Colony 3, Test report

Matt Zimmerman mdz at ubuntu.com
Sat Aug 20 12:04:55 CDT 2005


On Sat, Aug 20, 2005 at 10:57:28AM -0400, Alvin Thompson wrote:

> i don't think i expressed what i was thinking clearly enough. the
> integrity check should be done while the user is selecting the necessary
> things, and should be finished by the time the actual copying starts. in
> other words, while the user is selecting stuff like language, user name,
> and the rest. if the user finishes filling in the info before the check
> is finished (unlikely for a first-time installer)

Some concrete data:

The integrity check, on my laptop (fairly modern with a fast DVD drive),
with both the CPU and the drive dedicated to the integrity check, requires
over 8 minutes to complete it.

The only questions which are asked before the base installation begins, in
most cases, are:

- Language
- Location
- Keyboard
- Partitioning

Assuming the user doesn't opt for manual partitioning (and in Breezy there's
even less reason for them to do so), these are all rather simple questions.
Even MacOS X asks these questions, though I believe it delays the keyboard
question until later (as the installation is primarily mouse-driven).

> , simply cut the test short.

The check isn't very useful unless it is complete.  More often than not,
errors only affect a certain portion of the disc.

> some is better than none. seek time would obviously have no
> effect on stuff there. you could argue that this would effect the time
> needed to switch screens in the install process if the installer needs
> to retrieve information from the drive, but more times than not it would
> speed it up because the drive would not have to "spool up" again.
> 
> i did try it by doing the test while working in the second console. i
> noticed absolutely no difference on my laptop and a five-year-old duron
> with a first-generation dvd drive. if you can tell me the command line
> options to do the cd test in the second console, i'll do the whole
> install and let you know.
> 
> if i can write this email while burning a CD, there's no reason why the
> cd can't be checked during the user input portion of the install
> process. i can't remember which, but some distros let you play a decent
> game of tetris while copying files, and that was years ago.

The difference is that playing tetris, or typing commands on the command
line, doesn't require considerable access to the CD.  Most of the first
stage of installation (the one which requires the CD) involves constant,
heavy access to the CD to copy nearly all of the data from it to the hard
disk.  The integrity check, likewise, needs to read all of the data on the
CD, and they do not want the same data at the same time.

-- 
 - mdz



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