Another bootchart thread...

Fackamato · 2006-03-31 12:36:37

I'm a new user to Archlinux, I've used Debian, Slackware and Ubuntu in the past. Archlinux beats them all hands down on all aspects except maybe packages. But has most of the stuff that I want (that I can think of now anyway ).

Here's my bootchart:

Excuse me for the low bandwidth...

Do you guys think there's some way to speed up the bootup even more? I always get the same IP from my m0n0wall router, so I've changed from dhcp to "static" IP in rc.conf, that saves some dhcp seconds. Also, are there multiple kernels available? Any ones that are faster than the "default" ? And is there any other way (a smarter/better way?) to *not* load every module available other than blacklisting them in rc.conf? Because my lsmod output is quite big.

Kind regards // Fackamato

FrankTM · 2006-03-31 12:45:01

you can make udev not to load all the modules by default, but just make a list of the modules you need

all done in rc.conf

MAC!EK · 2006-03-31 12:52:59

and setup /etc/mkinitd.conf so initrd has only modules you need, xfs takes the moste CPU time as you can see on your image.

I use ext3 filesystem and I only have FILESYSTEM="jbd ext3" in mkinitrd.conf.

Don't forget to run mkinitrd --auto and add to lilo.conf a label with initd-full in case something goes wront, run lilo.

tomk · 2006-03-31 12:53:29

Optimise your initrd - there's a wiki page about it.

There's the archck kernel in the extra repo - I've no idea if it will boot faster, but you could try it and see.

Fackamato · 2006-03-31 13:50:29

Thanks for the tips , first post updated with new graph.

Chris|MD · 2006-03-31 16:46:53

Sorry i've beaten you. Even with udev running and a much slower cpu.
2.6.15, Sizeoptimized, is the fastest Kernel atm. 2.6.16 is 3 seconds slower for me.
Its a custom kernel, i dont use the archkernels. So no initrd too.

If you only have the modules you need you could put them in the List and stop udev but i think that wont be that fast...
I only have the modules i need in the kernel, drivers i need often are in the kernel and not as modules.

Sander · 2006-03-31 16:55:55

I read somewhere bootchartd checks for processes like kdm/xdm/gdm to see when the boot sequence ends. However, I'm using the SLiM login manager, and it looks like bootchart can't figure out when the booting ends. Anybody know if I can tell it to look for a specific process, or something?

phrakture · 2006-03-31 20:52:44

Wow, a 17 second boot time *with* X? That's real impressive. I'm currently at around 20-25 seconds without X.

Fackamato · 2006-03-31 23:06:17

phrakture wrote:

Wow, a 17 second boot time *with* X? That's real impressive. I'm currently at around 20-25 seconds without X.

Did you mean my bootchart? Well, bootchartd stops 'logging' when X is starting up I think, so it doesn't include the X loading time. It's basically 16-17 seconds from grub menu to console, and some more seconds for a total of ~27 seconds to get to the KDE desktop (automagical login etc) from grub.

syamajala · 2006-04-01 01:47:45

Chris|MD wrote:

Sorry i've beaten you. Even with udev running and a much slower cpu.
2.6.15, Sizeoptimized, is the fastest Kernel atm. 2.6.16 is 3 seconds slower for me.
Its a custom kernel, i dont use the archkernels. So no initrd too.
If you only have the modules you need you could put them in the List and stop udev but i think that wont be that fast...
I only have the modules i need in the kernel, drivers i need often are in the kernel and not as modules.

how big is the size optimized kernel vs. your normal kernel? i've seen that in menuconfig a bunch of times but never actually bothered trying it because i didn't think it would make that much of a difference.

Chris|MD · 2006-04-01 10:50:23

I havent compiled it twice so i dont know it.
But i think its broken in 2.6.16 or they just added much code.

The 2.6.12 kernel i have, is around 1.89MB. With GCC4 it has a size of 1.91MB.
Its a customkernel with nearly the same amount of modules i have in the 2.6.15 kernel.

the 2.6.15 kernel (with gcc4 compiled) with sizeoptimization has a size of 1.26MB.
2.6.16 with archck1 and optimization has a size of 1.57MB.

I will compile one later and add the size of an unoptimized 2.6.15 kernel

[edit]Here it is. Well im shocked
2.6.15-O2 has a size of 1.45MB. So its about 200KB bigger.... but! The Boottime doesnt differ. Well maybe you gain 0.1second. Or even more. But its like a gpu benchmark. The result often differs.
Heres the bootchart:

Modprobe takes some load. Adding all Modules to rc.conf would maybe improve the boottime a bit.

tpowa · 2006-04-01 12:19:28

loading modules at MODULES= will give you no speed improve, udev will do it probably faster because it loads all at once.

MAC!EK · 2006-04-01 14:05:09

tpowa wrote:

loading modules at MODULES= will give you no speed improve, udev will do it probably faster because it loads all at once.

Udev detects modules and load them at once. But if I want to specify them myself can udev load them at once?(without detecting)

tpowa · 2006-04-01 14:36:47

sorry no chance, udev loads through detection of devices.

syamajala · 2006-04-02 12:51:21

maybe using cramfs for the initrd would help. I read that some distros like debian are doing it now.

sabrewolf · 2006-04-02 21:37:34

amd64@3000+
512@ddr400
nforce4-Ultra
maxtor@7200rpm

15segs without X, 25 with kdm :?

some dm like kdm(nice, themes, light, not much packages) to replace them :idea:

Gullible Jones · 2006-04-03 00:06:57

SLiM

syamajala · 2006-04-03 00:13:48

it took my system 29 seconds to boot without x. i use xfs, with fbsplash, and qingy. also madwifi. its a custom compiled kernel with a bunch of things compiled as modules being loaded from rc.conf.

Sander · 2006-04-03 09:16:18

Gullible Jones wrote:

SLiM

seconded. I love it Only problem is that bootchartd doesn't seem to 'detect' it like it detects kdm/gdm, so I can't use it :'( also I haven't found any option in bootchart.conf to tell it what processes to detect; that'd be ideal.

EDIT: I just booted into runlevel 3 with bootchart running and it didn't properly detect the end of the bootprocess either (bootchartd was still running, I checked with ps -ef). So either it doesn't properly detect agetty (so only gdm, kdm would work), or something else is wrong. It's pissing me off though, as I have no error message but "/var/log/bootchart.tgz" not found.

EDIT2: I just modified the /sbin/bootchard script to include detection of the process 'slim' (which isn't hard, you just enter the name into a string that lists all detected processes), and now it seems to have worked properly. Yay!

Gullible Jones · 2006-04-03 20:16:47

Of course, there's no reason not to just boot to a console...

klapmuetz · 2006-04-07 21:57:03

I have 30-31 one seconds to boot into X... This is a normal boot-process that will automatically log me into X.

What the boot process does to make it "this slow" is:

Connect to wireless network (wpa/dhcp request)
Mount encrypted /home via usb-stick

Those two take at least 8 seconds... So I think I have a fairly fast startup. Wouldn't mind having it faster though... Because it's a laptop. :-)

Neuro · 2006-04-08 06:50:07

Gullible Jones wrote:

SLiM

GJ, could you please compile some howto on SLiM? I tried using it, but I couldn't make it load xfce, nor kde. Maybe a wiki entry? Pretty please

Fackamato · 2006-04-20 23:04:17

Neuro wrote:

Gullible Jones wrote:
SLiM
GJ, could you please compile some howto on SLiM? I tried using it, but I couldn't make it load xfce, nor kde. Maybe a wiki entry? Pretty please

In your ~/.xinitrc :

#!/bin/sh

#
# ~/.xinitrc
#
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)
#

# exec enlightenment
# exec wmaker
exec startkde
# exec icewm
# exec blackbox
# exec fluxbox
nvidia-settings --load-config-only &

Of course you can remove nvidia-settings and all comments, but it should give you a hint of what you need to edit.

Arch Linux

#1 2006-03-31 12:36:37

Another bootchart thread...

#2 2006-03-31 12:45:01

Re: Another bootchart thread...

#3 2006-03-31 12:52:59

Re: Another bootchart thread...

#4 2006-03-31 12:53:29

Re: Another bootchart thread...

#5 2006-03-31 13:50:29

Re: Another bootchart thread...

#6 2006-03-31 16:46:53

Re: Another bootchart thread...

#7 2006-03-31 16:55:55

Re: Another bootchart thread...

#8 2006-03-31 20:52:44

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#9 2006-03-31 23:06:17

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#10 2006-04-01 01:47:45

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#11 2006-04-01 10:50:23

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#12 2006-04-01 12:19:28

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#14 2006-04-01 14:36:47

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#15 2006-04-02 12:51:21

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#16 2006-04-02 21:37:34

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#17 2006-04-03 00:06:57

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#18 2006-04-03 00:13:48

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#21 2006-04-07 21:57:03

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#22 2006-04-08 06:50:07

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#23 2006-04-20 23:04:17

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