I've noticed that VLC, on all my KDE machines, is taking longer than usual to launch after upgrading to KDE 4.6.2. This continues even with 4.6.3. Under KDE 4.6.1, VLC, like any other application, would load instantly on each subsequent launch. If VLC is already running, and I try to open up another video, the new video will not replace the current video until a long delay.

In other words, whether I want to launch VLC or load a new video, there is an unusual delay, anywhere from 5 - 20 seconds, depending on the machine I'm using.

Someone had already posted this issue in the VLC forums, and a VLC developer believes this is a "Qt bug triggered by KDE."

I decided to wait until 4.6.3, just in case this issue was already been worked on. Since it continues even with 4.6.3, I'm wondering if this is grounds for a KDE bug report? (VLC bug? Qt bug? KDE bug?)

On any other desktop environment, and with KDE 4.6.1 and earlier, this did not happen on any version of VLC.

For the time being, is there a custom startup script I can use to circumvent this issue? After using VLC for a while, this becomes almost unbearable. The closest hint I could find was from someone else in the KDE IRC channel, who said this might have something to do with kdeinit.

I tried using a different widget and window manager style, but it made no difference. I thought maybe it might have something to do with this, but it appears not.

not seeing it - I'm running openSuse 11.4 x64bit with KDE 4.6.3 and it's only taking 3 seconds to load VLC and there's not much (if any) of a lag switching videos

Where did you get your VLC from? I use the Packman repo

If you create a new user, login as that user and run VLC does the lag still happen?

google01103 wrote:not seeing it - I'm running openSuse 11.4 x64bit with KDE 4.6.3 and it's only taking 3 seconds to load VLC and there's not much (if any) of a lag switching videos

Where did you get your VLC from? I use the Packman repo

If you create a new user, login as that user and run VLC does the lag still happen?

To clear up some confusion, on 4.6.1 and earlier, VLC would launch instantly; not even 1 second would pass. On my main machine (4.6.2/4.6.3), it's taking roughly 5 seconds to launch (or load a new video with VLC already open.) This is a noticeable change. Several seconds might not seem like a big deal, but it's a loss since it used to be instant.

I have VLC from the Packman repos, which I've been doing since openSUSE 11.0 if I remember.

Creating a new user account makes no difference.

Whether or not compositing is enabled makes no difference.

I'm going to try this with a live CD of Kubuntu 11.04 when I have free time.

I should add an update to this post. I bolded a part of your quote, and here's an updated response to it:

If I open a new video (with VLC already running), it will switch instantly if done from within VLC itself: File > Open or Click-and-drag.

If I have VLC already running, and open a video file from my file browser (e.g, Dolphin), then it will once again delay before switching to the new video.

Don't worry about this right now. I'm more confused than before. I tried a live Kubuntu 11.04 CD, and VLC launches instantly. This comes with KDE 4.6.2 out of the box.

I'll see if anything comes up elsewhere or if the issue fixes itself. Ironically, the forum post on the VLC message board was written by a Kubuntu 11.04 user.

If you create a new user, does it's performance differ there?

bcooksley wrote:If you create a new user, does it's performance differ there?

No difference at all with a new user.

It seems that some component of your computer is introducing a delay, possibly via D-Bus which is causing the problem.

I noticed this as well (Archlinux, KDE 4.6.3, qt 4.7.2). VLC takes a couple of seconds to load, whether it is in the cache or not (not just in the case of a cold-start).

As every piece of software in Arch is cutting edge, I guess the issue will disappear overnight !

Well, it's still here as of KDE 4.6.5 -- but there was no QT update meanwhile so that's pretty logical.

Did you guys find a way to work-around the issue ? (like recompiling with different option ? I tried, by disabling dbus but it made no difference)

Oh by the way, do the guys who encounter this problem (all of us ?) also notice that the KDE screensaver is not inhibited by VLC either ? (maybe it's unrelated, but I have both issues).

VLC uses xdg-screensaver to do the inhibiting, and it has not been updated for KDE 4 for unknown reasons.

Hmm, but the inhibition does work with other distros (OpenSUSE, Kubuntu, PCLinuxOS). I only didn't manage to get it to work from Arch. Pretty strange...

Cheers !

Edit : it turned out it *doesn't* work under Kubuntu either. I think but am not 100% sure it began to happen after upgrading to 4.6.5 when adding the official kubuntu PPA.

BTW, regarding the launch delay (about 1 or 2 second here), I encountered it under OpenSUSE 11.4 & Arch *with proprietary nvidia drivers and not the OSS ones* ; the issue didn't occur under PCLinuxOS 2011.06 and Kubuntu 11.04.

It doesn't seem related to the KDE nor VLC / Nvidia drivers versions. I couldn't isolate a common factor.

The VLC launch delay still occurs for me under KDE 4.7.0, and the same is true of Dolphin. Not sure if they are related somehow. Previously, VLC, Dolphin, you name it, would load instantly. Now with KDE 4.6.2+, and even on 4.7.0, this delay is still present.

As for the screensaver issue, on openSUSE 11.4, VLC properly inhibits the screensaver when I am playing a video. Not sure if it is VLC- or KDE- or distro-specific, but I haven't had issues with it on my end.

I can't find a common factor for the VLC launch delay issue, either. It happens on Nvidia and Intel, so the video card doesn't seem to make a difference. I mentioned this earlier: If VLC is already open and I click on a video file, there is a delay before the the new video will start playing. However, if I click and DRAG the file into VLC's window, then it plays instantly. This is only under KDE 4.6.2+. It does not occur under GNOME or Xfce, or KDE 4.6.0.