Idea #7248: Store boot data in RAM while comp is off; faster access

-34

Written by Redrazor39 the 18 Apr 08 at 22:52. Category: System.
Related to: Nothing/Others. Status: New

Description

Keep Boot Data in RAM While Off; Fast Access When Started

What I want to know is if it is possible to store data in the RAM of a computer and keep it there while the computer is off. If this is possible in any way (preferably on most hardware today or on DDR2 RAM), then wouldn’t it be great if startup speed could be dramatically increased due to the faster read speeds of RAM compared to Hard Disk Drive read speeds?

I think this should be implemented; store boot up data in the RAM while the computer is off and default to check the RAM for this data first, and if there is something there, access it first. Some people may not have enough RAM to store all of their boot up data, but this can be solved by storing parts of it in the RAM (say, one section of loading instead of randomly scattering it between RAM and HDD, because that would completely defeat the purpose. At least part of the boot-up sequence would be much faster.

The easiest and fastest place to implement this would be in Linux, notably Ubuntu Linux. Because of the Freedom and open-source nature of the OS, it would be easy to put something that was well-coded to good use.

In a dual-boot setup (because there are plenty of people who have to have Windows and decide to dual-boot), the alternate OS can clear the RAM and continue with its normal startup process while that boot data is recopied to the RAM the next time Linux is started up and shut down.

I do not know if this is possible or if it is, has been implemented already, but I wanted to get it out there so at least I know the idea is floating around online.

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Comments

light24bulbs wrote on the 18 Apr 08 at 22:54

Random access memory stores its data in transistors which do not hold data wihtout power. implementation of this feature is IMPOSSIBLE.

light24bulbs wrote on the 18 Apr 08 at 22:58

PS. Storing information in the RAM when the system is still partially powered on is called SLEEP MODE, and has been implemented in most operating systems, certainly the ones u have used.

light24bulbs wrote on the 18 Apr 08 at 23:00

PPS. I particularly enjoyed the (very out of place) condescending introduction.

steve196 wrote on the 18 Apr 08 at 23:07

It works for a few seconds to even minutes depending on temperature, but then you have degraded data and it will probably crash.

"If you don’t know much about computers, then the title probably sounded incredibly random and just plain silly. If so, you probably should read some other post because you might not quite understand it, even though it’s a very simple concept once you know some of the terminology."
That was the fun part of it.

glibik wrote on the 18 Apr 08 at 23:12

As light24bulbs says ... can't be done.

Many laptop owners make use of standby and hibernate to emulate this.

Vote = -1

Redrazor39 wrote on the 18 Apr 08 at 23:18

Sorry about the intro- I know you all know such basic stuff, but this was posted somewhere else where almost NOBODY was tech savvy.

Thanks for the info- if only I could get sleep/hibernate to work!

poofyyoda wrote on the 19 Apr 08 at 02:11

To post 1, actually RAM modules use capacitors.
Static RAM uses transistors and dynamic RAM uses capacitors.

poofyyoda wrote on the 19 Apr 08 at 02:12

To post 1, actually RAM modules use capacitors.
Static RAM uses transistors and dynamic RAM uses capacitors.

Auzy wrote on the 19 Apr 08 at 03:16

Yeah, either way, not possible until new types of ram come out :(

paven wrote on the 19 Apr 08 at 09:15

Smale flash memories with boot up information would work.. but as already said not the ram.

steve196 wrote on the 20 Apr 08 at 19:19

This (RAM to flash) would not be desirable, because it would compromise the security of encrypted disks. Someone could perform the famous frozen RAM attack on a computer, that is totally off and he wouldn't even have to freeze anything.

revzoe wrote on the 21 Apr 08 at 03:19

Any of these ideas are great, but totally outside the pervue of ubuntu, which is not a hardware manufacturer at this time, so incapable of implementing.

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