4.1.6.21095 poor performance on Linux Mint 17.3

[chasbro]

Is it just me or has performance of version 4.1.6.21095 decreased compared to version 4.1.5.21031?
I am running Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon and performance on samba shares and local drives (comparing directories and copying contents) seems much slower that version 4.1.5.21031. So much so that I have dropped back to version 4.1.5.21031.

I do not compare contents. I only check "file size", "Compare timestamps" and "Align filenames with different Unicode normalization forms.

Is anyone else seeing this? Or can I provide additional information

[Aaron]

Hello,

I've set up a 17.3 test VM with 4.1.5 and 4.1.6 but not seeing a big performance difference between local test folders loading or running a binary content scan. How large are the folders you are comparing with roughly how many files, and what is the performance difference between the two loads?

Have you rebooted your machine since updating to 4.1.6, in case the update (for some reason) is putting the machine in a bad state?

[chasbro]

I just reinstalled 4.1.6 and re-tested and I no longer see an issue. Not sure what happened. Perhaps it was just my "perception" something was slower. 4.1.6 & 4.1.5 both copied a 6GB file to a local eSATA drive in 1 min 8 sec. Sorry for the false alarm.

[peebles]

I'm having issues with the latest version in Ubuntu 16.04.
I have a workspace with four different folder comparisons. It used to open quickly, but since I updated to version 4.1.6, CPU utilitation goes up and beyond compare becomes unusable.
Is there a way to downgrade to previous version?

[Aaron]

Hello,

Yes, if you email us at [email protected] with a link back to this forum thread and request, I can provide an older .deb setup. However, without troubleshooting the issue, it may not resolve itself in the next update. The first thing to try is uninstalling and reinstalling BC4.1.6 and rebooting your machine. It may be that your specific install or dependencies are in a bad state that needs a restart.

[armakuni]

I'm having somehow similar issues on Ubuntu Precise (yeah I know, I should update, mumble mumble).

I often sync my Android devices with my Desktop system and also sync big directory structures (32 GB and up) with an SMB server, attached via 1 GBit LAN. Beyond Compare behaves somewhat laggy, if I open/close directories in the Folder compare views.

I try a fresh install, hope this will help.

[Aaron]

Backing up your settings (Tools menu -> Export) and Restoring Factory Defaults (Tools menu) may also be a good test. As above, email us if you would like to try an older .deb, including a link back to this forum thread, and let us know the OS in the email along with if it is 32bit or 64bit.

[peebles]

Thanks for the replies.

I've noticed that one of the tabs in the workspace is causing the slowdown. Since I'm not using it, I just removed it from my workspace. I currently don't have time to test a previous beyond compare version.

[armakuni]

Is there an older version of BC with already fixed "move between filesystems bug" for Ubuntu 12.04 64bit?

[Aaron]

Since we have not reproduced the behavior, yet, I cannot confirm if an older version would help. You can email us at [email protected] with a link back to this forum thread and request, and we can help get you can older version. Which was the last you know was working?

Have you tried backing up your settings and then using the Tools menu -> Restore Factory Defaults? Or uninstalling 4.1.6 fully and reinstalling as the above user was able to get things working?

[armakuni]

Today I found a (hopefully helpful) detail.

I'm syncing my Android device via FTP to my local harddisc on my notebook.

Whenever I scroll over files, BC hangs a bit. On FTP connections this delay is a bit long than on local comparisons only.

BC seems to do something here whenever you move the selection with the cursor keys over files.

You can reproduce this behaviour. Open a comparison and open a folder with files in it. Place the selection on a folder (left, right, both doesn't matter) und navigate with Cursor down key over some files.

[holiveros]

Found another possible hint, I have the same setup, Linux Mint 17.3 64-bit, BC 4.1.6 build 21095. Started having very slow performance when comparing more than a hundred files.

Checking the issue, found that BC is trashing the disk, via Linux swapping memory out; reducing system swappiness to 10 from the default of 60 fixed the issue for most cases.

Now I struggle to compare successfully folders with hundreds / thousands of files, specially pictures. Further checking, seems like BC uses quite a large quantity of RAM per each file compared when using rule-comparison, which is not re-used. On my case, given enough files, BC manages to exhaust all system RAM & SWAP, freezing the system.

Running valgrind on BC seems to show a few memory leaks.

Can I send a small sample set of pictures, valgrind log & BCSupport.zip to support? mostly pictures of my cats :P

[armakuni]

My system runs with a swappiness setting of 25 (instead of default 60). I have 8 GB physical RAM.

You can observe an increase of virtual memory for BC if you open some images in comparison. This memory doesn't get recovered at all until you close BC.

I think there is some issue in combination with filesystem relevant code. On local comparisons I don't feel much lagging, but on remote sessions (SFTP via 1 GBit LAN connection) there is more lagging, and FTP sessions are worst connections. It seems BC is fetching file information on every cursor movement. Previous versions didn't have this problems.

[Aaron]

Hello,

We have found at least one potential issue with 4.1.6 that may be related: if you have a large list of Filters, there is a performance regression in 4.1.6 compared to 4.1.5. If you create a copy of your session and remove the current Name Filters, then load the session, does this help performance for you?

[armakuni]

Hello,

We have found at least one potential issue with 4.1.6 that may be related: if you have a large list of Filters, there is a performance regression in 4.1.6 compared to 4.1.5. If you create a copy of your session and remove the current Name Filters, then load the session, does this help performance for you?

Hi,

I can confirm this issue. In my sync session between my Android device and my computer I use some filters to exclude unimportant folders. If I clear this list, BC reacts much better.