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Old 12-31-2006, 02:48 PM   #1
jimc52
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GRUB and Bootup Time


I have a question, is there a way to speed up he boot time by modifying GRUB bootloader?

Thanks - JimmyCFiverTwo
 
Old 12-31-2006, 03:18 PM   #2
PatrickNew
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Well, yes and no. There are many ways to speed up boot time - but they have almost nothing to do with grub. What you want is a SysVInit replacement. I recomment initng, but cinit and rinit (think I got those right) also have large user bases. Try googling those names. Switching to initng on my FC5 laptop cut the boot time approximately in half. They work by parrellelizing the initialization of services. Basically, traditional init turns on one service, then the next, then the next, but these others don't wait for one to finish before starting the next, unless the later one depends upon an earlier one being done.
 
Old 12-31-2006, 03:19 PM   #3
PatrickNew
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Oh, if you're trying to extremely minimize boot time, as in if every quarter of a second matters, I think I heard that lilo is a hair faster than grub. But for a desktop/laptop I don't think you could notice the difference.
 
Old 12-31-2006, 03:27 PM   #4
syg00
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If you have a menu timeout specified, that can be reduced, even eliminated.
Sometimes distros ship with quite high defaults - I've seen 30 seconds.
 
Old 01-01-2007, 11:00 AM   #5
pixellany
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With grub set for no delay, watch how long it takes from "grub loading" to "decompressing the kernel". It is a tiny fraction of the normal startup time. the vast majority of what is going on is not done by grub---first the bios has to do its thing, then maybe a SATA controller needs to start up, then grub, then all the init stuff which happens after the kernel is loaded and takes over control.
 
Old 01-01-2007, 12:14 PM   #6
osor
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PatrickNew
I recomment initng, but cinit and rinit (think I got those right) also have large user bases.
I too throw in a plug for InitNG. Btw, it’s runit you’re thinking of.
 
Old 01-01-2007, 12:59 PM   #7
PatrickNew
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Quote:
Originally Posted by osor
Btw, it’s runit you’re thinking of.
Ah, thanks.
 
  


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