Speeding up Pi Zero Boot time

MyVolumio MyVolumio Help and Support
1

I am really enjoying Volumio.
I have one set up in my garage over wifi on a Pi Zero W.
It takes nearly 2m 30 seconds to acheive music from it.
I have it set up to continue playing where it left off.
It takes nearly two minutes to get the blippedy bloop sound :slight_smile:

I was reading that the SD card is a limiting factor.

Is there anything else I can do to improve the boot speed?
Would a different Pi be better?
Can I skip something as it boots up?

Or is it all down to the sd card?

Thanks.
Oh, mine is a San Disk Ultra which, looking at a chart, states 10MB/sec which means I have a couple of steps I could improve for sure.

2

Sorry for the double post.
But this was interesting.

Seems like the speed rating isn’t the answer always.
Which is all I have to go by.

3

i’m still waiting till booting from ssd will be there … ssd vs sd wil be a ferrari vs trabandje

4

:slight_smile:
I imagine it will never happen for my zero.
It can be done for Pi 3 and 4 can’t it?

Hmmmmm…
I am glad you stated that.
To get a faster micro sd card, I am looking at kind of £10 aren’t I?
But I could probably get a used Pi3 for £20. I have spare small capacity ssd.

Plus I need a pi zero w for something else anyway…

Hmmmmm, I am off to check how easy it is to make a pi 3 boot from ssd.
Thanks :slight_smile:

5

Oh, wait.
We are waiting for Volumio to support it.
Right?

6

yups … boot from usb is not included yet …
and if you use one like that try a sandisk extreme pro 128 of 256 i runned it on
raspbian latest smooth on a pi 4 4gig… raspbian has already it included…

watch this :slight_smile:

7

Nice thanks.
I have done a bit of hunting around and the Sandisk Extreme Pro sems to come up quite high.
I appreciate another voice saying it.

8

Well, I was in need of another micro sd card anyway.
So I got an Extreme Pro. My existing one is an ultra.
It knocked four seconds off getting to music.
That time was gained on the booting up.
So, instead of 2m 24 in total, more like 2m 20.
A bit disappointing. After five or six boots.
Ah well.

9

How large is your local music collection? i.e tracks from a USB/NAS/internal media?

10

Zero.
I have not got that far yet.
This is booting up and playing Radio Paradise.
So the final thirty seconds is connecting to that.
I hear the blippedy bloop at about 1m 50 i think it is.
(although it is much harder to hear on this version :slight_smile: )

11

Could you capture a log and post the link here? Preferable right after a fresh reboot!

1 Like
12

Hmmm, smart.
You think it is not right I take it?
Or, rather, it could be better?

http://logs.volumio.org/volumio/fQMkD2T.html

Thanks for paying an interest.

13

I was just curious to see if there are any anomalies in your logs, but from a quick scan through, don’t see anything suspicious. Looks like indeed the piZero is a tad underpowered with full blown (my)Volumio installation.

14

Cheers for looking.
I am still pretty pleased with it.
It is pretty fun.
I got a justboom amp hat on it now.
Next will be a better pair of speakers.
Then when i get time look at a NAS.

1 Like
15

I have a Zero also… I just leave it always on!

16

I am not surprised.
I am just looking how much power they use.
It really is close to nothing isn’t it?
However, this one is out in the garage.
I want to switch it on when I need it.
It is amazing how long 2.5 minutes feels when you are waiting for it isn’t it :slight_smile:

17

I also have several Pi Zeros and with the one I use daily, I leave it on. The others, I boot as needed.

Power usage is nominal:

0.4W idle to just over 1W running.

See: Raspberry Pi Zero - Power Consumption Comparison | Jeff Geerling

To me, the zero form actor is great, too, so my streamer is tiny. (Not that a Pi 3 is exactly big.)

Would I like so see an upgraded Pi Zero+ (say 1ghz/ 1MB)? Sure. But for what they are, the Zeros are VERY cool.

18

Nice, thanks.
I agree, I love the form factor as well, I keep showing it to people.

19

Well, we have our answer don’t we?
I suspect I will allow myself a treat when prices eventually get back to normal.