Bug#541145: grub-pc: menu and kernels load extremely slow

[Kevin Mitchell]

Package: grub-pc
Version: 1.96+20090808-1
Severity: normal


This is a regression from 1.96+20090725-1.  After installing the new
version to the mbr with grub-install /dev/sda, it takes nearly a minute
to load the menu and then an other minute to load the kernel. During
this time I can hear a strange very regular clicking/beeping sound from
my hard disk as if the head is repeating the same motion over and over
again.


$ lshw -C storage 
  *-storage
       description: SATA controller
       product: 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 1f.2
       bus info: pci at 0000:00:1f.2
       version: 02
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 66MHz
       capabilities: storage msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
       configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
       resources: irq:28 ioport:18d0(size=8) ioport:18c4(size=4) ioport:18c8(size=8) ioport:18c0(size=4) ioport:18b0(size=16) memory:ee444400-ee4447ff


$ hdparm -I /dev/sda

/dev/sda:

ATA device, with non-removable media
        Model Number:       Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00                 
        Serial Number:      071220DP0410DTG8YGXP
        Firmware Revision:  DC4OC76A
        Transport:          Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5; Revision: ATA8-AST T13 Project D1697 Revision 0b


Kevin


-- Package-specific info:

*********************** BEGIN /proc/mounts
/dev/root / xfs rw,noatime,noquota 0 0
/dev/sda7 /home xfs rw,noatime,noquota 0 0
/dev/sda7 /i386/home xfs rw,noatime,noquota 0 0
/dev/root /i386/etc/apt xfs rw,noatime,noquota 0 0
*********************** END /proc/mounts

*********************** BEGIN /boot/grub/device.map
(hd0)	/dev/sda
*********************** END /boot/grub/device.map

*********************** BEGIN /boot/grub/grub.cfg
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
set default=0
set timeout=5
set root=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 27b1b881-6a39-47e9-8929-25b97eecae2f
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  insmod gfxterm
  insmod vbe
  if terminal_output.gfxterm ; then true ; else
    # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
    # understand terminal_output
    terminal gfxterm
  fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Debian GNU/Linux, Linux 2.6.30.014" {
	set root=(hd0,5)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 27b1b881-6a39-47e9-8929-25b97eecae2f
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30.014 root=/dev/sda5 ro vga=792 selinux=0 enforcing=0 resume=/dev/sda3  clocksource=hpet quiet 
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
	linux	/boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
	linux	/boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Microsoft Windows XP Professional (on /dev/sda1)" {
	set root=(hd0,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 086c417b6c416492
	drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}
	chainloader +1
}
menuentry "Ubuntu karmic (development branch) (9.10) (on /dev/sda6)" {
	set root=(hd0,6)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ee67d8a0-fc38-460c-82e5-49f7cb248590
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-2-generic root=/dev/sda6
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-2-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
*********************** END /boot/grub/grub.cfg

-- System Information:
Debian Release: squeeze/sid
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (600, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (400, 'stable'), (300, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.30.014 (SMP w/2 CPU cores; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=en_GB, LC_CTYPE=en_GB (charmap=ISO-8859-1)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash

Versions of packages grub-pc depends on:
ii  debconf [debconf-2.0]    1.5.27          Debian configuration management sy
ii  grub-common              1.96+20090808-1 GRand Unified Bootloader, version 
ii  libc6                    2.9-24          GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii  ucf                      3.0018          Update Configuration File: preserv

grub-pc recommends no packages.

Versions of packages grub-pc suggests:
pn  desktop-base                  <none>     (no description available)
ii  genisoimage                   9:1.1.9-1  Creates ISO-9660 CD-ROM filesystem

-- debconf information:
  grub-pc/linux_cmdline:
  grub-pc/chainload_from_menu.lst: true
  grub-pc/install_devices:
  grub-pc/postrm_purge_boot_grub: false