**System Information**
Operating system: Windows 7
Graphics card: (although I render with CPU Intel i5 650 @ 3.20GHz 3.33 GHz) The same result happens with CPU or GPU rendering
**Blender Version**
Broken: version: 2.80 (sub 39), branch: blender2.8, commit date: 2018-12-20 15:52, hash: 36121a1bdcd8, type: Release build date: 20/12/2018, 08:18
**Short description of error**
Cycles gets stuck on first pass. Shows 1/800 frames and sometimes 2/800 frames but never actually shows a rendered image. Eevee renders it in about 20 seconds.
I was experiencing this in a separate project from the .blend file provided. The .blend file I am providing is one I used to add settings one at a time until I was able to reproduce the same result.
{F6018575}
**Exact steps for others to reproduce the error**
1. Add a plane.
1. Go into edit mode on the plane and select all vertices.
1. Create a vertex group.
1. Go to Object Mode and navigate to the particle menu.
1. Add a new particle system.
1. Expand the Vertex Groups sub menu of the particle menu.
1. Add the vertex group to the Density field.
1. Adjust settings for Hair Shape