Slow boot times (Was: Re: Totally OT, but frustrated.....)

[Bjørn]

On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 12:33:51 +0100, Jules Richardson  
<julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> On Thu, 2005-03-24 at 23:48 -0500, David V. Corbin wrote:
>> ...
>
> So what's the slowest classic machine to boot (to the point where a user
> can start using the machine, say)? Modern paranoia checks for correct
> PSU voltages etc. don't count! :-) I mean time as it would have taken
> when the machine was new, including time to physically load any tapes
> etc. (and standard period checks are of course OK)
>

Most old computers I used had power-on sequencing and testing of some  
kind, but it never amounted to a significant part of startup time.  
Typically less than half a minute, I'd say.

The boot time was highly dependent on how much stuff they had to get  
loaded before the system was useable. Our HP-3000 would get drives ready,  
journals checked, MPE and databases loaded and terminals ready to use in  
about 20 minutes. The 260/50, on the other hand, would need some 45  
minutes for a full IPL. That was until IMS and TSO/ISPF was available for  
us poor users.

-- 
-bv