Arch Linux

ajk225

Member

Registered: 2013-05-19

Posts: 4

[SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

Hi, I have just installed Arch on my laptop and everything works, but I want to make start up a little more efficient if it is possible.  From boot up, I get a menu where I have to choose between Arch Linux repo kernel and "Arch linux repo kernal (fallback init)"  This screen only lasts for about a second or two before it defaults to the just Arch.  Is this normal or is there a way I can configure it to avoid that screen?  Whenever my laptop boots up, I have to manually run "systemctl start dhcpcd" every time.  Is there a way I can automate this?  I hope I don't sound like an impatient brat( i really don't mind the extra few seconds these operations take), I love what I have seen or Arch so far, I just want to know if I can make my start up more efficient.

Last edited by ajk225 (2013-05-23 23:30:35)

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

Read the systemctl man page. There is a hell of a lot more that you can do with it then just start and stop services.

About the 1sec wait, that depends on what you are using to boot your system.  I would imagine it is Grub, so I think in that case you want it because you can't otherwise get to the options there.  So for example, I use UEFI and gummiboot, so I have the timer set to zero because gummiboot allows you to hold a key when it switches from the POST to gummiboot, and it will bring up the menu.  Otherwise it will just continue sraight away to booting.

I just say keep learning.  It soulds like you've done a pretty good job getting to where you have gotten.  But a dinstribution like Arch, or Gentoo, or SLS, or any more advanced OS is a more or less constant learning experience.  I continue to learn new things about Arch Linux and Linux in general everyday. 

Since it sounds like you are using a wired connection, instead of using dhcpcd.service (which will run dhcpcd on all interfaces), you would look into the dhcpcd@.service.  You can use that one to run dhcpcd on the interface of your choice, eliminating a number of needless proceses.

drcouzelis

Member

From: Connecticut, USA

Registered: 2009-11-09

Posts: 4,092

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

Whenever my laptop boots up, I have to manually run "systemctl start dhcpcd" every time.  Is there a way I can automate this?

Yes, it's in the Beginner's Guide ("systemctl enable..."): https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … de#Wired_2

I think the boot menu settings you're looking for is "hidden menu" setting for GRUB: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB#Hidden_menu

Last edited by drcouzelis (2013-05-22 15:15:01)

teateawhy

Member

From: GER

Registered: 2012-03-05

Posts: 1,138

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

I think the boot menu settings you're looking for is "hidden menu" setting for GRUB

You can completely skip the menu with this setting in /etc/default/grub :
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

You can completely skip the menu with this setting in /etc/default/grub :
GRUB_TIMEOUT=0

It has been some time since I have used grub, so I cannot remember the answer to this.  But if you set this timeout to zero, can you still access the grub menu somehow?  Or do you have to have a timeout >0 in order to do so?

teateawhy

Member

From: GER

Registered: 2012-03-05

Posts: 1,138

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

With this option there is no acces to grub unless grub fails.

Last edited by teateawhy (2013-05-22 18:20:03)

WonderWoofy

Member

From: Los Gatos, CA

Registered: 2012-05-19

Posts: 8,414

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

With this option there is no acces to grub unless grub fails.

This is what I thought, thanks for the confirmation teateawhy.

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,607

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

There's a few lines of code you can write into the config so that the menu will appear if shift is held when the system boots, otherwise it boots immediately (no pesky waiting for a timeout). But it's been forever since I used the monster that is grub2, so I don't know what those lines of code are. I'm sure google knows.

Krarl

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2013-05-05

Posts: 5

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

If you want to try to shave a few seconds more: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Im … erformance
I used systemd-analyze and discovered that dhcpcd took a few seconds longer than neccessary to start and slowing the entire boot. If you haven't made any mistakes though (like me) it probably won't help you. But it's a neat tool.

ajk225

Member

Registered: 2013-05-19

Posts: 4

Re: [SOLVED] Making Startup more efficient?

Thanks to everyone for their input.