Slooow boot time for X40?

[rdelt]

Hello forum members.
I recently purchased my X40 at a yard sale (broken) for $10. After doing some research on why the lcd screen wouldnt turn on I came to the conclusion that the inverter was bad. I got an inverter from ebay for $10 and installed it, the laptop now functions as it should. I have also replaced the dead battery with a new 8cell, installed 1gig RAM (system has 1.5gigs now), replaced the internal battery, replaced the lid sleep switch and removed the internal 20gig HDD. I am booting into Ubuntu via a 32gig USB stick and its working real good, the X40 is super fast now and I can even stream youtube vids at 480p!! My only problem is that the bios screen stays on for 30 seconds before Ubunto starts to load. Is this normal? Or is there something I can do to speed things up?

[BillMorrow]

the X40 series was not known for its speed..
its been years since i had one so i don't recall how long the bios splash screen stays up.. but 30 seconds does seem a bit slow..

but it looks like you have done great so far..

someone with an X40 will be around shortly, i'm sure..

welcome to the forum..

[RealBlackStuff]

That machine is still looking for its hard disk, that's why it takes so long.
Try to set the boot sequence (in BIOS), to external device/USB drive first, then external USB CD/DVD, and only then internal HD.
I don't have an X40, only the more modern X41, so I'm guessing about the options.

[rdelt]

Thanks for forum welcome:)

OK I set it to boot from external USB drive 1st, in fact I got rid of all the other boot options. Boot from USB is the only thing in the list now. Still takes 30 seconds to get past the first startup screen. Any other ideas?

[RealBlackStuff]

Do you have both AC and a working battery?
No battery can cause delay.

[rdelt]

Yes plugged into AC and battery is brand new and installed.

[RealBlackStuff]

Put the old (or a larger/newer/other) HD back in.

[ThinkRob]

You don't have "Extended Memory Test" enabled, by any chance, do you?

[rdelt]

Nope extended memory test is disabled. I guess it must be looking for the old HDD even though its not supposed to? Do you think that switching to a SSD would make it boot faster? Keep in mind that I am trying to keep this machine cheap.

[RealBlackStuff]

X40 is almost ancient technology (on a par with the T23).
The expensive exception is the crummy 1.8" hard disk size. ($90.- for 32GB PATA SSD).
See also: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardwar ... -sata.html

[Tasurinchi]

I don't know how much is "cheap" for you, but since you took some time to restore that X40 I would go for the extra mile and get a ZIF drive + adaptor, Ebay and the Marketplace here in this forum would be your best bet.

Check my thread for available ZIF drives here: click me

I have four X4s modded with ZIF drives. The result is that you get a nice slim notebook with good performance for normal use like Internet/Office

X40 is almost ancient technology (on a par with the T23).

I'd say on par with the T40 (DDR-RAM, Centrino CPU), wasn't the T23 still P-III & PC-133 RAM?...

[RealBlackStuff]

Oops, confused it with the X30.

[sjthinkpader]

The X40 always look for a valid drive in the HDD slot, whether it is the first boot device or not.

[topmahof]

I just pulled the hard drive out of an x40 and booted into a linux usb stick and yes the splash screen stayed up for quite awhile before it actually booted.

You can speed it up by pressing F12 at the splash screen and choosing the usb. Much faster.

Dave

[mnowell69]

My x40 does exactly the same thing if an external USB device is plugged in. It will just stay at the startup screen until i remove the usb device.

[sjthinkpader]

My x40 does exactly the same thing if an external USB device is plugged in. It will just stay at the startup screen until i remove the usb device.

Go to the BIOS boot device list and remove USB device.

[mnowell69]

thanks, will try it.