68kMLA Classic Interface

This is a version of the 68kMLA forums for viewing on your favorite old mac. Visitors on modern platforms may prefer the main site.

Click here to select a new forum.

Quadra 840av Cold Boot Time

Posted by: soundworks on 2024-02-21 19:02:18

Having gotten a JackHammer and SCSI2SD humming along nicely on my 840av I'm curious to learn if there's anything I can do to accelerate a cold boot.

I'm running 7.6.1 and *restarting* with extensions off takes about 24 seconds.

But a *cold boot* also with extensions off takes 69 seconds, during which the floppy drive bumps and any image appears on the screen after the first 48 seconds.

BTW, this 840av has 128 MB of RAM and 2 MB of VRAM and for the purposes of these tests I removed the Nubus cards and zapped PRAM. Only devices attached are a SCSI2SD v6 and physical floppy drive.

Does this sound about right to you all? I am quite invested in this box... I rely on it for old schoo MIDI software and working with my old samplers (via SCSI and RS422). I beta tested the early digidesign stuff while at CCRMA (in case anyone is familiar). Also, my time at Infinite Loop R&D during this era was not focused on Macintosh so it's fun to learn what I missed. 🙂

Posted by: soundworks on 2024-02-21 19:52:47

Just installed a PRAM battery... restart time down to 16 sec... cold boot down to 61 sec (extensions off)

Posted by: halkyardo on 2024-02-21 20:36:41

While I’m not an expert on the Quadras, in my experience, slow boot times are a bit of a fact of life when you’ve got lots of RAM in an older Mac - at each cold boot it all gets tested, and the more RAM you’ve got, the longer it takes - and it’ll just sit there not showing much in the way of signs of life until its done.

I know that for some models with replaceable ROMs, people have made modified versions that skip the memory tests, trading off some degree of fault detection for a shorter boot. not sure if that’s an option for the 840AV, though.

Posted by: MOS8_030 on 2024-02-21 20:53:53

Yes, more ram will increase startup time.
In OS9 you can disable the startup memory test.
I think that same option is available in 7.6.1.

Speed Up Mac OS Boot – Disable RAM Tests

At the very start of the Macintosh boot process, after the startup chime, a Mac will undertake a RAM test to ensure that the machine’s RAM is fully operational before attempting to load the OS into…

happymacs.wordpress.com

Posted by: soundworks on 2024-02-21 22:02:06

makes sense... will look into the disable option. when i'm debugging stuff it's so painful to wait through cold boots after a crash... i used to have a programmer switch on my machine back in the day but this one doesn't seem to have one.

Posted by: soundworks on 2024-02-21 22:09:59

Hm... on 7.6.1 holding Opt-Cmd while opening the Memory control panel does not reveal the option to turn off the Startup Memory Tests.

Tried individual keys too Opt, Cmd, Shift, just in case... but no dice.

Posted by: soundworks on 2024-02-21 22:45:30

Found a post on Macintosh Garden stating this hidden feature appeared around 8.5 and was PPC only.

Bumped a relevant thread on System 7 Today.

Posted by: Phipli on 2024-02-22 00:02:37

You're stuck with it to my knowledge, unless you make and fit a custom ROM. Best solution is to reduce the amount of RAM if it really annoys you, or power on and go and make a drink while it starts.

61 seconds isn't bad for 128MB in a 68k Mac. Some machines take a full two minutes with maximum RAM.

Posted by: joshc on 2024-02-22 00:31:23

Sounds normal to me. RAM tests on 68k are just slow, so always going to feel long with lots of RAM.

Posted by: danny.gonzalez.0861@gmai on 2024-02-22 06:30:29

You should try 128MB on a 68030 LMAO.

My IIci takes close to 2 minutes to boot. Ordered a ROMINATOR to disable the RAM check as in software that is not possible for me and my setup.

For now I just enjoy my beer while I patiently wait for boot up, its part of the nostalgia in my book.

Posted by: demik on 2024-02-22 06:35:10

Sounds similar to my 840av. We are back to theses times on DDR5 based systems, I've got a few of them with 6-8 minutes of memory training each boot

Posted by: soundworks on 2024-02-22 08:00:23

Really good to hear it’s par for the course!

It is only annoying when I am debugging and crashing repeatedly as I experiment with fixes.

Easy solution is to move over to my IIci 040 with 16MB RAM when I get into a grindy debug loop.

Posted by: danny.gonzalez.0861@gmai on 2024-02-22 09:19:55

Really good to hear it’s par for the course!

It is only annoying when I am debugging and crashing repeatedly as I experiment with fixes.

Easy solution is to move over to my IIci 040 with 16MB RAM when I get into a grindy debug loop.

You have a 040 in your IIci!!! I am so jealous!

I gave up looking for an accelerator card as they want more than the value of the entire IIci!