rtd cpuModule CMX147786HX, User Manual

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CMX147786HX RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc.
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Quick Boot Description
The RTD Enhanced Award BIOS contains a feature called Quick Boot. When Quick Boot is enabled, the
BIOS skips all non-essential tests during POST. This feature is intended to minimize the amount of time it
takes for the system to boot.
Quick Boot is enabled by default. It may be disabled from the BIOS setup. However, when Quick Boot is
disabled, it may take a very long time (one minute or more) for the cpuModule to boot. Therefore, it is rec-
ommended to leave Quick Boot enabled for production systems.
With Quick Boot enabled, expect to achieve boot times of 8 seconds or less. With certain system configura-
tions, boot times of under 5 seconds may be possible.
The exact boot time of your system will depends on its configuration. Some factors that may affect boot time
are:
• Hard Drives - During POST, all IDE devices are initialized. Some IDE devices may be
very slow to initialize. Removing or disabling unused IDE devices may improve boot
times.
• Boot Order - The BIOS searches for a boot device based on the order specified in the BIOS.
Making your boot device the first item in this list may improve boot times.
• BIOS Extension Devices - Some add-on cards (e.g. Ethernet controllers, SCSI controllers)
may contain BIOS extensions. These BIOS extensions may add several seconds to the
boot time.
• VGA Controller - VGA Controllers have a VGA BIOS which must be initialized during
POST. Just like BIOS extension devices, it takes time for the initialization. Removing
all VGA controllers from the system (and disabling the onboard VGA) may improve
boot times.
• ISA Plug-N-Play - If your system does not contain any ISA Plug-N-Play boards, you may
disable this feature in the BIOS to improve boot times.
NOTE! The above times are typical times for the BIOS to finish
booting. They do not include Operating System load time.
Different operating systems have radically different boot
times. If boot times are critical for your system, be sure to
use an operating system that can load quickly.