XenApp slow logon times, user get black screen for 20 seconds.

[Andy White1709154166]

Hello,

 

We use XenApp 7.6 with Windows 2012R2 on VMware 5.5.

 

Logon times have become slow recently for users, they get a black screen just before their XenApp desktop shows up for about 20 seconds.  How do we find out the cause of this?  Most profiles are under 100mb.

 

If I turn all the GPOs off apart from the UPM GPO it's still slow, if I turn it off logons are fast.

 

The first user logon on the VDAs everyday is always slow (we reboot every night) even with the Citrix Profile Manger service off and all GPOs.

 

Thanks

[Ricardo Holdorf]

Got the same Problem and its really screw me up.

 

Is there any way to get that private fix?

 

Login times push from 8 seconds to over 30 ! :-(

[Mark DePalma1709157107]

Got the same Problem and its really screw me up.

 

Is there any way to get that private fix?

 

Login times push from 8 seconds to over 30 ! :-(

 

You can use the fix that I posted while the official fix is being developed. It has been working for myself and others.

[Ricardo Holdorf]

i already try it. Nothing changed :(

[Mark DePalma1709157107]

i already try it. Nothing changed :(

 

Please follow the steps laid out earlier to confirm that you actually are having this specific issue. You can verify this by looking at event logs.

[Leo van Geel1709152512]

I have a XenApp 7.13 environment delivered using PVS 7.13 without UPM. I have also been experiencing this black login screen a long time but it seems becoming worse in the last months. I can confirm we have the "appresolver" issue. It is building the start menu for over a minute when logging in as administrator. User login is about 40 sec in "appresolver" mode. When I remove the Roaming Profile & Profile redirections GPO the login is instant like on the non XenApp servers. Most likely some profile redirection is causing this behavior.  I will continue with switching things on/off until I find the culprit. All other suggestions in this post I have tried but have not improved the situation. Again no UPM, just standard roaming profiles.  

[Marvin Neys]

Hey guys,

 

I just wanted to chime in on this issue. I am experiencing similar symptoms in a RDS 2012R2 deployment for a customer (no Citrix involved).

 

The solution for me personally to fix this issue was deleting entries (or actually the whole key) under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UFH\SHC.

 

I also observed with Procmon that while the logon process was stuck on the black screen, that it was querying the registry key.

 

I haven't tested this extensively (only for a few test users) but when deleting the key in question, logon times were reduced from 40 seconds to about 6 seconds.

 

To delete the key, I've set a Powershell command to launch at logoff: Remove-Item HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UFH\SHC

 

EDIT/UPDATE: I've rolled this out for about 100 users and could not observe any negative effects of removing this regkey.

[Jeremy Saunders]

A good practice is to add this key to the Profile Management Registry Exclusion list.

 

Cheers,

Jeremy

[Ricardo Holdorf]

After much Troubleshooting, an citrix case and a microsoft case i rollback to server2012R2. All Problems gone with that :-)

 

I'm really upsaid about that

[Balaji Baskaran1709154564]

Ok, Citrix finally came with privates that fixed the problem. I showed them Mark's registry fix & after 2 months, their development did a registry hack & released new userprofilemanager.exe for 5.5 & 5.7. This fixed the issue & need to add registry. As per them, this will be added in the future release.

[Mark DePalma1709157107]

Ok, Citrix finally came with privates that fixed the problem. I showed them Mark's registry fix & after 2 months, their development did a registry hack & released new userprofilemanager.exe for 5.5 & 5.7. This fixed the issue & need to add registry. As per them, this will be added in the future release.

 

I have this fix and it is basically just not setting the refresh registry value. I am working with as we speak though because technically as far as I can see this isn't a full fix. Just like my fix the native start menu doesn't work after the first logon for a profile. This may not work for some users.

[Joe Robinson]

For people experiencing this problem, but this isn't fixing it -- take a peek at this article:

 

 

• Do not redirect desktop if it is too large as it may cause black screen on logon.

[Peter Alford]

We are also experiencing this black screen issue but have been unable solve it as of yet. I tried both methods against a few test logons but it can take still have a black screen for 10 seconds. From the logs it looks like it is related at this point...  

 

20/06/2017 4:27:47 PM

Event: 1027

The Citrix Desktop Service detected that a user session has started. User 'test@contoso.com' has started session "session id".

 

20/06/2017 4:27:51 PM

Event: 28017

AppResolver Scan Started.

 

 

20/06/2017 4:28:24 PM

Event: 28018

AppResolver Scan Stopped.

 

 

20/06/2017 4:28:24 PM

Event: 1000

The session is ready for use. See the event data for the session ID.

 

 

I would appreciate any assistance. 

[Kim Laurits Kristensen1709158263]

Hi,

I have tried implemeting the registery settings and UPM exclusions and the login time is now much, much faster now.

But the start menu is now empty - no shortcuts or anything. We don't use classic shell - just the native Windows 2012R2 start menu which is folder redirected to a central folder on our file server.

Has anyone else experience this?

[Mark DePalma1709157107]

Hi,

I have tried implemeting the registery settings and UPM exclusions and the login time is now much, much faster now.

But the start menu is now empty - no shortcuts or anything. We don't use classic shell - just the native Windows 2012R2 start menu which is folder redirected to a central folder on our file server.

Has anyone else experience this?

 

I mentioned that this will happen in my fix. You are bypassing the refresh of that database. The actual fix that Citrix has for UPM will only initiate the refresh when it is needed and as long as you have the necessary files in UPM the start menu always works. I tested it with them and let them know to document what needs to be in UPM for it to work. A lot of us use an alternate start menu shell like Classic Shell since the Windows 2012 R2 start menu is garabge. Since you know that this is your issue you should request the private fix from them. The private fix is just the UPM exe with the patched version. Then you have to ensure you are bringing over 'AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Caches' in UPM along with the 'AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\appsFolder.Itemdata-ms' file. The appsFolder file actually is the trigger. If UPM sees this the patched version of UPM will not initiate a full refresh of the cache. If it is not there it will initiate it.

[Kim Laurits Kristensen1709158263]

I mentioned that this will happen in my fix. You are bypassing the refresh of that database. The actual fix that Citrix has for UPM will only initiate the refresh when it is needed and as long as you have the necessary files in UPM the start menu always works. I tested it with them and let them know to document what needs to be in UPM for it to work. A lot of us use an alternate start menu shell like Classic Shell since the Windows 2012 R2 start menu is garabge. Since you know that this is your issue you should request the private fix from them. The private fix is just the UPM exe with the patched version. Then you have to ensure you are bringing over 'AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Caches' in UPM along with the 'AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\appsFolder.Itemdata-ms' file. The appsFolder file actually is the trigger. If UPM sees this the patched version of UPM will not initiate a full refresh of the cache. If it is not there it will initiate it.

Ahh okay- that makes sense. Do you know if there is some sort of ID or KB number for this private fix? Just so that it might easier for the support to know which private fix that I need :)

[Mark DePalma1709157107]

Ahh okay- that makes sense. Do you know if there is some sort of ID or KB number for this private fix? Just so that it might easier for the support to know which private fix that I need :)

 

Sorry I missed this. You can reference my case number (72441495).

[Joe Robinson]

I've seen at least two problems that are described as black screens during logon.

 

The first, and most challenging one, is the one documented in this thread.  It's actually the windows logon screen -- when launching in XenApp seamlessly, it takes over the whole screen and appears to prohibit the user from working until their app is loaded.  It also makes it look like everything disappears.  One of the fixes in this thread changes this black screen to the actual windows logon so the end user is not confused about what happened.

 

The other issue is related to the Start Menu, which is the logon delay that is linked above.  This delay actually happens after the logon is complete.

 

I believe these two delays are accurately described as hanging on a black screen, but they are very different!

[Wolfgang Germ]

Hello,

 

I did just read through the entire thread, because our system is also affected. (Black-Screen on Desktop-logon |XenApp 7.15 | Server 2016)

I did just read through the release notes of Citrix Profile Management 7.16 at the Citrix Docs:

 

Quote

Profile Management can cause a black screen to appear when you attempt to launch a Microsoft Windows 10 session. With this fix, you must configure the policy "Directories to synchronize" and add the folder "*AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Caches*." [#LC7596]

 

Source: https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/profile-management/current-release/whats-new/fixed-issues.html

 

Should this be the official fix for the black-screen on logon?

Anybody able to test or confirm this?

 

Thank you

 

[Volker Pfaffmann1709152715]

Hello all,

thanks cinemile for the link.

These regkeys do it!

 

[Kostadin Dimitriev]

Discovered an issue in our environment after upgrading to CU2. (Black screen was from 20-40sec)

Once we revert to 7.15LTSR thigs were a bit better but still get black screen for ~8-10sec.  Now we have fast logon ~ 15sec and no black sc.

 

Let me provide what was done:

 Key=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent

Value=DisableLogonUISuppression (DWORD) = 0

Key=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Logon

Value=DisableStatus (DWORD) = 1

Key=HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Serialize

Value=StartupDelayInMSec (DWORD) = 0

Key=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Value=FolderRedirectionWait (DWORD) = 0

Delete=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{2C7339CF-2B09-4501-B3F3-F3508C9228ED}

 

Ctx DevAnalysis team regarding the traces, their recommendations are as follows:

(Please refer the article CTX226605 for more information).

Disable the Group policies that modify the values under :

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\CtxHook\AppInit_Dlls

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\CtxHook\AppInit_Dlls

Key=HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CtxUvi

Value=UviEnabled (DWORD) = 1

+ we Set the "Telemetry Service" to "Disabled".

 

This is a bit confusing now if reset Cache is 0 should help will solving the black screen issue?

Key=HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\StateStore

Value=ResetCache (DWORD) = 0

If the key is 1 this will fix the Blank Start Menu Icons?

Key=HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\StateStore

Value=ResetCache (DWORD) = 1

 

Based on analysis the logonui exist before the explorer started with 30 second timeout. To address this we set DelayedDesktopSwitchTimeout to 60 at this moment.

To solve the black screen, you could set the following machine policy which will increase the default timeout for desktop switch.

Key = HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\

Value =  DelayedDesktopSwitchTimeout (DWORD) = 60

 

Reason why we set this was:

from explorer side most of the time, explorer is doing CAppResolver::RefreshCache

6:35:21.2128752 PM Explorer.EXE 9448 436 RegQueryValue HKU\S-1-5-21-3353469110-2964313667-871065595-215341\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\StateStore\ResetCache SUCCESS 0.0000269 Type: REG_DWORD, Length: 4, Data: 1 6:35:21.2129021 PM

6:37:54.6933859 PM Explorer.EXE 9448 436 RegCloseKey HKCR\CLSID\{00021401-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} SUCCESS 0.0000054  6:37:54.6933913 PM

 

And Explorer doing the refresh icon cache is due to the GPO set the value.

6:34:24.3673983 PM svchost.exe 2132 7616 RegSetValue HKU\S-1-5-21-3353469110-2964313667-871065595-215341\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\StateStore\ResetCache SUCCESS 0.0000310 Type: REG_DWORD, Length: 4, Data: 1 6:34:24.3674293 PM  This is the policy applied: Reset the value to 0

 

I'm sure that you have tried almost everything but didnt try tweek bellow:

To solve the black screen, you could set the following machine policy which will increase the default timeout for desktop switch.

Key = HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\

Value =  DelayedDesktopSwitchTimeout (DWORD) = 60

[Joe W]

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 3:58 AM, Miroslav Raso said:

I had the same issue and the following Reg Entry did it for me

 

http://www.carlstalhood.com/virtual-delivery-agent-vda-7-13/#logondelay

 

It seems that it's solved. The Black screen appears for 2-3s and thats it. Before the entry the user had a Black Screen of 10-20s.

 

There are several reg edits on that page. Specifically which one(s) solved this for you?

 

On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 1:36 PM, Joe Robinson said:

I've seen at least two problems that are described as black screens during logon.

 

The first, and most challenging one, is the one documented in this thread.  It's actually the windows logon screen -- when launching in XenApp seamlessly, it takes over the whole screen and appears to prohibit the user from working until their app is loaded.  It also makes it look like everything disappears.  One of the fixes in this thread changes this black screen to the actual windows logon so the end user is not confused about what happened.

 

The other issue is related to the Start Menu, which is the logon delay that is linked above.  This delay actually happens after the logon is complete.

 

I believe these two delays are accurately described as hanging on a black screen, but they are very different!

 

Which fix in this thread resolves the first issue you mentioned?

[Joe W]

On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 5:32 AM, Wolfgang Germ said:

Hello,

 

I did just read through the entire thread, because our system is also affected. (Black-Screen on Desktop-logon |XenApp 7.15 | Server 2016)

I did just read through the release notes of Citrix Profile Management 7.16 at the Citrix Docs:

 

 

Source: https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/profile-management/current-release/whats-new/fixed-issues.html

 

Should this be the official fix for the black-screen on logon?

Anybody able to test or confirm this?

 

Thank you

 

 

No, this does not resolve this issue fyi. I've disabled UPM entirely and still experience the issue.

[dpalchu521]

I understand this is an old thread. Seeing similar issue with brand new setup

Server 2022

Published desktops

VDA 2303

DaaS

 

Layer built

 

 

On logon about 10 seconds black screen delay. No UPM policy.