Very Computer

I installed xfsft (essentially xfs + TrueType) on a Mandrake
distribution (RedHat 5.1 + KDE). I tell X to use the font server using
either "xset +fp tcp/localhost:7100" or "xset +fp unix/:7100". The font
server starts at boot time.

Problem: when I launch KDE, the X server freezes for a few minutes
before starting. I do not see any relevant error messages from KDE or
xfsft. If I omit the "xset +fp ..." KDE starts normally. Once I tell the
session to use xfsft, however, invocation of something like xfontsel
would similarly freeze the X server. After the initial freeze,
everything runs normally.

I have ruled out CPU performance (I have a P166) and too many fonts
(only 3 TT font families, and *bit is NOT one of them) as the
cause. I doubt if it is a TCP/IP issue, as I use "unix/:7100".

How would I proceed to investigate something like this? Is my use of a
laptop relevant? Thanks.

Chris

CW> I installed xfsft (essentially xfs + TrueType)

Congratulations.

CW> Problem: when I launch KDE, the X server freezes for a few minutes
CW> before starting.

(What do you mean by `a few minutes'?  Litterally `more than 120
seconds', or just `a notable while'?)

Warning: wild guess follows.

I don't know what KDE does at startup.  It might query the server for
metrics or properties of all installed fonts (/i.e./ do an
`XListFontsWithInfo').  In the current implementation this is slow,
especially for fonts with a large number of *encoded* glyphs.

I would suggest that you eliminate from your font directory all fonts
with a 16 bit encoding.  This will probably mean removing all entries
from your `fonts.scale' files that end in `iso10646-1' and running
`mkfontdir' again.  You may also want to remove all entries with
encodings that you do not actually use.

(Note that this has nothing to do with the total number of glyphs in
 the font file; /e.g./ using *bit but mapping it as, say, ISO
 8859-1 or VISCII should be fairly fast (as only 160 or 250+ glyphs
 will be encoded).  It is using *bit encoded as Unicode (ISO 10646)
 that will kill performance.)

CW> invocation of something like xfontsel would similarly freeze the X
CW> server.

That seems to imply that my guess is wrong.  At startup, `xfontsel'
does an

  XListFonts(dpy, AppRes.pattern, 32767, &numFonts);

and then does some work on the font names without querying the server
for properties or metrics.

CW> I have ruled out CPU performance (I have a P166)
[...]
CW> (only 3 TT font families, and *bit is NOT one of them)

Curiouser and curiouser.

If my suggestion does not cure your problem, could you please send me
(by private e-mail!) the output of `xlsfonts' and `xset q'?

Sincerely,

                                        J. Chroboczek

(Followups to c.o.l.x)