[ltp] new thinkpad for me

[Henrique de Moraes Holschuh]

On Sat, 07 Feb 2009, jnjb wrote:
> i have now replace my x24 by an good x32, it work very well but i want  
> try to reduce boot time a little like netbooks but not so fast boot, if  
> someone have ideas for do it. I have try to use fastinit but it dont  
> work whith me.

I managed it on a T43 with Debian Lenny, so yes, it *really* should work on
the X32 as well.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Compile your own kernel.  2.6.27 is a damn good choice right now
(because it is going to be maintained for a very long time).  Debian
has tools to make it dead simple to create .deb kernel packages, see
package kernel-package and the utility make-kpkg.  I think there are
HOWTOs in debian-administration.org.

In that kernel, disable everything you don't need, and reduce the
ammount of modules (the Debian way of modularizing everything makes it
MUCH slower).

2. Disable hardware you don't use both in the kernel and the BIOS
(e.g. floppy disk controllers).  This can shove off 2s of boot time.

3. Use the very latest ThinkPad BIOS for your model, always.
thinkwiki.org has links to Lenovo pages with the BIOS and instructions
on how to upgrade.

4. Use Debian insserv.  After it is working fine, switch to parallel
boot in "startpar" mode.  Refer to the documentation in
/usr/share/doc/insserv, /usr/share/doc/sysvinit, manpages for rcS, and
Google for the wiki pages.

5. Profile the boot, and see what you can do to further speed it up.

And no, none of it is "cookbook" stuff.  You will need to study the
utilities, read docs, search the net, etc. to get it right.  I am just
telling you that it is possible, and the steps required.

PS:  NEVER USE THE TPM MODULES FOR IBM THINKPADS, IT IS BROKEN AND
CORRUPTS KERNEL MEMORY DURING SUSPEND/RESUME.  The new "tpm 1.2"
driver is good (and drives the chips found on the newer Lenovo
thinkpads), but the older ones that drive chips like the one found in
the X32, are not.

-- 
  "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
  them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond
  where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot
  Henrique Holschuh