mainBoot Loader HelpWelcome to SUSE LINUX 9.3

Use this menu to select the desired function. If you have problems navigating in this help system, press F1 to enter the helpdescription of the help system. The main functions in this menu are:

harddiskBootfromHardDisk: This selection will not do anything to the system. It only starts a previously installed operating system.

linuxInstallation: This installation mode works on most machines. If you experience a system freeze during boot or problems with detection of your hardware components, such as disk controllers or network cards, try one of the following installation options.

noacpiInstallation--ACPIDisabled: Many of the currently-sold computers have incomplete or faulty ACPI implementations. This selection disables ACPI support in the kernel, but still enables many performance features, like DMA for IDE hard disks.

failsafeInstallation--SafeSettings: If you were not successful with Installation, this selection might solve the issue.

rescueRescueSystem: This boot image starts a small Linux system in RAM. This is useful if the system does not start properly. After booting this system, log in as root.

memtestMemoryTest: Memory testing is useful for more than checking installation of new memory modules. It is a stress test for a big part of your computer system and may indicate hardware problems.

optBootOptions: The boot options may change the behavior of your system completely. They are settings for the kernel.

helpF1Help: This is context sensitive. It will show different screens depending on the active element of the boot screen. There is also a description of this help system available.

videomodeF2VideoMode: Here, choose between different screen resolutions while installing. If you encounter problems with the graphical installation, the text mode may be a work-around for you.

install_srcF3InstallationSource: Choose the installation source.

keytableF4Language: Set language and keyboard mapping used by the boot loader.

driverupdateF5DriverUpdate: For very new machines, a driver update may be needed to install the system.helpUsing the Help SystemThe boot loader online help is context sensitive. It gives information about the selected menu item or, if you are editing boot options, it tries to look up information about the option in which the cursor is positioned.

Navigation Keys

  Up Arrow: highlight previous link
  Down Arrow: highlight next link
  Left Arrow, Backspace: return to previous topic
  Right Arrow, Enter, Space: follow link
  Page Up: scroll up one page
  Page Down: scroll down one page
  Home: go to page start
  End: go to page end
  Esc: leave help


Return to mainStartPagedriverupdateDriver UpdateIf you need a driver update floppy or CD-ROM, press F5. The boot loader asks you to insert the driver update medium after loading the Linux kernel.

A driver update is typically a floppy with new versions of hardware drivers or bug fixes needed during installation.

Return to mainStartPagevideomodeVideo Mode SelectionPress F2 to get the list of video modes your graphics card supports. The highest mode your monitor can display is preselected.

It is possible that your monitor cannot be detected automatically. In that case, select your preferred mode manually.

If your system has problems with the graphics card during the installation, the text mode may be a usable work-around.

Return to mainStartPagekeytableLanguage and Keyboard Layout SelectionPress F4 to change language and keyboard layout the boot loader uses.

Return to mainStartPageinstall_srcInstallation SourcePress F3 to choose an installation source.

This is the same as using the o_installinstall boot option.

Return to mainStartPagelinuxInstallationSelect Installation to start the default installation. The optbootoptions entered are used in the start-up. This item activates many features of commonly available hardware.



Return to mainStartPageharddiskBoot from Hard DiskSelect Boot Installed OS to start the system installed on your local hard disk. This system must be installed properly, because only the MBR (Master Boot Record) on the first hard disk is started. The device ID of the first hard disk is provided by the BIOS of the computer.

Use this if you forgot to remove the CD or DVD from your drive and want to start the computer from the hard disk.



Return to mainStartPagenoacpiInstallation -- ACPI DisabledVery new hardware sometimes requires ACPI to control the interrupt handling. ACPI completely replaces the old APM system.

Select Installation -- ACPI Disabled if you encounter problems during boot of the kernel. Known problems with machines that have problems with ACPI are:

   * kernel freezes when booting
   * PCI Cards are not detected or initialized properly



Return to mainStartPagefailsafeInstallation -- Safe SettingsSelect Installation -- Safe Settings if you encounter hangs while installing or irreproducible errors. This option disables DMA for IDE drives and all power management features. See also the kernel options for o_apmapm, o_acpiacpi and o_ideide.

Return to mainStartPagerescueRescue SystemThe Rescue System is a small RAM disk base system. From there, it is possible to make all kinds of changes to an installed system. Because only low-level tools are available in this system, it is intended for experts.



Return to mainStartPagememtestMemory TestThe included Memory Test provides good possibilities to stress test the hardware of a system. Its main purpose is to detect broken RAM, but it also stresses many other parts of the system.
There is no guarantee that the memory is good if no errors are found, although most of memory defects will be found.


Return to mainStartPageoptBoot OptionsThere are two types of boot options available. First, there are options that affect the installer. Second, there are kernel options. Some of the more common options are:

a) installer options

  o_installinstall -- select an installation source
  networknetworkoptions -- the network options
  o_vncvncoptions -- options for installation via VNC

b) kernel options

  o_splashsplash -- influence the behavior of the splash screen
  o_apmapm -- toggle power management
  o_acpiacpi -- advanced configuration and power interface
  o_ideide -- control the IDE subsystem


Return to mainStartPageo_installInstaller Options: installBy default, the local CD-ROMs are searched for the installation source. For a network install, select the install option. Possible installation protocols are
  * FTP
  * NFS
  * HTTP
The syntax to use is just like standard URLs. For example, if your server is found at 192.168.0.1 and you want to do an NFS-based install from the directory /install on this server, specify the source as follows:

  install=nfs://192.168.0.1/install

The network card will either be configured with dhcp or you must specify the parameters yourself as described in the networknetworkoptions.


Return to optBootOptionso_splashKernel Options: splashThe splash screen is the picture shown during system start-up.

splash=0

The splash screen is switched off. This may be useful with very old monitors or if some error occurs.

splash=verbose

Activates splash, kernel and boot messages are still shown.

splash=silent

Activates splash, but no messages. Instead a progress bar is drawn.

Return to optBootOptionsnetworkInstaller Options: Network OptionsIt is possible to configure the network interface right now. The hardware will be detected later by YaST2. The minimum set of options to configure your network card consists of host IP and netmask. For example:

  hostip=192.168.0.10 netmask=255.255.255.0

or in a shorter form:

  hostip=192.168.0.10/24

If you specified a o_installnetwork-basedinstall and do not specify both of these options, the installer tries to configure the network interface with dhcp. If you need a default gateway, specify this with the option gateway. For example:

  gateway=192.168.0.8


Return to optBootOptionso_vncInstaller Options: vncTo enable the VNC installation, specify the parameters vnc and vncpassword:

  vnc=1 vncpassword=example

The VNC server will be started and you may control YaST2 over any VNC client from a remote system.


Return to optBootOptions.o_apmKernel Options: apmAPM is one of the two power management strategies used on current computers. It is mainly used with laptops for functions like suspend to disk, but it may also be responsible for switching off the computer after power down. APM relies on a correct working BIOS. If the BIOS is broken, APM may have only limited use or even prevent the computer from working. Therefore, it may be switched off with the parameter

  apm=off -- switch off APM completely

Some very new computers may take more advantage from the newer o_acpiACPI.

Return to optBootOptionso_acpiKernel Options: acpiACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) is a standard that defines power and configuration management interfaces between an operating system and the BIOS. By default, acpi is switched on when a BIOS is detected that is newer than from year 2000. There are several commonly used parameters to control the behavior of ACPI:

  pci=noacpi -- do not use ACPI to route PCI interrupts   acpi=oldboot -- only the parts of ACPI that are relevant for booting remain activated
  acpi=off -- switch off ACPI completely
  acpi=force -- switch on ACPI even if your BIOS is dated before 2000

Especially on new computers, it replaces the old o_apmapm system.

Return to optBootOptionso_ideKernel Options: ideIDE is, unlike SCSI, commonly used in most desktop workstations. To circumvent some hardware problems that occur with IDE systems, use the kernel parameter:

  ide=nodma -- switch off DMA for IDE drives


Return to optBootOptions.bitsSoftware Type SelectionYou have the choice to install the 32-bit or 64-bit version of SUSE LINUX.

Return to mainStartPage