Thread: Survey: Startup times and methods

Ok, I'll try hibernate. I knew that was faster, I have no idea why I never changed it to hibernate. Will that work with minlogon? I know the auto shutdown was not working so I had to setup the minlogonshutdown applet. I've seen a auto hibernate one which I might try if it doesn't automatically work.

OK, I finally broke out the stopwatch and measured each part of by boot time.

1. Hardware Configuration
* Abit KT7A-RAID (RAID disabled)
1Ghz AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.75v (55w) downclocked to 800Mhz and 1.5v (32w)
384mb RAM (all soon to be replaced)
old IBM 40G HDD at 7200rpm (will eventually replace with bigger and newer for faster boot times from hibernation)
TNT 2 Vanta PCI video card
Chaintech AV-710 soundcard for sweet, sweet, S/P DIF sound.
* Inverter and 350w PSU (A replacement M2 PSU is on the way, first one didn't work)

2. Software Configuration
* Windows XP Pro Corp
* RoadRunner
* IR reciever for steering wheel buttons

3. Startup Strategy
* Regular Hibernation

4. Startup time, broken down by component of possible
* startup controller delay - I flip the inverter switch and push a remote start button
* BIOS delay - was 37 seconds, now 19 Used to stay at "DMI devices?" for about 17 seconds, but I fiddled with the BIOS and now that section is down to 1 sec. I'm not sure what I did, but I know I turned off the printer port.
* boot time or restore from disk/ram time - HDD loading from hibernation is 15 seconds
* application startup time (cold boot only) - N/A
* total time from startup initiation (ignition or remote entry) until music comes from speakers - was about 53 seconds, but is now 34.
* I don't use suspend as it draws too much power, but it does work and starts in like 3 seconds

5. Subjective information
* On a scale of 1 (not important) to 10 (very important) how important is a quick startup time? 8
* On a scale of 1 (not satisfied) to 10 (very satisfied) how do you feel about the startup time of your system? Was 3 now maybe 6. 34 seconds is noticable quicker than the 53 it was. 53 sucks, but I still plan to get it to under 15 seconds with new hardware.
* On a scale of 1 (not important) to 10 (very important) rate how interested you are in improving your startup time. 10

I'm going to be replacing my mobo, CPU and RAM in the next week or two and I'm focusing on getting something new and fast. The BIOS boot time is really dependant on the hardware and doesn't have much to do with the OS loading. My 15 second OS load is not too bad and a faster, bigger HDD might speed that up to maybe 10 seconds if I'm lucky. I want to run the full version of XP with internet support working so I don't even want to mess with any stripped down versions or anything like that.

The real key to faster boots in my setup is going to be in the hardware. Certain brands of mobo's can boot very fast. Foxconn for instance has a SuperBoot mode. You leave it off while setting up the PC. Once you are done adding hardware you can turn on SuperBoot and it will bypass the normal POST (power on self test). It just uses the last good configuration. This can allow the mobo to load in around 1 second (he says) but it looks like 3 or so to me and then your onto the HDD loading. A fellow named Mbkowns had this setup with a video of the boot. Check it out how fast it is here:
2005 Ford Mustang GT - FIRST 05 INSTALL

1. Hardware Configuration
* PC config - Epia MII 12000, 512M, 30G laptop drive 4300 RPM
* startup controller - M2ATX, 5 sec startup delay never turn off 5volt
* tweaks/configs - BIOS set to quickboot
2. Software Configuration
* operating system - Windows XP Pro
* front end & component - Frodoplayer
* tweaks/configs - minlogon
3. Startup Stratgey
* type of startup - standby
* coldboot startup - 30 seconds

4. Startup time, broken down by component of possible
* startup controller delay - ?
* BIOS delay - ?
* restore from disk - ?
* total time from startup initiation (ignition or remote entry) until music comes from speakers - about 10 secs
5. Subjective information
* On a scale of 1 (not important) to 10 (very important) how important is a quick startup time? - 10
* On a scale of 1 (not satisfied) to 10 (very satisfied) how do you feel about the startup time of your system? - 10
* On a scale of 1 (not important) to 10 (very important) rate how interested you are in improving your startup time. - 10
6. Any other configs, notes or comments that don't fall into any of the categories above.
I boot my system up and then put it into standby mode. From ignition on to music is 10 seconds including 5 sec M2 delay
Current draw once entered standby mode is 130ma for about 2 mins and then 5ma after that. I think the reason for such a low current draw is the M2 supply is PWM so it is very effeicecnt. Standby mode is also set to power off all except memory.
Before this I had a Pioneer AVIC-N1 and it took about 7-12 secs to open up and start disc to play music. It ussauly takes me 20-30 just to get ready to drive

Originally Posted by JasonWW

That's a long time. Mine is 53 seconds and it's way too long.
In your case, try using the hibernation feature instead of turning it off. That might help it load from the HDD faster. You can speed up the HDD again by using a faster unit especially like a 7200 3.5" unit.

Ok, I changed my shutdown method to hibernate and I got it down to about 50 seconds till music starts playing. I haven't used nlite but that's going to be my next step as soon as I create an image of my current setup. I hope that will get me down to at least 30 seconds. Is that possible?

Just an idea to cut down on startup times....

I know the carnetix PS has a pulse start wire that will allow it to start up off an alarm wire signal to boot the pc...

If you hooked this up to your doorlock signal then your computer would start before you even got in the car...

I know this doesnt actually cut down on startup time but does cut down on time in the cabin with no music.

Carlos, why don't you breakdown your boot up time section by section and put the info in your earlier post.

What Nlite should do is speed up the HDD loading time from hibernate, I think, I've never used Nlite. Is the HDD load the longest part of your bootup?

I wonder if your times are similar to gnomad? He's using a simlar setup and is gettin 50 second boot times as well. You may have to live with the 12 sec BIOS delay, but I'm sure you can spped up the HDD load by switching to a faster unit. If you have an extra desktop HDD, preferably a 7200rpm, you can Ghost your laptops partition to the bigger HDD and see how the speed compares. I know this one guy using a Maxtor serial ATA drive with NCQ that XP and a few other programs running that can come out of hibernation and load from the HDD in about 2 seconds. This is the fastest I have ever heard of. I'm going to be getting a similar HDD later eventually myself.

It's pretty well known that the laptop drives are always going to be slower than a desktop drive. By how much is really the question.

# Hardware Configuration

* M9000, 933mhz, 512mb PC3200 DDRram, 40gb 2.5" drive(5200rpm)
* M1-ATX?
* No tweaks really, quick boot in bios, also have only HDD set to boot and whatnot.

# Software Configuration

* Windows XP Pro SP2 nlite
* Frodoplayer, whats component S/W?
* Turned off some services, turned off visual candy, some bios mentioned above, nLite.

# Startup Stratgey

* Hibernate (STD?)
* No tricks.

# Startup time, broken down by component of possible

* M1-ATX delay is about 3-5 seconds then (vroom)
* Not sure.
* Total boot time is about 20-25 seconds and music starts right up.
* I get a weird scrolling screen sometimes when the carputer turns on, then i have to leave ignition and turn it on again and it works.

# Subjective information

* On a scale of 1 (not important) to 10 (very important) how important is a quick startup time?7
* On a scale of 1 (not satisfied) to 10 (very satisfied) how do you feel about the startup time of your system?10 (I need time to press del if i wanna enter the bios you know =P)
* On a scale of 1 (not important) to 10 (very important) rate how interested you are in improving your startup time.3

# Any other configs, notes or comments that don't fall into any of the categories above.

Just wish I could get rid of the rest of my carputer probs..