Arch Linux

horgh

Member

Registered: 2009-11-27

Posts: 18

Super fast booting HTPC?

Hi, I want a HTPC that would be ready as fast as possible after powering it on. Currently I'm using LXDE+Mplayer. It boots fast, but I think it could be faster. Would it be possible to run mplayer without X? Or if I have to use X, what would be the fastest way to get it running?

flamelab

Member

From: Athens, Hellas (Greece)

Registered: 2007-12-26

Posts: 2,160

Re: Super fast booting HTPC?

You could hack the initscripts's rc.sysinit and start X earlier. You should use Xorg-server 1.8 or xorg-server 1.7 with udev support, so that won't need HAL to be ran first.

gonX

Member

From: Denmark

Registered: 2009-08-16

Posts: 112

Re: Super fast booting HTPC?

Try quick-init in the AUR.
Add X to the inittab or move it to the begining of the daemons array just after HAL.

mplayer supports some framebuffers - especially those that support KMS - with the -vo module called fbdev2. Zooming works very shabby with that, unfortunately, so you'll have to watch stuff with it 1:1.
If you're just using mplayer for music it shouldn't be a problem, though.

*edit*

Also look into recompiling the kernel so that the modules are integrated into it, rather than spending a couple of seconds in the initrd/initcpio

Last edited by gonX (2010-04-12 02:53:33)

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since 2009

axel668

Member

Registered: 2009-08-15

Posts: 168

Re: Super fast booting HTPC?

Just wanted to say thanks for the quick-init hint, sped up booting on my Acer Extensa, too - from 35 to 20 seconds (grub - XFCE desktop)

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"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila."
(Mitch Ratcliffe)

demian

Member

From: Frankfurt, Germany

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 709

Re: Super fast booting HTPC?

I've got ~5-6 seconds from grub to desktop on my laptop with SSD and some optimizations at rc.sysinit, inittab and udev.

My HTPC takes longer although it's got the same SSD and optimizations (~12 seconds till MPD is playing and 3 more to see the Openbox desktop). I believe it's because of the three HDDs that i use as data storage. Booting is much faster (especially BIOS hardware initialization) without those drives. Plugging in my usb harddrive adds quite a few seconds to the boot process too.

So, i guess SSD and as little additional hardware as possible is the way to go if you want a very fast boot. It should be possible to get 15 - 20 secs total boot time. I'm at 20 - 30 secs atm, half of which is the time from pressing the power button (my mainboard needs a few seconds to start, it's kinda annoying) to the end of the BIOS hardware initialization.

Regards,
demian

Last edited by demian (2010-04-14 12:28:12)

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Malstrond

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2009-06-03

Posts: 98

Re: Super fast booting HTPC?

@demian: Look at the boot order. Maybe the drive with the OS on it ist the 1st device and the BIOS queries all other devices for a bootloader and then ignores them because there is none, but that can take some time. I experienced this behavior with my mainboard.

Last edited by Malstrond (2010-04-14 20:50:34)

Eratosthenes

Member

Registered: 2009-11-02

Posts: 19

Re: Super fast booting HTPC?

Not what you asked, but I just suspend instead of powering off. The PC recovers from suspend faster than the monitor comes on. My PC reads 1W when suspended, which is the lowest my meter will go.