Trace Windows 7 boot/shutdown/hibernate/standby/resume issues

[MagicAndre1981]

you need to be admin user to use the tools.

[abeattie3]

So Andre how do I fix that?

[MagicAndre1981]

buy a SSD

[abeattie3]

So that is the only thing you could see then? The only cure is to spend a few hundred dollars on an ssd? That stinks.. But thanks for checking it out for me andre I really appreciate it

[MagicAndre1981]

no, there is no other fix. Your Seagate Momentus 5400.6 500GB (ST9500325AS) is very slow.

Replace the HDD with the 120GB Samsung 840 Evo for 90$ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W01AZ5378), buy HDD caddy, remove the DVD drive and put the caddy + your old HDD in the slot of the old DVD drive.

Install Win7+ important programs on the SSD and store all data on the HDD.

[greyeyezz]

your slow HDD is the cause and busiy for over 70s:

Well I reformatted, reinstalled all my software exactly like before and its been a few weeks. Boot up is 47 seconds and all my tray programs load in 5 seconds vs 25 seconds before.

My advice, if your going to run this boot optimization make sure you have a good backup handy, you'll eventually need it.

[Schadenfreude]

Andre,
I hear you are THE guy to talk to about slow bootup/start issues. If you can help out, I'd really appreciate it.

Working on my parents' computer (Dell XPS 435MT X58/ICH10R w/ i7-920, 6GB RAM DDR3-1066, HDS721075KLA330, Win7 SP1 Home Premium x64) and I noticed starting from cold boot is DARN slow. (Attempting to talk them into an SSD upgrade to get them by until they can afford their next PC...)

Shutdown's not a problem, and they don't normally hibernate or sleep that often... but cold boot is terrible! Many, many minutes.

Attached trace hosted on mediafire. Is it supposed to be this huge?!
http://www.mediafire.com/download/5kkoqclzujz8xm1/schade_trace.zip

I attempted to run xperf on the trace but it gave me the following warning:

xperf: warning: applying restriction of access for trace processing97993 Events were lost in this trace.Data may be unreliable. This is usually caused by insufficient disk bandwidth for ETW logging.Please try increasing the minimum and maximum number of buffers and/or the buffer size.Doubling these values would be a good first attempt.Please note, though, that this action increases the amount of memory reserved for ETW buffers, increasing memory pressure on your scenario.See "xperf -help start" for the associated command line options.

FWIW, Dell has restricted their BIOS to only listing IDE/RAID as interface choices, and it is currently operating in IDE mode - but I hear if I load the RAID drivers and switch the BIOS to RAID, it will effectively activate AHCI for all SATA ports, even if running JBOD.

I've installed the hotfixes you mentioned for Windows 7. Aside from switching to AHCI mode for the HDD, and running the BootVis-like xbootmgr optimization on the HDD, and eventually switching to a SSD... please let me know if you see further optimizations.

(I've been suspicious the HDS721075KLA330 might be running at a reduced speed for a while, due to error/issues/age/miconfiguration?)

[MagicAndre1981]

starting the device ("USB\VID_0644&PID_0201 - CAB-200) takes very long:



What is this?

[jaclaz]

What is this?

Just in case:

[strings]

PRODUCT_COMPANY = "TEAC"

PRODUCT_SERVICE = "USB Card Reader Driver"

SOURCEDISK_DESC = "Source Disk #1"

USB\VID_0644&PID_0201.DeviceDesc = "CAB-200"

USB\VID_0644&PID_0200.DeviceDesc = "CA-200"

jaclaz

[Schadenfreude]

starting the device ("USB\VID_0644&PID_0201 - CAB-200) takes very long:

What is this?

Thanks for looking!

I noticed that the other day and actually know about it, but hadn't thought about it slowing down boot, it's a USB device that's currently Code 10 (Device failed to start).

CAB-200 is TEAC CAB-200, part of a USB multifunction device built into that Dell Studio XPS (as well as others). It's a 3.5" front-panel-accessible drive that connects to the motherboard using a Dell proprietary connector. It provides Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and is also a 4-slot 19-in-1 memory card reader.

I was going to try the suggested things here to try to solve the Code 10:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19243511.aspx?pi21953=1

Which are basically:

1. Make sure you're using the newest Dell-specific firmware/drivers for the device (roll back any non-Dell drivers installed by Windows Update or otherwise.)

2. Mess around with the USB connector

3. Properly ground the drive (correcting a design flaw) using a longer screw or grounding wire.

4. Worst case scenario, replace the drive.

That said, my dad over the years (this is a 2009 machine) found the Dell bundled Bluetooth keyboard/mouse too finicky and stopped using them, favoring wired USB input devices. (and that's all he uses the Bluetooth for.)

Furthermore, the 19-in-1 front bay memory card reader no longer supports the memory cards he uses from his Canon DSLR so he mostly favors a Sandisk 52-in-1 USB memory card reader he has.

So I may be safe to unplug the device!

---

Can you tell me about anything else? I'm headed over there in a few hours. :-)

[MagicAndre1981]

disable it and give me a new trace

[Schadenfreude]

Since I was over there this evening for once (it is infrequent), although realizingti it is not scientific, I decided to do a bunch of changes:
- fix or disable the Bluetooth/Memory card reader combo device
- update all the drivers (video/audio/network/etc.)
- update some programs
- convert over to "RAID" (which supposedly enables AHCI in this BIOS)

I was able to fix the combo device, and boot time was noticeably improved. If you still think it must be disabled, let me know.

However, now I have become victim to the BSOD-on-startup-drivertrace.

At the links below you can find traces even though it recovered from BSOD during the boot

schade_trace2.zip (suffered from one BSOD): http://www.mediafire.com/download/53m5vlj5zb9y9dy/schade_trace2.zip

schade_trace3.zip (suffered from two BSOD's!): http://www.mediafire.com/download/pbmewcqxqzwfo5e/schade_trace3.zip

schade_trace4.zip (no drivers traced, no BSOD's): http://www.mediafire.com/download/65wipf6gk3gahyq/schade_trace4.zip

With no xpmboot trace running, there is no BSOD.

Not sure where it's stashing the memory minidumps (it's not %Systemroot%\minidump like the settings are)

[teebe]

Started with a long boot, 6min to desktop idle, i made some changes to services in use watching at traces in WPA, up to reducing boot to about 4min. Sometimes doing myself, I.e., the searchindexer is slower if set to automatic/delayed than to automatic start.

By the way, I could be satisfied, the WPA tools are effective in pointing to retarding services.

But...

I cannot understand why the Services traces are blank for long, about 2min complessive, in the middle of postboot.

What is the boot schedule doing in this empty events?

Of course, the system hard disk is slight fragmented and slow, 5400rpm, but i could not believe it could produce the 2min lag.

This feeling, the computer is hiding a starving cpu program, must be added to other in normal operation, like a dumb responsiveness while low cpu usage is shown in taskmanager. And also, to slow scan of folders when selected into explorer panes.

Notice that system is cleaned with major a-malawares, found only tracing cookies, no viruses, no pup.

Any suggestion?

[MagicAndre1981]

the BSODs come from the DRIVERS flag.

In tarce4 the disk is busy all the time:

The queue depth at 91 is bad. Get a faster disk like a SSD.

[MagicAndre1981]

@teebe

run this command, this captures waitings and some DISK and File IO data:

xbootmgr -trace boot -traceFlags BASE+LATENCY+DISPATCHER+FILE_IO+FILE_IO_INIT+FILENAME -stackwalk profile+CSwitch+ReadyThread -resultPath C:\TEMP

Zip the ETL file and give it to me.