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+<TITLE>The boot process in closer look</TITLE>
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+<B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html1171" HREF="node69.html">More about shutdowns</A>
+<B>Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html1169" HREF="node66.html">Boots And Shutdowns</A>
+<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html1163" HREF="node67.html">An overview of boots </A>
+<BR> <P>
+<H1><A NAME="SECTION00720000000000000000">The boot process in closer look</A></H1>
+<P>
+<A NAME="secbootcloseup">&#160;</A>
+<P>
+ You can boot Linux either from a floppy or from the hard
+ disk. The installation section in the Installation and
+ Getting Started guide ([<A HREF="node113.html#getting-started">Wel</A>])
+ tells you how to install Linux so you can boot it the way
+ you want to.
+<P>
+ When a PC is booted, the BIOS will do various tests to
+ check that everything looks all right,<A NAME="tex2html30" HREF="footnode.html#2102"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="gif" SRC="./foot_motif.gif"></A> and
+ will then start the actual booting. It will choose a disk
+ drive (typically the first floppy drive, if there is a floppy
+ inserted, otherwise the first hard disk, if one is installed
+ in the computer; the order might be configurable, however)
+ and will then read its very first sector. This is
+ called the <b>boot sector</b>; for a hard disk, it is also
+ called the <b>master boot record</b>, since a hard disk can
+ contain several partitions, each with their own boot sectors.
+<A NAME="1980">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="1981">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="1982">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="1983">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2103">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2104">&#160;</A>
+<P>
+ The boot sector contains a small program (small enough to fit into
+ one sector) whose responsibility is to read the actual operating
+ system from the disk and start it. When booting Linux from
+ a floppy disk, the boot sector contains code that just reads
+ the first few hundred blocks (depending on the actual
+ kernel size, of course) to a predetermined place in memory.
+ On a Linux boot floppy, there is no filesystem, the kernel
+ is just stored in consecutive sectors, since this simplifies
+ the boot process. It is possible, however, to boot from a
+ floppy with a filesystem, by using LILO, the LInux LOader.
+<A NAME="1986">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2105">&#160;</A>
+<P>
+ When booting from the hard disk, the code in the master boot
+ record will examine the partition table (also in the master boot
+ record), identify the active
+ partition (the partition that is marked to be bootable), read
+ the boot sector from that partition, and then start the code
+ in that boot sector. The code in the partition's boot sector
+ does what a floppy disk's boot sector does: it will read in
+ the kernel from the partition and start it. The details vary,
+ however, since it is generally not useful to have a separate
+ partition for just the kernel image, so the code in the
+ partition's boot sector can't just read the disk in sequential
+ order, it has to find the sectors wherever the filesystem has
+ put them. There are several ways around this problem, but the
+ most common way is to use LILO. (The details about how to do
+ this are irrelevant for this discussion, however; see the LILO
+ documentation for more information; it is most thorough.)
+<A NAME="1988">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2106">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="1990">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="1991">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="1992">&#160;</A>
+<P>
+ When booting with LILO, it will normally go right ahead and
+ read in and boot the default kernel. It is also possible to
+ configure LILO to be able to boot one of several kernels, or
+ even other operating systems than Linux, and it is possible
+ for the user to choose which kernel or operating system is to
+ be booted at boot time. LILO can be configured so that if one
+ holds down the <TT>alt</TT>, <TT>shift</TT>, or <TT>ctrl</TT> key at
+ boot time (when LILO is loaded), LILO will ask what is to
+ be booted and not boot the default right away. Alternatively,
+ LILO can be configured so that it will always ask, with an
+ optional timeout that will cause the default kernel to be
+ booted.
+<P>
+ With LILO, it is also possible to give a <b>kernel command
+ line argument</b>, after the name of the kernel or operating
+ system.
+<P>
+ <b>META: </b> The are other boot loaders than LILO. Information about
+ them will be added in some future version. loadlin.
+<P>
+ Booting from floppy and from hard disk have both their
+ advantages, but generally booting from the hard disk is
+ nicer, since it avoids the hassle of playing around with
+ floppies. It is also faster. However, it can be more
+ troublesome to install the system to boot from the hard
+ disk, so many people will first boot from floppy, then, when
+ the system is otherwise installed and working well, will
+ install LILO and start booting from the hard disk.
+<P>
+ After the Linux kernel has been read into the memory, by
+ whatever means, and is started for real, roughly the following
+ things happen:
+<P>
+ <UL>
+<LI>
+<P>
+ The Linux kernel is installed compressed, so it will first
+ uncompress itself. The beginning of the kernel image
+ contains a small program that does this.
+<A NAME="1998">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="1999">&#160;</A>
+<LI>
+<P>
+ If you have a super-VGA card that Linux
+ recognizes and that has some special text modes (such as 100
+ columns by 40 rows), Linux asks you which mode
+ you want to use. During the kernel compilation, it is
+ possible to preset a video mode, so that this is never asked.
+ This can also be done with LILO or <tt>rdev</tt><A NAME="2125">&#160;</A>.
+<A NAME="2001">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2002">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2003">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2004">&#160;</A>
+<LI>
+<P>
+ After this, the kernel checks what other hardware there is
+ (hard disks, floppies, network adapters...), and configures
+ some of its device drivers appropriately; while it does this,
+ it outputs messages about its findings. For example, when I
+ boot, I it looks like this:
+<A NAME="2005">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2006">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2007">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2008">&#160;</A>
+ <BLOCKQUOTE> <PRE>LILO boot:
+Loading linux.
+Console: colour EGA+ 80x25, 8 virtual consoles
+Serial driver version 3.94 with no serial options enabled
+tty00 at 0x03f8 (irq = 4) is a 16450
+tty01 at 0x02f8 (irq = 3) is a 16450
+lp_init: lp1 exists (0), using polling driver
+Memory: 7332k/8192k available (300k kernel code, 384k reserved, 176k data)
+Floppy drive(s): fd0 is 1.44M, fd1 is 1.2M
+Loopback device init
+Warning WD8013 board not found at i/o = 280.
+Math coprocessor using irq13 error reporting.
+Partition check:
+ hda: hda1 hda2 hda3
+VFS: Mounted root (ext filesystem).
+Linux version 0.99.pl9-1 (root@haven) 05/01/93 14:12:20</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+ The exact texts are different on different systems, depending
+ on the hardware, the version of Linux being used, and how
+ it has been configured.
+<LI>
+<P>
+ Then the kernel will try to mount the root filesystem. The
+ place is configurable at
+ compilation time, or any time with <tt>rdev</tt><A NAME="2127">&#160;</A>
+ or LILO. The filesystem type is detected
+ automatically. If the mounting of the root filesystem fails,
+ for example because you didn't remember to include the corresponding
+ filesystem driver in the kernel,
+ the kernel panics and halts the system (there isn't much it
+ can do, anyway).
+<A NAME="2012">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2013">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2014">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2015">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2016">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2017">&#160;</A>
+<P>
+ The root filesystem is usually mounted read-only (this can
+ be set in the same way as the place). This makes it possible
+ to check the filesystem while it is mounted; it is not a good
+ idea to check a filesystem that is mounted read-write.
+<A NAME="2018">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2019">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2020">&#160;</A>
+<LI>
+<P>
+ After this, the kernel starts the program <tt>init</tt><A NAME="2129">&#160;</A>
+ (located in <tt>/sbin/init</tt><A NAME="2131">&#160;</A>) in
+ the background (this will always become process number 1).
+ <tt>init</tt><A NAME="2133">&#160;</A> does various startup chores. The exact things it does
+ depends on how it is configured; see
+ chapter&nbsp;<A HREF="node73.html#chinit">7</A> for more information (not yet written). It will at least
+ start some essential background daemons.
+<A NAME="2025">&#160;</A>
+<LI>
+<P>
+ <tt>init</tt><A NAME="2135">&#160;</A> then switches to multi-user mode, and starts
+ a <tt>getty</tt><A NAME="2137">&#160;</A> for virtual consoles and serial lines.
+ <tt>getty</tt><A NAME="2139">&#160;</A> is the program which lets people log in
+ via virtual consoles and serial terminals. <tt>init</tt><A NAME="2141">&#160;</A>
+ may also start some other programs, depending on how
+ it is configured.
+<A NAME="2030">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2031">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2032">&#160;</A>
+<A NAME="2033">&#160;</A>
+<LI>
+<P>
+ After this, the boot is complete, and the system is up and
+ running normally.
+<P>
+ </UL><HR><A NAME="tex2html1170" HREF="node69.html"><IMG WIDTH=37 HEIGHT=24 ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="./next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html1168" HREF="node66.html"><IMG WIDTH=26 HEIGHT=24 ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="./up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html1162" HREF="node67.html"><IMG WIDTH=63 HEIGHT=24 ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="./previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html1172" HREF="node1.html"><IMG WIDTH=65 HEIGHT=24 ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="./contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME="tex2html1173" HREF="node114.html"><IMG WIDTH=43 HEIGHT=24 ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="./index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
+<B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html1171" HREF="node69.html">More about shutdowns</A>
+<B>Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html1169" HREF="node66.html">Boots And Shutdowns</A>
+<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html1163" HREF="node67.html">An overview of boots </A>
+<P><ADDRESS>
+<I>Lars Wirzenius <BR>
+Sat Nov 15 02:32:11 EET 1997</I>
+</ADDRESS>
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+</HTML>