Matlab requires 15 minutes to start up

Hi,

The last few days, my matlab have been extremely slow. Starting matlab takes around 15 minutes. I have tried to read other posts on this topic, but nothing of what have been suggested have worked.

I don't understand a lot of the output of the timing logs. Any help would be highly appreciated.

I have both Matlab 32 and 64 bit installed. The timing logs of the respective versions are as follows.

MATLAB R2012a, 64 bit:

Opening timing log C:\Users\ulfjakob\AppData\Local\Temp\timing_log.8532 ..
    MATLAB Startup Performance Metrics (In Seconds)

total   item     gap      description
=====================================
 0.00   0.00    0.00   MATLAB script       
 0.54   0.54    0.00   main                
21.06  20.30    0.21   LM Startup          
21.06   0.00    0.01   splash              
21.83   0.45    0.32      InitSunVM        
23.52   1.63    0.05      PostVMInit       
23.52   2.14    0.32     mljInit           
75.77  52.25    0.00     StartDesktop      
75.77  54.39    0.32   Java initialization 
75.79   0.02    0.00   hgInitialize        
75.86   0.01    0.06   psParser            
76.02   0.05    0.11   cachepath           
77.02   0.88    0.13     matlabpath        
78.88   3.10   75.77   Init Desktop        
552.70   0.00   475.68     SettingsConstructo
552.73  476.71    0.00   matlabrc            
=====================================
Items shown account for 100.4% of total startup time [TIMER: 2 MHz]

MATLAB R2013a, 32 bit:

Opening timing log C:\Users\ulfjakob\AppData\Local\Temp\timing_log.1468 ..
    MATLAB Startup Performance Metrics (In Seconds)

total   item     gap      description
=====================================
 0.00   0.00    0.00   MATLAB script       
 0.27   0.27    0.00   main                
20.60  20.31    0.01   LM Startup          
20.61   0.00    0.01   splash              
21.55   0.50    0.44      InitSunVM        
22.64   1.04    0.05      PostVMInit       
22.64   1.59    0.44     mljInit           
74.96  52.32    0.00     StartDesktop      
74.96  53.91    0.44   Java initialization 
74.97   0.02    0.00   hgInitialize        
75.13   0.01    0.15   psParser            
75.29   0.06    0.10   cachepath           
76.90   1.21    0.39     matlabpath        
81.22   6.26   74.96   Init Desktop        
532.49  457.20    0.00   matlabrc            
=====================================
Items shown account for 101.0% of total startup time [TIMER: 2 MHz]

[Charlie Hogg]

I have a similar problem. My timings are below. 20 minutes is just ridiculous. I have a 64 bit machine running windows 7. It looks like the problem is associated with the Java commands. I might try starting up without java to test this. I was also told to try starting matlab without connection to the web. Does anyone have any suggestions? With each test taking 20 minutes, I tend to just leave matlab running the whole time.

Thanks, Charlie

total item gap description

=====================================

 0.00   0.00    0.00   MATLAB script       

 9.00   9.00    0.00   main                

 9.44   0.24    0.21   LM Startup          

 9.46   0.00    0.02   splash              

 13.94   0.00    4.47   mnSigInit           

 933.05  919.11    0.01      InitSunVM        

 1085.48  152.06    0.37      PostVMInit       

 1085.48  1071.54    0.01     mljInit           

 1085.97   0.49    0.00     StartDesktop      

 1085.97  1072.03    0.01   Java initialization 

 1085.98   0.01    0.00   hgInitialize        

 1087.84   0.09    1.77   psParser            

 1088.54   0.39    0.32   cachepath           

 1096.82   0.96    7.31     matlabpath        

 1100.81   0.02    3.97     matlabpath        

 1100.82  12.27    0.00   matlabrc            

 1102.38  16.41   1085.97   Init Desktop    

 =====================================

 Items shown account for 100.7% of total startup time [TIMER: 2 MHz]

Answer 1

[Andy]

Try deleting the "LM_LICENSE_FILE" from "System"->"Advanced"->"Enviroment Variables"

Solved my problem.

[Greg A.]

worked for me too

[Andreas Goser]

Now the environment variable is gone it is difficult to tell, but maybe it was there for a reason. I know other software using the FLEXnet would use the environment variable and may not work now.

[Vidhyashree Nagaraju]

This works!

[Ross Snider]

At first I thought that this had solved my problem (it did solve the slow startup problem!), but it broke ModelSim's ability to get a license, thus I had to add it back.

The solution that worked was to point Matlab directly at the license at startup. The steps to do this are listed below. Note that I have Matlab pinned to the Windows 10 Taskbar.

1. Right Click on Matlab on the taskbar.

2. Right Click on Matlab R2017a

3. Left Click on Properties

4. In the Target field, you will see the path to the Matlab executable. On my machine it is: E:\MATLAB\R2017a\bin\matlab.exe

5. Use the -c option and give the path to the license, i.e. the modified Target now says:

E:\MATLAB\R2017a\bin\matlab.exe -c E:\MATLAB\R2017a\licenses\license_xyz.lic

where "xyz" is the specific license name.

Question for Mathworks: Why doesn't Matlab check this location first by default instead of wasting time trying to get a license from a server over the network, which will never happen?

[Kryzy]

This solved my problem. Thank you Ross.

[YooJin Choi]

It worked well! You're genius! Thank you :)

[Devendra Narayan]

Ross, Your solution didn't work for me. Could you please help me in any other way?

[Donghan Hur]

Check it out after cutting off all network connections.

My Problem was the thing that Matlab tried to find the network license firstly.

I used to utilize network license before but I'm using trial license now.

if it works fine without all network connection,

Check all licenses you have by typing following command in matlab command window.

feature lmsearchpath

Delete all licenses except the one that you are using now.

and then restart matlab.

Answer 2

[Charlie Hogg]

According to this link the problem can be caused by mcafee virus scanner. Turning off McAfee seems to be a radical improvement for me (see timings below).

Of course disabling virus protection is not an ideal solution. Mathworks people, can you suggest anything else? Thanks.

Charlie

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/22384-matlab-startup-delay-linked-to-initsunvm

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

 0.00   0.00    0.00   MATLAB script       

 2.60   2.60    0.00   main                

 2.70   0.06    0.04   LM Startup          

 2.71   0.00    0.01   splash              

 3.74   0.00    1.03   mnSigInit           

 4.51   0.77    0.00      InitSunVM        

 5.10   0.55    0.04      PostVMInit       

 5.10   1.36    0.00     mljInit           

 5.35   0.25    0.00     StartDesktop      

 5.35   1.61    0.00   Java initialization 

 5.36   0.01    0.00   hgInitialize        

 5.42   0.01    0.05   psParser            

 5.57   0.01    0.14   cachepath           

 8.33   2.99    5.35   Init Desktop        

 9.27   0.28    3.42     matlabpath        

 9.83   0.02    0.54     matlabpath        

 9.83   4.26    0.00   matlabrc

=====================================

Items shown account for 117.4% of total startup time [TIMER: 2 MHz]

[Tobias Ackerman]

If you right click on the McAffee icon in the system tray and go to the 'virus scan console' you can selectively disable (right click) the 'on access scanner' while leaving on the email scanner and weekely scans etc.

Cheers

Answer 3

[Tho Le]

sorry because I talk VietNamese. You can use Google Translate

Các bước tôi config như sau:

1. tìm đến thư mục: C:\Program Files\Polyspace\R2019a\licenses
2. copy đường dẫn đến file license_abc.lic
3. về Desktop, click phải vào MATLAB chọn Properties
4. chú í ô Target sẽ có "C:\Program Files\Polyspace\R2019a\bin\matlab.exe"
5. sửa lại nó như sau "C:\Program Files\Polyspace\R2019a\bin\matlab.exe" -c "C:\Program Files\Polyspace\R2019a\licenses\license_abc.lic"

* chú í file license_abc.lic với abc là tùy vào máy của mỗi người.

Answer 4

[Ulf Jakob]

So I found a way of overcoming the slow start up time. Turns out my problem is the same as the one describred here: http://www.mathworks.co.uk/matlabcentral/answers/50660-why-is-r2012a-matlab-so-very-very-slow-at-starting-up

That is, I must disconnect from the internet to avoid MATLAB being super slow. This is not something I consider to be a definite solution.

Does anyone have an idea on how to better fix this?

[Andreas Goser]

Can you try starting MATLAB with the -c startup option and point to the exact license file you want to use?

[Andreas Goser]

http://www.mathworks.de/de/help/matlab/matlab_env/startup-options.html?searchHighlight=options+-c+startup#bq24t0c

[Joao Encarnacao]

This worked for me. Thanks Andreas

Answer 5

[Dan Cogan]

In the same vein as Andy's recommendation to remove the LM_LICENSE_FILE, I couldn't do that because I have other software which uses the variable. However, one of the tools has a unique license file environment variable which can be used instead. I moved those licenses to the other variable and now Matlab loads quickly.

I suspect that because the other licences in LM_LICENSE_FILE were accessed over a network, and there were several network servers, this throws Matlab off somehow - even though I was using MLM_LICENSE_FILE for Matlab.

[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 6

[Merrill Yeung]

Hey guys, I'm desperate.

Opening timing log /root/timing_log.11274 .. MATLAB Startup Performance Metrics (In Seconds)

total item gap description ===================================== 0.00 0.00 0.00 MATLAB script 0.00 0.00 0.00 main 1.62 0.24 1.39 LM Startup 1.97 0.15 0.20 splash 7.17 1.07 4.13 InitSunVM 22.04 14.73 0.14 PostVMInit 22.06 15.96 4.13 mljInit 26.37 4.30 0.01 StartDesktop 26.37 20.27 4.13 Java initialization 27.62 1.24 0.01 psParser 129.67 103.30 26.37 Init Desktop 5613.53 5583.99 1.91 matlabpath 5617.81 0.01 4.27 SettingsConstruct 5617.81 0.36 3.92 SettingsConstructo 5682.86 5655.15 0.10 matlabrc ===================================== Items shown account for 101.7% of total startup time [TIMER: 1 MHz]

[Dan Cogan]

Did you reference the correct location of the license.dat file within the LM_LICENSE_FILE system variable? If there is more than one item in that variable, try removing the others (temporarily) to debug the issue.