FPS" setting and
the frame rate is displayed.
*(The nightly release does feel very slow otherwise (e.g. moving between
Preferences tabs) - is this a normal thing for the nightly releases -
perhaps due to debug symbols or compiled under different optimisation
options?)*
So, looks like a fix for the issue I've seen is already in the code base.
Many thanks to whoever! ;-)
Cheers,
aid
PS: Ohh, dark mode support enabled in the nightly beta. Happy times...
On Saturday, August 18, 2018 at 8:19:13 AM UTC+1,

Post by a***@cybersecurityteam.com
Hi,
I've found - I think from iTerm 3.2.0beta9* - that when iTerm starts or
opens a new window there is a pause - between a few seconds and a minute -
during which the "pizza wheel of death" is shown. After the pause, iTerm
continues normally. I've just updated to the release version of 3.2.0 but
with no change.
The computer is a MacBookPro running the latest Mojave public beta -
18A365a. (* But this issue may well have started following a Mojave beta
install - I can't be sure; unfortunately).
Saved spin report for iTerm2 version 3.2.0 (3.2.0) to
iTerm2_2018-08-18-074752_jarvis.spin
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/iTerm2_2018-08-18-074752_jarvis.spin
I think it contains too much data on my system to post into a public
forum; so I've not attached the full file here - but I have attached a
redux version with just the entries pertaining to iTerm2 (just all the
other processes removed).
I can see that in the effected thread that iTermMetalDriver is in the
call path. I've just disabled GPU Rendering in iTerm2's Preferences and
the delay does indeed disappear - so it looks like the issue is definitely
with the new GPU renderer.
If I use the util gfxCardStatus; I can see I'm currently using the
discrete GPU - Nvidia GeForce GT 650M - as I have an external display
attached.
To find out more, I re-enabled GPU rendering, and within iTerm2's
- Disable Metal renderer when disconnected from power
- Maximise throughput
- Prefer integrated to discrete GPU
All three were enabled - I've disabled each in turn - restarting iTerm at
each point but this didn't remove the delay.
Beyond the obvious disabling of GPU Rendering - any suggestions on a
fix? Anything I can provide to help implement a fix?
Many thanks,
aid
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[a***@cybersecurityteam.com]

Hi George,

Thanks for info. I've just installed 3.2.1beta1 and can confirm that there
is no longer a pause when opening a window on this release when GPU
rendering is enabled.

Many thanks!

aid

Post by George Nachman
Yeah, don't use 3.2.0 on Mojave. The nightly build has a bunch of fixes
for it which I will cherrypick into 3.2.1. I hope to get a beta out this
weekend.