Re: [gNewSense-users] Very Slow Boot

[Michał Masłowski]

> I have just installed Debian Squeeze with the Libre Linux kernel on my
> Yeeloong 8089_B 8.9", but it takes 2 hours to boot.
>
> I used the instructions here: debian.org/DebianYeeloong/HowTo/Install.
>
>
> How I installed
> =================
> I booted from USB and started the installer. During the install I used
> "guided partition". Then I deleted the primary partition / which was
> 350MB and split it in two parts: 50MB primary partition for mounting
> /boot, and 300MB extended partition for mounting / (root).
>
> When I installed the kernel I did an apt-cache search and installed
> linux-image-2.6.32.90-libre-lemote.
> After that I ran "apt-get update --fix-missing". At this point I saw
> there was a newer kernel so I installed
> linux-image-3.0.4-libre-lemote.
>
> Later, the instructions advised me to install GRUB. So I did that. Now
> my start up menu has three options:
>
> 1 Boot with GRUB (grub.elf)
> 2 Debian GNU with 2.6.38-libre-lemote
> 3 Debian GNU with 2.6.38-libre-lemote single
>
>
> Booting
> =================
> Numbers 2 and 3 do not run. There is an error:
> grub "error: you need to load linux first"
>
> Number 1 takes two hours to start! When it does load I see the Linux
> Libre logo (Freedo penguin having a wash) and then it loads really
> quickly.

Linux from grub from PMON is slower than Linux from PMON (unsure if grub
has significant advantages unless used as PMON-replacement directly).
Adding initrd anywhere makes it even slower (especially if directly from
old PMON).  The metad kernels (libre-lemote) boot without initrd on
YeeLoong in typical configurations (e.g. no disk encryption).

This is my /boot/boot.cfg for Parabola:

default 0
timeout 1
showmenu 1

title Parabola GNU/Linux-libre
kernel (wd0,0)/vmlinuz-linux-libre
args root=/dev/sda7 ro console=tty no_auto_cmd machtype=8.9 quiet 
resume=/dev/sda5 libata.force=1.00:80c

(I have ext2 /boot as /dev/sda1, ext4 / as /dev/sda7 and swap as
/dev/sda5.)  It would be probably similar for Debian or gNewSense (with
different kernel file name).

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