Other Help Topics :: How do I speed up startup and shutdown?

Try pasting the output of `ls -l backup.tar.gz` and perhaps `tar ztvf bakup.tar.gz` and `showbootcodes` (though I suppose your sig represents that? If so, just add "dma")
You may be able to see what's holding it up.

Output of ls -l backup.tar.gz:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 291517938 Jan 13 23:55 backup.tar.gz

Output of tar ztvf bakup.tar.gz:
a LONG LONG list of what seems to be every file in my home/dsl directory

Output of showbootcodes:
root=/dev/hda1 quiet vga=normal noacpi noapm dma noscsi frugal home=hda3 opt=hda3 mydsl=hda3/mydsl

Quote

a LONG LONG list of what seems to be every file in my home/dsl directory

- by default, every file in /home/dsl will be backed up...

Modify /home/dsl/.filetool.list if you want to change this.

291mb compressed data... no wonder it takes so long.

Since you're already have a persistent home ("home=hda3") there is no need to restore and backup. I suppose you could delete the backup.tar.gz and/or boot with norestore.

If you have a persistent home on hda3 and your backup on hda3, what happens when hda3 fails? No a good backup plan.

Is all that data in your home directory really dynamic (used and changes frequently)? I might guess that you are using a fat mail client? If is movies, or other large static (not changing content) I would move them out of the home directory on to another persistent store, or place them in a personal extension ( like a factored backup).

If factoring to a manageable size is not practical then I would consider rsync. A good backup plan for a traditional hard drive install, or hybrid (persistent stores, home, opt, ...) using rsync onto a separate drive with saving only changed files works quite nicely with DSL. I use this to manage a local copy of all mydsl extensions.

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