Indigo client taking 80s to start

[brianlloyd]

Just noticed that the Indigo client is taking an inordinate amount of time (~80s) to start and display devices. Doesn't matter if it is on the same machine as the server or a remote machine. Doesn't matter if it is an x64 Mac or Apple Silicon. Machines are running MacOS 14.7.

Anyone else seeing this behavior? If so, any cure?

[jalves]

No issue here. Running the client on three different machines in addition to the one that runs the server. The client seems to take about the same time on al of them. Much less than 80 seconds in my case.

[jay (support)]

How many devices and variables do you have? We've had a couple of reports of users with lots of those and/or devices and variables that get updated rapidly (every second or less) which cause the client to work slowly. This is unfortunately a macOS SDK issue with bindings (binding a data object to an interface UI object like text/button etc) - too many updated too quickly cause those bindings to slow down.

[brianlloyd]

I have a moderate number of devices (~125) and maybe 30 variables, but this it totally new behavior. Until a week or two ago the Mac client came up in a couple seconds. Now suddenly, it takes ~80s. I have tried the client on multiple Macs, M2 and x64, and the problem is consistent. The system menu shows up right away. If I pull down the 'view' menu item, everything is greyed out for 80s. After that, it runs normally.

Server is running on MacOS 13.7.1. (I am wary of updating until the bugs are shaken out in subsequent releases.) Client running locally on the server has the startup delay. I have tested the client on some machines running 14.7. Client behavior is the same, 80s delay.

Client and server are 2024.1.

As I said, this is new behavior.

[matt (support)]

Does the Event Log show anything curious?

[brianlloyd]

I am not seeing anything unusual in the event log. I have a few devices that are accessed through the Cynical Network plugin that are temporarily unreachable (subnet issue) but that is it. Apparently that problem existed before this problem manifested.

What happens during initialization, between the start of the client and the home window is displayed? What would cause the client to block during that time? I have a rather complex network, running both IPv4 and IPv6, several subnets, and I have had some DNS issues, which I am working on. I thought it might be an mDNS/Bonjour issue, but Indigo Touch works fine. Only Indigo client on MacOS is affected.

It isn't really critical because I can either leave the client open, or if I need to do something quickly, I just use my phone or iPad. Still, it is annoying when I am sitting at the console of one of my Macs, I want to change something in the house, and the UI doesn't come up.

[matt (support)]

It very well might be related to the Cynical Network plugin or another plugin. The first troubleshooting step I was going to suggest is to disable 3rd party plugins and see if that helps. If so, then you can re-enable them until you isolate which plugin is related to the issue.

Also, restart the Indigo Server (and probably the Mac) just to rule out it being a transient problem. Also rebooting your networking equipment (router, etc.) might help.

Note nothing has changed in the last several years in regards to how the Indigo client starts up, or connects and communicates with the Indigo Server.

[brianlloyd]

Yes, I have rebooted the server, power-cycled the server, etc. I have not disabled the third-party plug-ins because the server itself does not appear to be misbehaving. Indigo Touch running on iOS is working just fine. It responds nearly instantly when started. I would be hard-pressed to believe it is a networking problem when the client and server are running on the same machine. Only the client is affected.

Besides, it was fine and then it wasn't, with no change to the plug-ins.

Is there a startup log for the client? The event log is generated by the server, and the server does not appear to be the problem. Is there a log of events inside the client that can be enabled? It is like the client is blocking on something that eventually times out.

'Tis a conundrum.

[jay (support)]

You'll still want to disable plugins as they may be hanging up the server at startup in such a way that the client isn't getting served.

[matt (support)]

There is no client log. While I know the problem recently started, I don't believe it is related to the change in Indigo version. I could be wrong, but this is the first report of the problem and nothing has changed in regards to how Indigo starts or communicates with the server. We'll keep thinking about how to troubleshoot this and what might be causing it, but probably the best way to do that is for you to continue simplifying your config / setup until we isolate the problem. You could also try creating a new temporary database to see if the issue is related to your database somehow. If it is, then you can email us your database file and we can try to reproduce it here.

And as Jay said, definitely disable all your 3rd party plugins to see if that makes a difference.

[brianlloyd]

You'll still want to disable plugins as they may be hanging up the server at startup in such a way that the client isn't getting served.

As I said, Indigo Touch is still running immediately and the server is still serving requests from Touch while the Mac client is hanging for 80s. So the server is responding. If I am exercising the plugins using Indigo Touch and they are working properly while the Mac client is blocked, I can't see how the plugins are affecting things.

OK, I disabled all the plugins. It is still taking 80s for the client to start.

[brianlloyd]

... You could also try creating a new temporary database to see if the issue is related to your database somehow. If it is, then you can email us your database file and we can try to reproduce it here.

And as Jay said, definitely disable all your 3rd party plugins to see if that makes a difference.

OK, disabled all the plugins. No change.

As for the database, can you think of any possible failure mode that would have the Mac Client blocking while Indigo Touch and the web server are still working just fine? Requests are coming in and being processed normally while the client is hanging. It seems to me this is clearly something that is happening in the client or with client-server comms that does not affect either the web server or Indigo Touch.

So, it has to do with the Mac client talking to the server that does not involve any of the server code that interacts with the web server or Indigo Touch. That should narrow things down a bit.

[matt (support)]

Indigo Touch communicates with an entirely different server, in an entirely different process, written in an entirely different language, than the Indigo Client UI.

Are you running any 3rd party antivirus or firewall software? If so, completely disable them and see if that prevents the delay.

Lastly, please try a new empty database file.

[brianlloyd]

Indigo Touch communicates with an entirely different server, in an entirely different process, written in an entirely different language, than the Indigo Client UI.

I probably should just shut up but I am not good at that. My assumption is that there is a common back-end that is processing all the requests, regardless of their source. On the UI side, I am not assuming any commonality between Indigo Touch and the Mac UI. I do think that somewhere in there, the requests become common to the execution back-end and that is where I assume the database is operating. Is there some part of the database that is exclusive to the Mac UI but not to the web or Indigo Touch UIs?

So I keep coming back to wondering where there is a difference between the built-in web server, the Mac UI, and Indigo Touch. Built-in web server and Indigo Touch always work immediately. Mac UI always delays starting.

Are you running any 3rd party antivirus or firewall software? If so, completely disable them and see if that prevents the delay.

The only firewall I am running (inside MacOS) is the standard Apple firewall that is enabled by default. I turned it off. No change.

Lastly, please try a new empty database file.

Refresh my memory please? Where does the database reside and do I need to do anything besides terminate the server, rename the database file, and restart the server?

[FlyingDiver]

Refresh my memory please? Where does the database reside and do I need to do anything besides terminate the server, rename the database file, and restart the server?

You don't need to do any of that. Just use the File menu option to create a new database. It'll close the existing one and switch to the new (empty) one.