slow response on first buffer edit

[Conrad Lloyd-Knight <clloydknight@rudolphtech.com>]

Hi,

I didn't see this in the FAQ, or in a quick perusal of the archives
for this list...

The problem I'm having is on one particular machine where I have emacs
21.3.1 installed. I have the same version installed on 3 machines and
this is the only one showing this. 

The first edit of a buffer causes a high CPU load for about 10s before
any changes show up in the window. This occurs when emacs is started
with:
   emacs filename
but not when started with just:
   emacs
(in other words, the effect doesn't show up when editing the scratch
buffer). It occurs whether filename is an existing file or a new one.

I can move around the buffer using the cursor keys, etc. but the
moment I make a change to what is displayed (kill a line, type a
character...) the system appears to hang for 10s before the change is
displayed. 

I have also noticed that this hangup occurs before a symbolic link is
created, by the name of .#filename, pointing to a non-existant file
called user@full.hostname.PID:somelongnumber. I do not believe the
delay is caused by creating this link, as I can manually create a
similarly named one without any delay, but this might give someone an
idea at what point it occurs.

Another data point: I can open a second file in another buffer and
edit this afterwards without another delay.

This issue has me stumped, so if anyone else has seen this, I'd
appreciate any insight. Or if anyone has any suggestions on how to
diagnose this further, please let me know! :)

Thanks,
-C.