Why is R2012a Matlab so very, very slow at starting up?

Matlab R2012a is really, really slow in starting up.

Brand new Dell Latitude E6230, Windows 7, Matlab R2012a with 32 bit and 64 bit versions. Psychtoolbox also installed, plus 15 Matlab toolboxes. Matlab takes several minutes to open, just sitting there saying "initialising". I ran it with "matlab -timing" and got the following:

Opening timing log C:\Users\PaLS\AppData\Local\Temp\timing_log.3840 ..
  Toolbox Path Cache read in 0.01 seconds.
MATLAB Path initialized in 0.14 seconds.
    MATLAB Startup Performance Metrics (In Seconds)

total   item     gap      description
=====================================
 0.00   0.00    0.00   MATLAB script       
 0.50   0.50    0.00   main                
 0.53   0.02    0.01   LM Startup          
 0.54   0.00    0.00   splash              
 0.74   0.13    0.07      InitSunVM        
 1.20   0.44    0.02      PostVMInit       
 1.20   0.59    0.07     mljInit           
11.64  10.45    0.00     StartDesktop      
11.64  11.04    0.07   Java initialization 
11.66   0.02    0.00   hgInitialize        
11.67   0.00    0.01   psParser            
11.72   0.01    0.05   cachepath           
11.94   0.13    0.09     matlabpath        
13.70   2.06   11.65   Init Desktop        
122.30   0.00   110.36     SettingsConstructo
122.32  110.59    0.00   matlabrc            
=====================================
Items shown account for 101.6% of total startup time [TIMER: 2 MHz]

What is eating up the 110 seconds at the end (?SettingsConstructo).

For comparison, my old Latitude E4200, Win XP, Matlab R2010a, disk full to the gunwhales, starts in 8 seconds (and I thought the new one would be faster...).

Any help gratefully received.

Thanks! Chris

[Chris McManus]

Sorry that the table came out all wrongly last time...

Here it is again, better formatted.

total item gap description =====================================

0.00 0.00 0.00 MATLAB script

0.50 0.50 0.00 main

0.53 0.02 0.01 LM Startup

0.54 0.00 0.00 splash

0.74 0.13 0.07 InitSunVM

1.20 0.44 0.02 PostVMInit

1.20 0.59 0.07 mljInit

11.64 10.45 0.00 StartDesktop

11.64 11.04 0.07 Java initialization

11.66 0.02 0.00 hgInitialize

11.67 0.00 0.01 psParser

11.72 0.01 0.05 cachepath

11.94 0.13 0.09 matlabpath

13.70 2.06 11.65 Init Desktop

122.30 0.00 110.36 SettingsConstructo

122.32 110.59 0.00 matlabrc

Hope that is a little clearer. Should also say:

a) I monitored CPU etc during startup, and the resource monitor suggests that during the last 110 seconds there is minimal CPU, memory or diskdrive usaeg,

b) same problem when starting two versions simultaneously, and still takes 110 seoncds, suggesting it is not resource dependent

c) 32 and 64 bit seem to be similar.

d) I have searched my PC and the net for "Settings Constructor" and found nothing of help.

Thanks again for any suggestions on where to look next.

Chris

Answer 1

[Chris McManus]

Well we found the answer to this, of sorts. The program was only slow when connected to the internet. Turn off the WiFi and it started immediately. With the Wifi on it would pause, and about every 15 seconds send out a brief internet burst, and then pause again. Presumably it feels obliged to check registration or something every time. Not very impressive though.

We solved it by going back to R2011b which has no such problems.

Matlab should solve it for R2012a, as presumably the program could put an encrypted validation code on the hard drive once, and then need not go to the internet in future.

Chris

[Daniel Shub]

What type of license do you have? Some licenses require a network server. Others will check for additional products if a network license is available.

[Ameya Ramadurgakar]

This is still an issue with R2016a. Just tried the solution/answer from Chris McManus and it worked like a charm. Wow Mathworks, it's been almost four years!

[Sameir Deif]

Same here, no solution yet!

[FrancoisXavier Morgat]

Hi I have an official Matlab 2018a student version, I cheked I haven't got on my system any variable likde MLM_LICENSE_FILE or LM_LICENSE_FILE refering to a licence.dat in /licences folder. It sounds like I should change installation to network to local standalone but how to have a licence.dat?

Answer 2

[Merrill Yeung]

Same here, no solution yet!