[Qemu-devel] Building a Linux Distro

[Michael Fisher]

I want to know if the following idea is impossible, possible or just crazy.

I want to create a distro small Linux distro that will boot as a Qemu
guest as quickly as possible. I realize that the time it takes to
boot, open apps, etc is based on host OS, CPU, memory, etc. What I am
wondering is would it be worthwhile to tweak the hardware detection
during the boot process to align it with hardware types that are
supported in Qemu?

As an example I have an AMD 3500+ CPU, 2 GB memory, Win XP and when
running Qemu I set it for 512MB memory. I have tested several distros
and the two best run about 45-60 seconds to boot without Kqemu and
35-50 seconds with Kqemu running. Currently I am working with WinXP as
a host but my goal is have it run on a Linux host also.

I turn off many checks like SCSI, PCMCIA, USB, Firewire, AGP, etc. to
get the faster time and am wondering what other areas I can look at to
speed booting & shutdown.

Thanks in advance,


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