On Thu, 2025-10-23 at 16:42 +0200, [email protected] wrote: > On Thu, Oct 23, 2025 at 02:21:39PM +0100, alain williams wrote: > > I am trying to track down & fix an issue that I have had for > > months. > > Apart from the other proposals, this /might/ also be a network > timeout > (DNS lookup or something). So if the machine seems to be "doing > nothing", > this might be something to check.
And now even further to the other replies, it wouldn't hurt to see how your autostart programs are doing. I'm on XFCE4 desktop environment. I reach my settings by clicking the Applications [button] at top left of screen then clicking Settings in the list that drops down. Next I chose "Session and Startup" then click the "Application Startup" tab. I've eyeballed those items in the past and was able to pinpoint my own problem child in a situation just like this. I couldn't remember the name of "System Tray" so.. I asked ChatGPT. I told it I was hoping to help someone having this login stall problem. It said: "These programs (like nm-applet, xfce4-power-manager, etc.) are usually started via .desktop files located in ~/.config/autostart/ or /etc/xdg/autostart/. When one of them hangs during startup, it can delay the appearance of the desktop — exactly the kind of 3-minute freeze your friend is seeing. So, to summarize, you can tell them: 'Check your autostart programs — especially those shown in the Notification Area (System Tray) of the XFCE panel. A misbehaving applet there can delay your desktop from loading.' If you’d like, I can suggest a few commands or diagnostic steps (like testing login times with 'xfce4-panel --quit' and '--restart', or temporarily disabling autostarts one by one) to help pinpoint the culprit quickly." Hoping that helps somehow. Like I said, something in my own autostart was having problems, maybe something like mousepad looking for a file that no longer existed or something. The autostart settings were my own first approach, and that solved my issue. Oh, PS For that "xfce4-panel" suggestion, that name will surely vary based on one's personal CHOICE of desktop environment. Cindy... :) -- Talking Rock, Pickens County, Georgia, USA * runs with birdseed! *
