[waldojim]

OK guys, once again, looking for advice.

This time something fairly simple. I am looking for a light distro that is semi-complete.

I don't need office, or 100,000 applications. This will be a stand alone device that runs a kiosk-like application for a living. What I need is for the wifi to work out of the box. That is a broadcom card that is supported by the latest release from Broadcom. The machine uses an Nvidia chipset and thus will need NVSata, and NV Ethernet, and NV video support. I have no other hardware requirements. That said, I need a distro that boots FAST. I need this machine to be able to boot to a ready state in 25 seconds from power on... give or take. I don't need Gnome or KDE, as I prefer something that loads damn near instantly - Enlightement, IceWM, etc would all be better suited.

Anyone know of something that fits the bill?

[waldojim]

Update: I have tried several different Distros now with varying degrees of failure. Mint is WAY too slow. Xubuntu is not quite up to par yet either, coming in at 55 seconds. Understand, that this isn't exactly a fault of Linux - the BIOS takes nearly 25 seconds to complete its task... Meaning the desktop is up, running, and connected to the wireless in 30 seconds following the BIOS! However, this is still WAY too slow. I really need the system to start ASAP - 45 seconds is about the longest I can give it. Just so you understand, I am using this in a project that will be time sensitive, and while the system isn't exactly FAST, it is more than up to the task. It's not like I am asking this of a 486 or anything.


EDIT:
Forgot to mention, I also tried Puppy, which doesn't like the wifi card, and for some reason won't install correctly. And I tried to build Gentoo. Gentoo wouldn't even support the wired card on the live CD... so not much left to work with.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 27 December 2011 - 02:04 AM

[Dellinsp531]

Have you tried DSL (Damn Small Linux)?

Why is puppy not installing correctly? What wireless do you have? I have used it on several machines and it always works with wireless. It might be that wireless needs to be set up to work properly.

Why does it have to be 45 sec? You could always disable some of the modules from loading if you do not need them which would give you some more seconds.

[waldojim]

Dellinsp531, on 27 December 2011 - 08:17 AM, said:

Have you tried DSL (Damn Small Linux)?

Why is puppy not installing correctly? What wireless do you have? I have used it on several machines and it always works with wireless. It might be that wireless needs to be set up to work properly.

Why does it have to be 45 sec? You could always disable some of the modules from loading if you do not need them which would give you some more seconds.

The machine will be installed in a time sensitive application. Do I have some room for error? Yes. But truth is, that any added delay is undesirable. One day, when everything is complete, I will post up all the details and pictures even.

It is a broadcom card being used, don't remember exactly which model right now, will post back with the model number shortly. Puppy is not meant to be installed to a hard drive, and as such, apparently won't install grub correctly. In either event I played around with it for a while, and never could get it to the native resolution either.... Puppy may be great for recovering a machine, but I wouldn't want to try to use it daily.

Will check out DSL later.

[Dellinsp531]

I have had puppy installed on hard drive as well as usb flash drive.

Have you tried turning off the modules you do not need?

This post has been edited by Dellinsp531: 27 December 2011 - 01:09 PM

[Jameshoqh]

Try slitaz-4.0-RC3 or Lubuntu which is a little bigger, just a stripped down Ubuntu. Both are good. I also recommend YUMI-Mulit boot-0.0.5.1. You can load more than one ISO on a USB drive and it gives you an option as to which OS to use depending on the capabilities of the computer you are using. Both are fast, Lubuntu is a bit easier to use. Both are great.