KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

MountainX · 2016-08-30 01:34:29

I"m running Arch with KDE (Plasma 5, of course) and Libre Office Fresh. Calc is so slow that it is not even useable. I want to know if anyone else is seeing severe performance problems with Calc. I'm seeing it on two different Arch installations, both of which are running on very fast modern workstation hardware (e.g., Core i7 machines with fast SSD, plenty of fast RAM, etc.) Compared to a Kubuntu 16.04 installation running standard Libre Office, the Arch machines are literally 1000 times slower.

Should I uninstall Fresh and try Libre Office Still? Or should I go through some troubleshooting steps with Fresh? For example, I just noticed that under Java Options I have "use a java runtime environment" checked, but my system does not have a JRE installed. I have not yet made any configuration changes. Is it possible that the default settings could be resulting in such horrible performance?

Last edited by MountainX (2016-08-30 01:51:24)

alive4ever · 2016-08-30 06:12:46

What do you mean by 'slow'? Is it slow to start up or are you running some calculation benchmark such as this one?

MountainX · 2016-08-30 06:20:27

alive4ever wrote:

What do you mean by 'slow'? Is it slow to start up or are you running some calculation benchmark such as this one?

Spreadsheets open very slowly
Once open the sheet contents are drawn very slowly. It takes about 15 seconds to draw the window.
Scrolling a sheet is very, very slow. It can take 30 seconds or more to scroll a page.
After scrolling, it can take another half minute before you can click on any cell.
Switching tabs is very slow. It can take 10 or 15 seconds to switch sheet tabs.
Every little operation takes many seconds.
It's impossible to do any work.

Both Arch computers with Libre Office are the same. Kubuntu 16.04 doesn't have this problem.

Last edited by MountainX (2016-08-30 06:21:54)

desaparecido · 2016-08-30 06:28:47

here all works fine [testing] enable, if is not about performance (in calculation like @alive4ever says) but about graphics sluggish, probably is about View>"Graphics Output">"Use Hardware Acceleration" option problem or even about your graphic driver. Is difficult to compare with Kubuntu 16.04 because there are a lot of packages with differents versions like kernel, LibreOffice, Plasma stuffs, and graphics drivers :-/ . Long time ago I was a problem about graphic flow, really slow scroll par exemple, and was a bug in radeonsi drivers, to test it I used gtkperf package, actually it finish in 2.82 s, but in that time in 15 s (only like exemple).

MountainX · 2016-08-30 06:47:09

I'm using hardware acceleration (tried both ways). I use the proprietary nvidia driver and my GPU is an nvidia GTX 1070. It's very fast hardware. Something else is wrong...

ewaller · 2016-08-30 14:18:43

If you start Calc from the command line in a terminal window, are any errors or warnings streamed to the terminal?

FelledTreeNo9 · 2016-08-30 14:54:10

I'm having the same problem.

I just switched from Still to Fresh myself in the hope that it would help but it made no difference.

I myself normally use Libreoffice with the GTK 2 look, by having this environment variable set:
SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk

So I went through just now and tried all the other possible theme values (from here):
SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=kde4
SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gen
SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk3

With both 'kde4' and 'gen', the spreadsheet is also terribly slow (in each case I do see the expected UI changes, by the way, so I know that the program is heeding my settings). With 'gtk3', it runs at normal speed.

A few weeks ago, 'gtk3' became the default setting for this environment variable. I had been happily using Libreoffice (under XFCE) for ages with no particular environment variable set during which it looked like a GTK 2 program, then it suddenly changed to the super-bright, baby-scrollbar GTK 3 style, which I dislike. I used this thread to find out about the existence of the above environment variable and subsequently set it to 'gtk' on my system to get the old look back (it didn't exist in my environment, before).

I can't say for sure, but it's possible that this slowdown to the non-GTK 3 themes came in at the same time as the GTK 3 theme became default. When I fixed my issue a few weeks ago, I don't remember noticing any performance change then, but maybe I only tested it with Writer. And, I haven't done super-thorough testing yet today but it looks like this regression may affect Calc, specifically.

Confusingly, I found a couple of recent-ish threads in today's googling from Ubuntu users who experienced performance regressions caused by the update to GTK 3 and suggest they have have fixed it by using the environment variable to go back to GTK 2.

@ewaller: Just tried starting from a terminal and I get no messages at all during startup and as I scroll stutteringly around the spreadsheet. (I did then open a file selector and got a bunch of unrelated messages, so I know my terminal is functional).

MountainX · 2016-08-30 15:06:45

@FelledTreeNo9 - thank you so much!!! I'll try to replicate your findings today and post my results this evening.

FelledTreeNo9 · 2016-08-30 15:17:12

Small bit of extra information - I've just noticed that in all Libreoffice subprograms (Calc, Writer, etc) - when I roll the mouse over the menu bar headings (File, Edit, View etc), they flicker (all of them flicker at once, the ones on the right more than the ones on the left). I do remember this happening a few weeks ago after I fixed my theme as described above - I wrote it off then as a minor irritation, glad to have the GTK 2 UI back.

Looking at my logs, those troubles were in response to an upgrade of libreoffice-still from 5.0.6-2 to 5.1.5-2, so the roots of this performance issue are probably also in that version range.

EDIT: If I turn off my desktop compositor then the menu headings don't flicker, but it is still slow. And, this is on all Libreoffice themes except for the GTK 3 one.

Last edited by FelledTreeNo9 (2016-08-30 15:27:48)

johan.cb · 2016-08-30 15:40:14

No performance problems here with LibreOffice Fresh and Plasma 5.

But I do have the menu flickering described in the post above by FelledTreeNo9.

iskandr · 2016-08-30 16:30:24

Slightly off topic, but since you are apparently on a plasma5 system: any good reasons not to consider Calligra as an alternative to LibreOffice? It integrates well and is pretty fast, though admittedly not as featureful.

MountainX · 2016-08-30 20:55:25

I have a few things to report:

1. Editing /etc/profile.d/libreoffice-fresh.sh doesn't make any difference. Apparently something else is controlling the LO theme in my case. I'm running KDE with Breeze Dark theme and LO opens with the dark theme regardless of the changes I make to this file. (EDIT: I see the same behavior with the standard Breeze theme, so this is not exclusive to Breeze Dark.)

2. Launching LO from a terminal with the following command solves the performance issue for me:

SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk3 libreoffice --calc

And LO opens with a light theme.

3. Launching LO from a terminal with the following command results in the horrible slow performance again:

SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=kde4 libreoffice --calc

LO opens with a light theme.

4. I also see the terrible slow performance when using

SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk libreoffice --calc

LO opens with a light theme.

Here is the output I see in the terminal:

$ SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk libreoffice --calc
Warning: failed to read path from javaldx
(soffice:28085): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme file for default has no name
(soffice:28085): Gtk-WARNING **: Theme file for default has no directories

Simple operations like scrolling a sheet (for example) causes Xorg to use 100% CPU and my system becomes unresponsive for extended periods of time.

Can anyone suggest a good comprehensive theme resource for fixing Plasma 5 support of GTK apps? It seems themes are screwed up in multiple ways. In addition to the current issue, which thanks to this thread I now see is theme-related, I have other issues such as some menu entries being unreadable (across many apps).

EDIT: I am unable to get the setting of

export SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk3

to be exported. I have edited /etc/profile.d/libreoffice-fresh.[c]sh, logged out & back in and the env var isn't present. (I'm running Fresh.)

Last edited by MountainX (2016-08-31 01:02:04)

FelledTreeNo9 · 2016-08-31 01:36:05

Trying different packages from the archive, and narrowing down to adjacent versions after which this problem appears for me:

libreoffice-fresh-5.1.4-2 - ok
libreoffice-fresh-5.2.0-1 - slow

libreoffice-still-5.0.6-3 - ok
libreoffice-still-5.1.5-1 - slow

Bit weird that there are seperate version number sequences between 'fresh' and 'still' to consider, and that makes me less confident in saying this but nevertheless, perhaps this started between 5.1.4 and 5.1.5? Here are the upstream changelogs - I briefly browsed the files with "5.1.5" in the name but nothing obvious jumped out at me so far.

kozaki · 2016-08-31 14:02:21

i3-wm here, LO without a theme parameter (all $SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN are commented in /etc/profile.d/libreoffice-fresh.{csh,sh}) I have seen zaro performance issue up to LO v5.2.0.4 on my Core desktop and good ol' Atom (monocore).

EDIT: Just tried with `SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN={gtk,gen,gtk3}` with no perf. issue at all on Calc. But one X crash when launching back rapidly with 'gtk' after having runned it with 'gtk3' (I could not reproduce)

EDIT2:

EDIT: I am unable to get the setting of
export SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk3
to be exported.

I just read other users with Plasma and LXQt solve their 'SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=VAR-not-being-taken-in-notice' issue in this thread https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=215662 . Did you happen to try out the Plasma user hack?

Last edited by kozaki (2016-08-31 14:23:36)

MountainX · 2016-08-31 17:40:08

kozaki wrote:

i3-wm here, LO without a theme parameter (all $SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN are commented in /etc/profile.d/libreoffice-fresh.{csh,sh}) I have seen zaro performance issue up to LO v5.2.0.4 on my Core desktop and good ol' Atom (monocore).

Thanks for your reply. So it must be KDE (or Qt) specific...

in this thread https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=215662 . Did you happen to try out the Plasma user hack?

I read that thread.
Which Plasma user hack?

Last edited by MountainX (2016-08-31 17:41:03)

kozaki · 2016-09-01 08:22:10

Err ha ha it's you up there! sorry I didn't pay attention to the "plasma user" name
And yeah it really seems to be KDE (or Qt) specific.

alive4ever · 2016-09-05 01:58:34

MountainX wrote:

EDIT: I am unable to get the setting of
export SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk3
to be exported. I have edited /etc/profile.d/libreoffice-fresh.[c]sh, logged out & back in and the env var isn't present. (I'm running Fresh.)

Just put the line inside ~/.profile and it will be automatically sourced on login.

armandopk · 2016-09-08 23:21:46

I had the same problem, and the solution that worked was I apply this script Download here...Execute it, and reboot the system... In my case that was enough

PD: the script only add one line to the file /etc/hosts, I do not know because that speeds up LibreOffice and Firefox , but it really does.

Last edited by armandopk (2016-09-08 23:28:26)

MountainX · 2016-09-09 01:26:13

armandopk wrote:

I had the same problem, and the solution that worked was I apply this script Download here...Execute it, and reboot the system... In my case that was enough
PD: the script only add one line to the file /etc/hosts, I do not know because that speeds up LibreOffice and Firefox , but it really does.

That script seems to be for a different issue: slow startup time.

Here's the script:

#!/bin/bash
# This script was made by Alonso Murillo to speedup LibreOffice startup, enjoy it.

# Clear the console to see better messages
clear

# Make sure that the script is run as root
if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
  echo "This script must be run as root, run: sudo su" 2>&1
  exit 1
fi

# Load NewHostLine variable with the host name and IP address
NewHostLine="127.0.0.1 $HOSTNAME localhost $HOSTNAME.(none)"

# Check if the Tweak line have already being applied!
var=$(grep -lir "$NewHostLine" /etc/hosts)

# If not added to the hosts files
if [ "$var" == "" ] ; then
   mv /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.bak
   sed "1i\\$NewHostLine" </etc/hosts.bak >/etc/hosts
   echo 'New host line added to hosts'
fi

(I would not advise running a script like this unless you examine the code and fully understand it.)

armandopk · 2016-09-09 01:47:53

I understand , and is more than necessary to examine a script before running it , the code is not complicated, as I repeat , to me at least that worked for me, if you want to try it or no

MountainX wrote:

armandopk wrote:
I had the same problem, and the solution that worked was I apply this script Download here...Execute it, and reboot the system... In my case that was enough
PD: the script only add one line to the file /etc/hosts, I do not know because that speeds up LibreOffice and Firefox , but it really does.
That script seems to be for a different issue: slow startup time.
Here's the script:
#!/bin/bash
# This script was made by Alonso Murillo to speedup LibreOffice startup, enjoy it.

# Clear the console to see better messages
clear

# Make sure that the script is run as root
if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
  echo "This script must be run as root, run: sudo su" 2>&1
  exit 1
fi

# Load NewHostLine variable with the host name and IP address
NewHostLine="127.0.0.1 $HOSTNAME localhost $HOSTNAME.(none)"

# Check if the Tweak line have already being applied!
var=$(grep -lir "$NewHostLine" /etc/hosts)

# If not added to the hosts files
if [ "$var" == "" ] ; then
   mv /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.bak
   sed "1i\\$NewHostLine" </etc/hosts.bak >/etc/hosts
   echo 'New host line added to hosts'
fi
(I would not advise running a script like this unless you examine the code and fully understand it.)

FelledTreeNo9 · 2016-09-10 07:47:18

Happily, these problems (slowness, menu flickering) have gone away for me in the current libreoffice-fresh, version 5.2.1-1.

Arch Linux

#1 2016-08-30 01:34:29

KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#2 2016-08-30 06:12:46

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#3 2016-08-30 06:20:27

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#4 2016-08-30 06:28:47

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#5 2016-08-30 06:47:09

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#6 2016-08-30 14:18:43

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#7 2016-08-30 14:54:10

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#8 2016-08-30 15:06:45

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#9 2016-08-30 15:17:12

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#10 2016-08-30 15:40:14

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#11 2016-08-30 16:30:24

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#12 2016-08-30 20:55:25

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#13 2016-08-31 01:36:05

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#14 2016-08-31 14:02:21

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#15 2016-08-31 17:40:08

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#16 2016-09-01 08:22:10

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#17 2016-09-05 01:58:34

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#18 2016-09-08 23:21:46

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#19 2016-09-09 01:26:13

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#20 2016-09-09 01:47:53

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

#21 2016-09-10 07:47:18

Re: KDE + Libre Office Fresh = horrendous performance problems

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