very sluggish gui lazarus / 1-Linux ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chris2000 · 2006-12-13 15:42 Hi all, I posted this on the general forum yesterday but I think that was the wrong place to put it so please excuse the cross-posting. I've installed Lazarus using the debian packages available on the website and it runs. But it is very sluggish. For example, if I let the mouse hover over the buttons in the save-as-dialog, it takes nearly one second for the button to highlight. In the text editong window, the cursor lags way behind where I mark with the mouse. If I don't patiently wait for the focus before continuing, Lazarus eventually freezes. I'm doing this on a new dualcore pentium with 4 GB of RAM. Can anyone give me a hint (or a hand) as to what to do? Thanks in advance. Chris. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc · 2006-12-14 09:35 I removed the other topic. This sounds as if you are running through a remote X connection on a slow line IIRC the debs are based on GTK2 and that widgetset isn't completed yet, but I doubt if this causes the sluggishness. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chris2000 · 2006-12-14 09:52 Hi Marc, Well yes, you are right about the remote X connection. I'm trying to setup Lazarus in a computer lab using thin clients. However, the connection is not slow and I have many other apps installed and there is no problem with them. Only with Lazarus. Also, not all widgets respond badly. The general response is not bad (even normal). Just some are slow like the cursor following the mouse in the code editor widnows and, the save-dialog that pops up when you close the form window. I really don't think this is a remote X issue. What else could I look at? Thanks. Chris. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc · 2006-12-14 09:58 This is a remote X issue (unless you use a 100Mb link) The difference between Laz apps and other apps is that lazarus currently wants/needs to know all mouse movement. Unfortunately, moving the mouse on a remote X causes a storm of little network packets. At home I develop with lazarus remote on a 1GB lan and have no problems. However I did also some remote development on a 128kbit line and then pressing (or aiming for) a button takes minutes. For such situations I suggest to use a (tight)VNC connection ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chris2000 · 2006-12-14 10:12 Hi Marc, I have a 1GB connection between the server and switch, and from there out to the terminals 100MB. > The difference between Laz apps and other apps is that lazarus currently wants/needs to know all mouse movement. What a pity, that really makes Lazarus a no-go application on a terminal network. I will look into using vnc. Thanks. Chris. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- felipemdc · 2006-12-14 11:32 Quote from: "Marc"IIRC the debs are based on GTK2 and that widgetset isn't completed yet, but I doubt if this causes the sluggishness. Actually, this could be the cause. There are some Gtk 2 bugs associated with a slow IDE, like slow popup menu, maybe remote X connection somehow shows more of them. Another severe slowness bug was fixed on recent subversion. I think it isn´t on 0.9.20 chris2000, can you try recompiling your IDE to Gtk 1 to test this? If it´s installed as deb package you will need to be root to recompile it. There is a menu Tools --> Configure Build Lazarus to help you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Phil · 2006-12-14 14:15 Quote from: "chris2000"I will look into using vnc. I'm using this: http://www.tightvnc.com/ In a pinch I've even used Lazarus with TightVNC over a phone modem by selecting "Best Compression" and under Options checking "Restricting pixels to 8-bit (for slow networks)". I'm using the stable 0.9.20 Laz compiled with GTK on SUSE 10.1. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chris2000 · 2006-12-14 14:44 Ok guys, help me understand this. How is vnc going to help? I am sitting at a thin client running remote apps on the server. I can install the vnc server software on the app server where lazarus is. Then I install the vcn client software on the application server because that's where I logon to. So it happens that the vnc server and client are on the same machine. If I use the vnc client, that doesn't avoid X on the terminal, it just puts vnc between the my X terminal and Lazarus. Am I explaining myself? I would understand this proprosal if I we running the vnc client locally at my workstation but I am not. > chris2000, can you try recompiling your IDE to Gtk 1 to test this? If it´s installed as deb package you will need to be root to recompile it. I haven't yet looked into doing this but given the aspect of the widget, it looks like GTK1 anyway. Could it be using GTK2 with a GTK1 look and feel? Is that possible? Chris. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Phil · 2006-12-14 15:08 Quote from: "chris2000"I haven't yet looked into doing this but given the aspect of the widget, it looks like GTK1 anyway. Could it be using GTK2 with a GTK1 look and feel? Is that possible? Do any other apps (gedit) behave sluggishly like this when run remotely? When I run Lazarus remotely with vcn it feels like a native app on my local computer as far as responsiveness goes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc · 2006-12-18 10:07 For best performance, the thin client has to run the vnc client, but maybe running it remote already solve a lot of messages. However, on a 100Mb link I don't think that the link is a problem. So maybe it is a GTK2/remote/lazarus issue. As suggested, you could try to use gtk1. Personally I've no experience with a remote GTK2, but I can try to build a lazarus gtk2 and see how it reacts. Marc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chris2000 · 2006-12-18 22:14 Hi, > Do any other apps (gedit) behave sluggishly like this when run remotely? I have lots of apps running (gtk1, gtk2, qt, ) and Lazarus is th only one with this problem. > So maybe it is a GTK2/remote/lazarus issue. As suggested, you could try to use gtk1. Marc, I downloaded the binaries for debian so I guess it's compiled with gtk2 (is that right?). But the widgets are not gtk2, they are gtk1. Can you explain that to me? And how could do I switch between one and the other? chris ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc · 2006-12-19 10:01 Only thing I know is that there is one distro we ship with a gtk2 interface (iirc it was deb). However it is a known problem that this version defaults to gtk1 when your project is compiled. For a recap, is lazarus sluggish or are the generated apps sluggish ? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chris2000 · 2006-12-19 10:06 > Only thing I know is that there is one distro we ship with a gtk2 interface (iirc it was deb). Well, if the widgets are anything to go by (and I imagine they are), this is gtk1. > For a recap, is lazarus sluggish or are the generated apps sluggish ? Lazarus is sluggish. I haven't done any proramming with it yet! chris ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc · 2006-12-19 10:17 I'm out of options. I wonder what is difference is between your setup and mine. But I can't think of any cause (unless you suffer from a serious packet loss or network latency) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chris2000 · 2006-12-19 11:34 ok. I'll take another look at the network. Thanks for the attention. Chris.