CONFIG.SYS Sorting trick    v1.1  [1/13/93]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've discovered a little trick about OS/2 that improves boot up time. It's
a matter of sorting your CONFIG.SYS into a form that more closely matches
the way OS/2 loads various drivers on boot-up.

Applying this trick has shaved off almost a minute of boot-up time on many
systems. Your results may vary.

This has only been tested on OS/2 2.1 GA, but I'd imagine it would work on
OS/2 2.0 and below, without any trouble.

I've found this order to work the best:

哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪
                              IFS
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                            BASEDEV
哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪
     SET statements , sorted alphabetically, to "look nice"
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 Any OS/2-specific commands [PROTECTONLY, DISKCACHE, IOPL, etc]
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     OS/2 devices, sorted alphabetically, where applicable.
哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪
      DOS specific commands [DOS=HIGH,UMB, FCBS=16,8, etc]
哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪
     DOS devices, sorted alphabetically, where applicable.
哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪
                       CALL/RUN commands
哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪哪

HPFS-formatted drives should experience less "disk-thrashing" than FAT-formatted
drives, since HPFS stores filenames in alphabetical order.

Certain device drivers must be loaded before others, so keep this fact in mind
when you are re-arranging your CONFIG.SYS. The loading order of MMPM/2 device
drivers should NOT be messed with, but can be moved around in a "group" chunk.
The DOS virtual driver, VENH.SYS, should not be sorted. 

A user suggested using the shareware text editor, BOXER, and it's Sort function
to sort CONFIG.SYS, then using a little cut and paste to move things into
the right places. Another user also suggested writing an actual program
to sort the CONFIG.SYS automatically, and correctly. I've been pondering
on writing that myself, it might be as simple as a little REXX .CMD file!

Keep a boot-disk handy, just in case you foul up somewhere. I suggest using
BOOT2X, from IBM EWS, for making a single boot-disk, based on your pre-existing
configuration on your hard drive.

I've always kept my SET commands sorted alphabetically, just so they were a bit
more organized, whether it improves boot-up time or not, I'm not sure.
[I would doubt it would make much of a difference]

If you really want to be a speed demon, store all your BASEDEV's in your root
directory, since that's where OS/2 looks first for BASEDEV's. But, since
I like to keep my root directory 'tidy', I've chosen to store all mine in the
C:\OS2 directory.

      ** WARNING ** Unsolicited ShareWare plug ** WARNING

IBM's MOUSE.SYS driver hasn't been known for it's speed. On my machine,
I have an InPort mouse. MOUSE.SYS will still look at the COM ports for a mouse
and thus waste a lot of time during boot-up. [Around 10-15 seconds in my case]

The 3rd party mouse driver, RODENT, uses less CPU time, allows you to use all 3
buttons of your mouse, and also "finds" your mouse MUCH faster than IBM's
driver. It's nearly instantanious on most systems I've tried RODENT on. If you
have a serial mouse, make sure to tell RODENT which COM port it is attached to,
since RODENT will find your mouse just that much faster.

      ** WARNING ** Unsolicited ShareWare plug ** WARNING

I'd like to hear from others about their experiences using this trick. There
may be better sorting configurations, and I'd like to hear about them.
If you're ambitious, time the speed difference between your original and sorted
CONFIG.SYS and send me the results, I'll include you in this document.

To aid in determining the factor(s) on whether or not certain systems will
benefit from a sorted CONFIG.SYS, send me your results and system configuration.

CPU Type
OS/2 version [Service Pack, bug fixes applied, etc]
Amount of RAM
HD size and type [IDE, ESDI, RLL, MFM, SCSI, SCSI2, etc]
VLB/PCI/EISA/ISA/MCA type motherboard
Amount of cache memory on motherboard.
Chipset of motherboard [OPTI, ETEK, Austek, CHIPs, etc]
Special device drivers you are loading, that "sway" from the default.


Where to contact the author:
----------------------------

By far, the easiest way to contact me is through Internet:
tiensivu at student dot msu dot edu

I also run a BBS back at home [I'm currently away at college, with the BBS
running on semi-auto-pilot], Black Horizon, 1-616-866-3717, 16.8k Dual, 24 hrs.
Concentrating on OS/2 support, 210 Megs of files.

I apologize for the callers who requested FILES thru FrontDoor from my BBS
in Dec '93. The file-list program broke down and was not updating the listing
every night. This has been fixed and a new file listing is generated every
night at 3am EST.

Proud member of: Team OS/2!

FidoNet  : 1:228/74
ITC Net  : 85:871/207
HellNet  : 6950:1/1
PowerNet : 616:1/1
NetherNet: 17:1/3

U.S. mail:
Aaron Tiensivu
522 West Holmes Hall (Michigan State University)
East Lansing, Michigan 48825-1115

A few people have asked about my nationality, since my last name is, well, not
very common. My grandpa moved, with his whole family, when he was 18, to
Michigan from Finland. He's 76 now, is still *VERY* active, remodeled a house
in New Mexico, USA, and built a barn in the backyard, with my grandma. So all
the people in Finland should be proud.. :)

Here is an example CONFIG.SYS, sorted:

IFS=C:\OS2\DRIVERS\IFS\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:2048 /CRECL:128 /AUTOCHECK:C
IFS=C:\OS2\DRIVERS\IFS\CDFS.IFS /Q
BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD /Q
BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS
BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD
BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD /A:0 /U:0 /SMS
BASEDEV=SBCD2.ADD /P:220
BASEDEV=OS2CDROM.DMD /Q
PROTSHELL=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS
SET BOOKSHELF=C:\OS2\BOOK;
SET COMSPEC=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
SET DPATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\BITMAP;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\OS2\APPS;
SET EPMPATH=C:\OS2\APPS;
SET GLOSSARY=C:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
SET HELP=C:\OS2\HELP;C:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;
SET IPF_KEYS=SBCS
SET KEYS=ON
SET OS2_SHELL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE
SET PATH=C:\OS2;C:\OS2\SYSTEM;C:\OS2\MDOS\WINOS2;C:\OS2\INSTALL;C:\;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\OS2\APPS;
SET PROMPT=$i[$p]
SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET SYSTEM_INI=C:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2.INI
SET VIDEO_DEVICES=VIO_SVGA
SET VIO_SVGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA,BVHSVGA)
LIBPATH=.;C:\OS2\DLL;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\;C:\OS2\APPS\DLL;
PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO
THREADS=256
IOPL=YES
MAXWAIT=15
MEMMAN=SWAP,PROTECT
SWAPPATH=C:\OS2\SWAP 1024 1024
PRINTMONBUFSIZE=1,0,0
PROTECTONLY=NO
RMSIZE=640
CODEPAGE=437,850
COUNTRY=001,C:\OS2\SYSTEM\COUNTRY.SYS
DEVINFO=KBD,US,C:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
DEVINFO=SCR,VGA,C:\OS2\VIOTBL.DCP
DEVICE=C:\OS2\TESTCFG.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\DOS.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\PMDD.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\SIO.SYS (1:38400) (2:38400)
BREAK=OFF
BUFFERS=10
DOS=HIGH,UMB
FCBS=16,8
FILES=40
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VSIO.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VWIN.SYS
DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
SHELL=C:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM