If performing a workstation- or server-class installation, please skip
ahead to
the section called
Time Zone Configuration
.
In order to be able to boot your Red Hat Linux system, you usually need to
install LILO (the LInux LOader). You may install LILO in one of two
places:
-
The master boot record (MBR)
-
The recommended place to install LILO, unless the MBR already
starts another operating system loader, such System Commander or
OS/2's
Boot Manager. The master boot record is a special area on your
hard drive that is automatically loaded by your computer's BIOS,
and is the earliest point at which LILO can take control of the
boot process. If you install LILO in the MBR, when your machine
boots, LILO will present a
boot:
prompt. You can then boot Red Hat Linux or any other operating system you
configure LILO to boot (see below).
-
The first sector of your root partition
-
Recommended if you are already using another boot loader on
your system (such as OS/2's Boot Manager). In this case, your
other boot loader will take control first. You can then configure
that boot loader to start LILO (which will then boot Red Hat Linux).
If you choose to install LILO, please select where you would like LILO
to be installed on your system (see
Figure 4-10
). If your system will use only
Red Hat Linux you should choose the master boot record (MBR). For systems with
Win95/98, you also should install LILO to the MBR so that LILO can boot
both operating systems.
If you have Windows NT (and you want to install LILO) you should choose
to install LILO on the first sector of the root partition, not the
MBR. Please be sure to create a boot disk. In a case such as this,
Windows NT's operating system loader will be on the MBR and the only way
you can choose LILO (on the first sector of your root partition) is by
using the boot disk. Be sure to check out
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+NT-Loader.html
for more information on setting up LILO and NT.
|
Warning
|
|
If you choose not to install LILO for any reason, you will not be able
to boot your Red Hat Linux system directly, and will need to use another boot
method (such as a boot diskette). Use this option only if you are
sure you have another way of booting your Red Hat Linux system!
|
If your computer accesses a hard drive in LBA mode, check
Use
linear mode
. This is most often used in situations where the
drive is an SCSI and you are getting errors accessing the drive.
If you wish to add default options to the LILO boot command, enter them
into the kernel parameters field. Any options you enter will be passed
to the Linux kernel every time it boots.
Bootable Partition -- Every bootable partition is listed, including
partitions used by other operating systems. The "Boot label" column
will be filled in with the word
linux
on the
partition holding your Red Hat Linux system's root filesystem. Other partitions
may also have boot labels. If you would like to add boot labels for
other partitions (or change an existing boot label), click once on the
partition to select it. Once selected, you can change the boot label.
Please Note:
The contents of the "Boot label" column will be what you will need to
enter at LILO's
boot:
prompt in order
to boot the desired operating system. However, if you forget the boot
labels defined on your system, you can always press
Tab
at LILO's
boot:
prompt to display a
list of defined boot labels.
-
Create boot disk
-- The
Create Boot
Disk
option is checked by default. If you do not want
to create a boot disk, you should deselect this option. However,
we strongly urge you to create a boot disk. A boot disk can be
handy for a number of reasons:
-
Use It Instead of LILO -- You can use a boot disk instead of
LILO. This is handy if you're trying Red Hat Linux for the first
time, and you'd feel more comfortable if the boot process for
your other operating system is left unchanged. With a boot
disk, going back to your other operating system is as easy as
removing the boot disk and rebooting.
-
Use It In Emergencies -- The boot disk can be used in
conjunction with the rescue mode, which will give you the tools
necessary to get your system back on its feet
[1]
.
-
Use It If Another Operating System Overwrites LILO -- Other
operating systems may not be as flexible as Red Hat Linux when it
comes to supported boot methods. Quite often, installing or
updating another operating system can cause the master boot
record (originally containing LILO) to be overwritten, making
it impossible to boot your Red Hat Linux installation. The boot disk
can then be used to boot Red Hat Linux so you can reinstall LILO.
-
Do not install LILO
-- if you have Windows NT
installed on your system, you may not want to install LILO. If you
choose not to install LILO for this reason, make sure that you
have chosen to create a boot disk; otherwise you will not be able
to boot Linux. You can also choose to skip LILO if you do not want
to write LILO to your hard drive.
If you do not wish to use LILO to boot your Red Hat Linux system, there are
several alternatives:
-
Boot Disk
-
As previously stated, you can use the boot disk created by the
installation program (if you elected to create one).
-
LOADLIN
-
You can load Linux from MS-DOS. Unfortunately, it requires a
copy of the Linux kernel (and an initial RAM disk, if you have a
SCSI adapter) to be available on an MS-DOS partition. The only
way to accomplish this is to boot your Red Hat Linux system using some
other method (e.g., from LILO on a diskette) and then copy the
kernel to an MS-DOS partition.
LOADLIN
is
available from
ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/boot/dualboot/
and associated mirror sites.
-
SYSLINUX
-
An MS-DOS program very similar to
LOADLIN
.
It is also available from
ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/boot/loaders/
and
associated mirror sites.
-
Some commercial bootloaders
-
For example,
System Commander
and Partition
Magic, which are able to boot Linux (but still require LILO to
be installed in your Linux root partition).
This section is specific to SMP motherboards only. If the installer
detects an SMP motherboard on your system, it will automatically
create two
lilo.conf
entries as opposed to the
usual single entry.
One entry will be called
linux
and the other
will be called
linux-up
. The
linux
will boot by default. However, if you have
trouble with the SMP kernel, you can elect to boot the
linux-up
entry instead. You will retain all the
functionality as before, but you will only be operating with a single
processor.
