Login into GNOME performs really bad when there's no Internet connection

[Siegfried Gevatter]

On both of my Ubuntu installations, a Gutsy (upgraded from Feisty) and a clear Feisty installed some days ago (and not fully updated yet), it takes a lot of time to login into GNOME if the computer's not connected to the Internet.

The splash screen hangs where it says "Nautilus" for a while, then displays the desktop but still showing the splash screen in the middle, and if there is any program that should start automatically, I can take minutes until it works. There are also other problems once it's booted, like that the "Exit" dialog doesn't work (it doesn't get displayed). If I connect while the splash screen is being displayed, it continues loading fully normal.

It seems the problem is caused by editing the /etc/network/interfaces file in order that my ethernet card gets a static IP and connects through another PC (which is the one connected to the Internet).

[Siegfried Gevatter (rainct)]

I've tried reverting that file to the original (followed by 'sudo ifdown eth0; sudo ifup eth0') and then it started flawlessly even without Internet connection. Changing it back to the attached file, makes the problem reproducible again.

[Chistophe S (cst)]

Same problem occurs in FeistyFawn.
When no data-cable is plugged and wifi-modem is not activated,
gnome (or maybe nm-applet) is about 3-5sec slower to start.

[diritti.vegetali (diritti-vegetali)]

I can confirm this bug, which I indeed consider quite annoying. This same problem occurred to me with all the ubuntu releases I have tried (all of them since breezy, on four different machines; also gutsy has the same issue).

IF the network is set to "Static IP" AND IF there is no network connection, THEN the systems hangs for long times before executing many tasks. It takes forever (like 30 seconds) just to open xterm in GNOME or fluxbox. BTW, it seems that once the terminal window is open, executing processes in the terminal is not slower than usual (provided you do not start any other X window).

This behavior is easily reproducible, since it happens each time I bring home my laptop (in my office I use static IP, and the first time I boot from home it takes ages).

A friend of mine says this was a well known bug on some older slackware release, but this claim is of course unconfirmed.

Really hope this gets fixed somehow.

[Ben (ben-houseofwebb)]

I am experiencing the same thing on a just upgraded version of Gibbon. It's causing a 30 second delay for launching any program and is bad enough I'm about to stop using Ubuntu. It is compounded by the fact that my wifi driver (Broadcom 43xx) is shaky at best.

My experience, however, is that it is not necessarily related to it being a static IP. In my case I have a wired and an unwired connection, both set to DHCP.

One thing that may or may not be related is that my network configuration continually resets itself... I'll shut off the wired connection and upon looking later it seems to have been restarted. Additionally, if there is a way to set the default network configuration via the network configurator, it's not well documented.

[Ben (ben-houseofwebb)]

I was able to fix much of my problem by shutting down ipv6 support.
I found the fix in a blog:
http://faler.wordpress.com/2007/10/14/ubuntu-linux-710-gutsy-gibbon-on-a-sony-vaio-sz4-xwn/

[diritti.vegetali (diritti-vegetali)]

Hi Ben,
 I think the issue you describe in your post is different. Indeed, the above issues were strictly related to the Static IP mode. I tried the ipv6 trick today with gutsy, and it did not work. I also point out that in the past I thought the bug related to ipv6. I recompiled the kernel and some apps cutting the ipv6 off. I also changed several configuration files disabling ipv6, but the buggish behavior of the system did not change (when the static IP mode enabled).

Regards