Optimize boot time

[komeilkma]

Are you sure? There are many modems that have high speed with these specifications

[jeff]

While an LTE or similar “modem” with internal NAT appears to boot quickly, it likely still has not acquired carrier and connectivity. You still need to wait for that.

[bobafetthotmail]

@komeilkma

Yes, lte modems usually have a lot of time to identify, but there are modems (not with openwrt, though) that boot very fast, such as Huawei's I60 Modem

I don't know that model.
Is that just boot time (i.e. ethernet/wifi working but no internet) or actually time to reach "internet working" condition?

[komeilkma]

Yes, the Huawei i60 model provides Internet access in 35 seconds
this model :
https://irancell.ir/Portal/home/?333824/tf-i60

[tmomas]

If you find the time, please post logread and dmesg as shown above:

@bobafetthotmail

from commandline write
logread
to see system log, and
dmesg
to see kernel log.
The same is also available in Status -> System Log or Status -> Kernel Log
in the web interface.

[keshavredina]

You can flash custom bootloader such as U-Boot mod (https://github.com/pepe2k/u-boot_mod) or Breed (https://breed.hackpascal.net/). As for me, I was able to reduce the boot time by 10 seconds.

[jeff]

Of those two, I can only recommend the pepe2k U-Boot.

I would be surprised if significant gains can be made as better OEM U-Boot loaders take significantly less than 10 seconds before handing over to the kernel.

Of that time, typically 2 seconds are to allow interruption of the boot sequence. Removal of that feature without implementing another way to get into the boot loader can lead to a hard brick that could otherwise be easily resolved. One of my devices does a RAM check, which takes ~ 2 seconds. Not enough for me to be concerned about.

Before deciding on installing the Breed boot loader, please research the issues that people have had using it, as well as the level of support that they have been able to get from its author.

[bobafetthotmail]

"Breed" the "totally not a GPL-violating uboot modification", lol.

[komeilkma]

very thanks .
thank you . Can you explain more?

[keshavredina]

The installation process is specific to your hardware. For example, on TP-LINK Atheros (Qualcomm Atheros) devices you must built OpenWrt with kmod-mtd-rw (this is required so that you can overwrite mtd partitions). Then flash the bootloader to the appropriate mtd partition from using OpenWrt.

[komeilkma]

i can use it for zbt-we826 ? if yes . which mt7620 file can use for this ?

[komeilkma]

i install [breed-mt76x8-blank.bin] by this command
mtd write etc/breed-mt7620-blank.bin u-boot
but boot time not chnge

[jeff]

Understanding what a boot loader does would have been helpful to come to that conclusion without putting your router at risk. Even just watching serial output from power-on to the point where the kernel starts to load from flash would have confirmed timing. The boot loader basically sets up the SoC, then reads the kernel from flash, decompresses it, then starts it. It’s done and gone in a few seconds.

Breed is not supported here. That includes any failure to boot, crashes, bricking, and run-time problems that occur due to its setup of your router.

[komeilkma]

That is, in relation to this question, and to reduce the boot time, this u-boot has no effect?
Should I just lower my boot time by checking out the modem logs?

[jeff]

@jeff

I would be surprised if significant gains can be made as better OEM U-Boot loaders take significantly less than 10 seconds before handing over to the kernel.

@bobafetthotmail

from commandline write
logread
to see system log, and
dmesg
to see kernel log.
The same is also available in Status -> System Log or Status -> Kernel Log
in the web interface.

You will have to do the work yourself.

There is no easy answer.

There likely will be no significant improvement at all.

[komeilkma]

I hope can increase the speed because many of the different modems brands have a fairly good boot time.

[Entropy512]

@eduperez

@Borromini

If you have 5 GHz wireless, a full minute of those 2,5 minutes are spent listening for radar interference on DFS channels. No way around that

What about non-DFS channels (in areas where they exists)?

Yes, selecting non-DFS channels provides HUGE improvements in time to start a 5 GHz interface...

I live near an airport in the US, if I want decent performance I need to select non-DFS channels in the upper end of the range (in the 150s) - selecting any DFS channel leads to me getting kicked down to channel 36 after 2.5 minutes.

But since the OP is dealing with an LTE modem - these inherently take a while to boot up/connect and always have.

[lleachii]

@komeilkma

I hope can increase the speed because many of the different modems brands have a fairly good boot time.

Are you concerned about:

• your modem's time to connect to your data carrier; or
• the router's boot up time

Or both?

[komeilkma]

Both of these

[DonJuane]

Check out ofmodemsandmen.com and "Rooter" to see if they support your equipment. If they can't provide the fastest boot with their port of OpenWrt firmware, it likely can't be delivered.

P.S. Just ignore the "social guidance" posts here, eventually someone who can understand technology from both a high end and low end at the same time will eventually step in to help.