LinuxBIOS with built in X server boots in eight seconds

zekrahminator · Mar 13, 2007

Recently, it seems like everyone is trying to make their computers boot as fast as possible. For a while, it looked like a flash-based drive would be the best way to do this, considering the 30-second boot time everyone with a Gigabyte iRam card claims to have. However, it seems like Linux is the best way to go for booting AQAP (As Quick As Possible). Since AMD released the BIOS for the Gigabyte M57SLI-S4, Linux lovers everywhere have tried to see how fast they can boot it. Somehow, a user has managed to fit a copy of Linux, a kernel, X server (with Matchbox window manager), and a program or two into the tiny 2Mb BIOS. The result? An incredible 8 second boot time.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

Bastieeeh · Mar 13, 2007

Booting into DOS will be faster => so why should I care about Linux then? ;-)

Deleted member 3 · Mar 13, 2007

What exactly is keeping you from replacing the BIOS chip with an 8 Mbit version? Would create some extra space for the OS.

Deleted member 3 · Mar 13, 2007

Bastieeeh said:
Booting into DOS will be faster => so why should I care about Linux then? ;-)

2 mbit = 256K
The BIOS itself is in that and the OS. There is no space for DOS, perhaps a rewritten (ie downsized) freedos could work.

WarEagleAU · Mar 13, 2007

That is an amazing time to boot! I mean, as soon as you turn on the pc in a blink of an eye or 3 its booted into the OS. I love that.

Fragman · Mar 13, 2007

Bastieeeh said:
Booting into DOS will be faster => so why should I care about Linux then? ;-)

They a booting into x server thats like windows GUI so its not into a console like DOS

TheButcherNL · Mar 13, 2007

30 seconds with a flashdrive??? Bit slow, I think.

When I dont use my RAID controller XP boots in 20 seconds here.

But 8 seconds would be nice though.

cya

ktr · Mar 13, 2007

TheButcherNL said:
30 seconds with a flashdrive??? Bit slow, I think.

When I dont use my RAID controller XP boots in 20 seconds here.

But 8 seconds would be nice though.

cya

to the moment you turn on you computer and the time all the average apps of window load with-in 30sec....that damn fast, it takes the average user 1-2 mins on a regular hdd.

Dippyskoodlez · Mar 13, 2007

ktr said:
to the moment you turn on you computer and the time all the average apps of window load with-in 30sec....that damn fast, it takes the average user 1-2 mins on a regular hdd.

My macbook pro boots in 30 seconds.. and yes, I've *timed* it.

Tho, 99% of pc's get crowded with startup apps, spyware, ETC.

I'm not completely impressed by a nice boot time, unless that speed remains throughout operation and multitasking.

THEN is it a true example of speed.

ktr · Mar 13, 2007

Dippyskoodlez said:
My macbook pro boots in 30 seconds.. and yes, I've *timed* it.

Tho, 99% of pc's get crowded with startup apps, spyware, ETC.

I'm not completely impressed by a nice boot time, unless that speed remains throughout operation and multitasking.

THEN is it a true example of speed.

i have used nlite and made a striped down version of XP w/o and service packs which takes around 30-40 mb of ram, it can load up withing 20 seconds on my machine...from comp off, to windows... the actual load is around 5-8 seconds. The the problem is that dont suspect much from it, it lack plenty of services to major things.

Steevo · Mar 13, 2007

They do seem to be talking about a power switch till ready to start using.

Our server takes longer to initialize the RAID 5 array than to boot. But at 3.8Ghz and a clean system? About 12 seconds after the array comes online it's ready.

Processor	AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Brisbane @ 2.8GHz (224x12.5, 1.425V)
Motherboard	Gigabyte sumthin-or-another, it's got an nForce 430
Cooling	Dual 120mm case fans front/rear, Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro, Zalman VF-900 on GPU
Memory	2GB G.Skill DDR2 800
Video Card(s)	Sapphire X850XT @ 580/600
Storage	WD 160 GB SATA hard drive.
Display(s)	Hanns G 19" widescreen, 5ms response time, 1440x900
Case	Thermaltake Soprano (black with side window).
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Live! 24 bit (paired with X-530 speakers).
Power Supply	ThermalTake 430W TR2
Software	XP Home SP2, can't wait for Vista SP1.

Processor	Dual Xeon 2.8GHz
Motherboard	Asus PCH-DL
Cooling	Alphacool NexXxoS XP and Dual Laing
Memory	4GB Samsung
Video Card(s)	Sapphire X800XT
Storage	8x Hitachi 7K250 Raid 5 and 2x WD Raptor74GB Raid 0
Display(s)	Eizo 21" FlexScan T966 CRT and S1910 LCD
Case	Lian Li PC-V2100B
Audio Device(s)	Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS
Power Supply	Tagan 480W TG480-U01

System Name	Pandemic 2020
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 "Gen 2" 2600X
Motherboard	AsRock X470 Killer Promontory
Cooling	CoolerMaster 240 RGB Master Cooler (Newegg Eggxpert)
Memory	32 GB Geil EVO Portenza DDR4 3200 MHz
Video Card(s)	ASUS Radeon RX 580 DirectX 12 DUAL-RX580-O8G 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video C
Storage	WD 250 M.2, Corsair P500 M.2, OCZ Trion 500, WD Black 1TB, Assorted others.
Display(s)	ASUS MG24UQ Gaming Monitor - 23.6" 4K UHD (3840x2160) , IPS, Adaptive Sync, DisplayWidget
Case	Fractal Define R6 C
Audio Device(s)	Realtek 5.1 Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair RMX 850 Platinum PSU (Newegg Eggxpert)
Mouse	Razer Death Adder
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Mechanical & Corsair K65 Wired, Wireless, Bluetooth)
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	Bruuuuuuuuuuul!!!
Processor	Intel Core i5 3570K
Motherboard	Asrock Z77 Extreme6
Cooling	Scythe Mugen 4
Memory	Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Vega 56 Pulse
Storage	OCZ Vertex 3 256GB (Windows) + Samsung 860 EVO 1TB (Games)
Display(s)	Asus MG279Q
Case	AeroCool Tor Pro
Audio Device(s)	Creative Soundblaster Zx
Power Supply	Corsair AX850
Mouse	Logitech MX Master 2S
Keyboard	Logitech G613
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	Still running all fine at good framerates even 4k :)

System Name	Dell XPS 15 9560
Processor	I7-7700HQ
Memory	32GB DDR4
Video Card(s)	GTX 1050/1080 Ti
Storage	1TB SSD
Display(s)	2x Dell P2715Q/4k Internal
Case	Razer Core
Audio Device(s)	Creative E5/Objective 2 Amp/Senn HD650
Mouse	Logitech Proteus Core
Keyboard	Logitech G910

LinuxBIOS with built in X server boots in eight seconds

zekrahminator

McLovin

Bastieeeh

New Member

Deleted member 3

Deleted member 3

WarEagleAU

Bird of Prey

Fragman

TheButcherNL

ktr

Dippyskoodlez

ktr

Steevo

System Name	Compy 386
Processor	7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus
Cooling	Air for now.....
Memory	64 GB DDR5 6400Mhz
Video Card(s)	7900XTX 310 Merc
Storage	Samsung 990 2TB, 2 SP 2TB SSDs and over 10TB spinning
Display(s)	56" Samsung 4K HDR
Audio Device(s)	ATI HDMI
Mouse	Logitech MX518
Keyboard	Razer
Software	A lot.
Benchmark Scores	Its fast. Enough.