How to speed up XFree86 startup on ARM-Linux

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Hi all,

I'm trying to use XFree86 4.3.0 on an embedded system
based on ARM9 core running at 200 MHz, with a
graphical card connected on the PCI bus (for the first
trials I'm using a Matrox Millennium II, and then I'm
going to switch to a custom hardware). I'm running
Linux 2.4.18.
I crosscompiled the full XFree86 version, and not the
"tiny" one, because I need to use the modular drivers
(such as mga_drv.o) for graphical accelerations.

I succeeded in running the X server on my system, but
the server startup time is quite high: if launched
soon after the system boot, "X -probeonly"  takes
about 16 seconds to terminate.

I suspect that most of this time could be spent by CPU
for file accesses: e.g. loading modules, or writing
the logfile.

The following points drive me to this suspicion:
1. I have a JFFS2 filesystem on a flash memory. This
filesystem is compressed, and moreover it uses some
algorithms to avoid insisting on the same flash sector
and to make garbage collection: therefore, it can be
heavy for the CPU if a lot of files are accessed, as
in the case of XFree86.
2. If I launch "X -probeonly" several times
consecutively, the execution times vary a lot, ranging
from 10 to 20 seconds. I think this huge variation can
be the effect of file caching and/or JFFS2 processing.

I made some attempts to reduce the file access time,
in this way:
1. Using a RAM filesystem (tmpfs) to store all the
/usr/X11R6 stuff (modules) and changing the
configuration file to load modules from there. Result:
no meaningful change.
2. Changing the logfile position with the "-logfile"
option. I tried using /dev/null, and using a path
located in a tmpfs filesystem, but in both cases the
X server aborts with signal 4.

I wanted to ask you what problem can I have with
"-logfile" to cause the server abort, and if you have
some better ideas that could speed up the server
startup.

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance.
--
Pier Paolo Glave



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