[ug-bosug] Belenix CD - very slow.

[Moinak Ghosh]

Sriram Popuri wrote:

> Hi Bish,
>
>       Thanks a lot, for testing it.
> BeleniX is still in its early stages and lets take it to the next level.
>
> Lets look at the problem.
> Belenix is slow.
>    Yes because
>     1) we are using debug enabled build.
>     2) not using any compressed filesystem.
>     3) smaller ramdisk and most of the apps run from CD.
>
>
>     Box 2:
>
>     My son's game box. AMD-64  with ATI-Radion-9800 video card and
>     1 Gig RAM. Did  not boot at all ! Just kept  trying to start X
>     after 30 odd  min ! For some  reason, it did not  fall back to
>     the xorg 'vesa' (failure mode). I pulled out the ATI and tried
>
>
> This is something to look at. It works on my laptop with ATI-Radion card.

   This looks like an Xorg issue. But the Xserver service needs to be 
smart enough
   to detect repeated failures.

> don't know  how to  change resolution  ... it  was a  test run
>
>     after  all! Did  not experiment  much.  To me  appeared a  bit
>     slower than Box 1 described above.
>
>
> use xrandr to list and to set it use
> xrandr -s <no>

   XFce provides a quick GUI to select resolution. Right-click on the 
desktop and
   go to settings menu.

> I am  not very  familiar with Solaris  commands, so  could not
>
>     proceed  with  much  experimentation. But  installed  software 
>
>
> Sun websites have very good info.
> We will try to consolidate the links and let you know.
>
>
>     worked fine. I was a bit  disappointed with the absence of tty
>     terminals, which  we get  under linux by  pressing Ctrl-Alt-V1
>     through V6.  Neither did I  know the  method of dropping  to a
>     console boot (whatever runlevel 3  equivalent out here is) ...
>     but then these are things to be learnt, so I leave it at that.
>     For a guy who spends 80% time on console this was a BIG PIA !
>
   Well once you have started the XFce desktop you can fall back to 
console mode
   by executing "stopgui" from a terminal. This is documented in the 
BeleniX website.

   Virtual console support is not yet there :( But AFAIK work in that 
direction is in
   progress. As a workaround the CD includes GNU screen utility which 
gives you
   multiple pseudo ttys on a single console and switch between them 
using keyboard
   shortcut.  Just execute "screen" from the console login (Ctrl-A C - 
Create new pty,
   Ctrl-A A - Similar to Alt-TAB, Ctrl-A ? - Help).

>  It used to be there in previous Solaris versions, but I don't think 
> its available. We can try add it.
>
>
>     Being a  locally developed stuff,  and still in early  days, I
>     admit  I was  quite impressed.  Give  the guys  some pep,  and
>     proper  negative  feedbacks (or  kicks  where  you think  they
>     deserve), and  I am  sure in the  coming months,  things would
>     change. If Belenix aims to reach the position of Knoppix under
>     Linux, there would be lots of refinements needed, and ofcourse
>     resorting to compressed  file systems, and more  accent on h/w
>     detection. The fall-back modes MUST be proper and functional.
>
>     Frankly, i  would say,  the present baby  looks real  good and
>     promising.
>
   Rants, complaints , issues, cribs with appropriate details of h/w 
error messages etc.
   are all welcome!  It helps to improve the stuff. BeleniX still has a 
loooong way to go.

   The biggest PIA even for me at present is the slow boot. Imagine 
having to wait 8mins
   every time I want to test something out by booting the CD !!!

   I am looking at making better use of more RAM when it is available. 
If one has
   512MB RAM or greater it will be good to copy binaries from CD into a 
large
   ramdisk to provide far better performance.

   I am also working on another version of the livecd that will require 
at least 512MB
   RAM and will include a large ramdisk containing a compressed ZFS 
filesystem
   containing a portion of the stuff in /usr - this should provide a 
40-50 sec bootup
   time.

Regards,
Moinak.

> Keep it up guys ...
>
> Thanks a lot.
> -Sriram
>
>     Bish
>
>     --
>     :
>     ##############################################################
>
>     On 21  Nov 1783, when  the Montgolfier brothers  undertook the
>     first manned  flight on a hot  air baloon for 22  odd minutes,
>     lots  of cheers  were  raised.  Some wise  men  at Paris  then
>     questioned  "What good  is  it?".  There was  a  man from  the
>     distant lands  who remarked  "For that matter, what good  is a
>     newborn baby!". His name was Benjamin Franklyn.
>
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