We've been working on getting a ridiculously fast Linux boot this
week. We've updated the TS7300 MAX2 CPLD to include a 32-bit
counter that starts counting at 14.7Mhz approx 100uS (0.000001 s)
after poweron to measure our optimization progress. (This starts
even before the power-on-reset circuit finishes its 200mS power-
supply stabilization delay) We've made some changes to the kernel,
busybox and to our TS-SDBOOT code for speed improvements. What
we've come up with is a "fast-boot" mode that becomes enabled with
jumper JP6 that boots straight to a busybox shell in less than 2.7
seconds (actually 2.676s currently, but still improving) After
2.676s, the kernel is booted, initrd decompressed, SD card module
loaded, Debian filesystem is mounted, and shell prompt '$' has been
transmitted to serial.
We should release these modifications within a few days... We're
still trying to squeeze a few more tenths of a second. Below is the
output of the fastboot dump-- as you can see we don't print kernel
messages any more either (we got a couple tenths of a second from
that)
>> TS-SDBOOT - built 09:59:18, Jun 20 2006
>> Copyright (C) 2006, Technologic Systems
.
.
.
Finished booting in 2.676 seconds
Type 'exit' for full boot - remove JP6 to make this the default
$
//Jesse Off