path: root/en/boot-installer/x86.xml

<!-- retain these comments for translator revision tracking -->
<!-- $Id$ -->

  <sect2 arch="x86"><title>Booting from a CD-ROM</title>

&boot-installer-intro-cd.xml;

<!-- We'll comment the following section until we know exact layout -->
<!--
CD #1 of official Debian CD-ROM sets for &arch-title; will present a
<prompt>boot:</prompt> prompt on most hardware. Press
<keycap>F4</keycap> to see the list of kernel options available
from which to boot. Just type your chosen flavor name (idepci,
vanilla, compact, bf24) at the <prompt>boot:</prompt> prompt
followed by &enterkey;.

</para><para>

If your hardware doesn't support booting of multiple images, put one
of the other CDs in the drive. It appears that most SCSI CD-ROM drives
do not support <command>isolinux</command> multiple image booting, so users
with SCSI CD-ROMs should try either CD2 (vanilla) or CD3 (compact),
or CD5 (bf2.4).

</para><para>

CD's 2 through 5 will each boot a
different ``flavor'' depending on which CD-ROM is
inserted. See <xref linkend="kernel-choice"/> for a discussion of the
different flavors.  Here's how the flavors are laid out on the
different CD-ROMs:

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>CD 1</term><listitem><para>

Allows a selection of kernel images to boot from (the idepci flavor is
the default if no selection is made).

</para></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>CD 2</term><listitem><para>

Boots the <quote>vanilla</quote> flavor.

</para></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>CD 3</term><listitem><para>

Boots the <quote>compact</quote> flavor.

</para></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>CD 4</term><listitem><para>

Boots the <quote>idepci</quote> flavor.

</para></listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>CD 5</term><listitem><para>

Boots the <quote>bf2.4</quote> flavor.

</para></listitem></varlistentry>

 </variablelist>

</para><para>

-->

  </sect2>

  <sect2 arch="x86" id="boot-win32">
  <title>Booting from Windows</title>
<para>

To start the installer from Windows, you must first obtain CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
or USB memory stick installation media as described in
<xref linkend="official-cdrom"/> and <xref linkend="boot-usb-files"/>.

</para><para>

If you use an installation CD or DVD, a pre-installation program should be
launched automatically when you insert the disc.
In case Windows does not start it automatically, or if you are using a USB
memory stick, you can run it manually by accessing the device and executing
<command>setup.exe</command>.

</para><para>

After the program has been started, a few preliminary questions will be
asked and the system will be prepared to start the &debian; installer.

</para>
  </sect2>

<!-- FIXME the documented procedure does not exactly work, commented out
     until fixes

  <sect2 arch="x86" id="install-from-dos">
  <title>Booting from a DOS partition</title>

&boot-installer-intro-hd.xml;

<para>

Boot into DOS (not Windows) without any drivers being loaded.  To do
this, you have to press <keycap>F8</keycap> at exactly the right
moment (and optionally select the <quote>safe mode command prompt only</quote>
option).  Enter the subdirectory for the flavor you chose, e.g.,

<informalexample><screen>
cd c:\install
</screen></informalexample>.

Next, execute <command>install.bat</command>.
The kernel will load and launch the installer system.

</para><para>

Please note, there is currently a loadlin problem (#142421) which
precludes <filename>install.bat</filename> from being used with the
bf2.4 flavor. The symptom of the problem is an
<computeroutput>invalid compressed format</computeroutput> error.

</para>
  </sect2>

END FIXME -->

  <sect2 arch="x86" id="boot-initrd">
  <title>Booting from Linux Using <command>LILO</command> or
  <command>GRUB</command></title>

<para>
To boot the installer from hard disk, you must first download
and place the needed files as described in <xref linkend="boot-drive-files"/>.
</para>

<para>
If you intend to use the hard drive only for booting and then
download everything over the network, you should download the
<filename>netboot/debian-installer/&architecture;/initrd.gz</filename> file and its
corresponding kernel
<filename>netboot/debian-installer/&architecture;/linux</filename>. This will allow you
to repartition the hard disk from which you boot the installer, although you
should do so with care.
</para>

<para>
Alternatively, if you intend to keep an existing partition on the hard
drive unchanged during the install, you can download the
<filename>hd-media/initrd.gz</filename> file and its kernel, as well as
copy a CD (or DVD) iso to the drive (make sure the file is named ending in
<literal>.iso</literal>). The installer can then boot from the drive
and install from the CD image, without needing the network.
</para>

<para>
For <command>LILO</command>, you will need to configure two
essential things in <filename>/etc/lilo.conf</filename>:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>

to load the <filename>initrd.gz</filename> installer at boot time;

</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>

have the <filename>vmlinuz</filename> kernel use a RAM disk as
its root partition.

</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

Here is a <filename>/etc/lilo.conf</filename> example:

</para><para>

<informalexample><screen>
image=/boot/newinstall/vmlinuz
       label=newinstall
       initrd=/boot/newinstall/initrd.gz
</screen></informalexample>

For more details, refer to the
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>initrd</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>4</manvolnum></citerefentry> and
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>lilo.conf</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> man pages. Now run
<userinput>lilo</userinput> and reboot.

</para><para>

The procedure for <command>GRUB</command> is quite similar. Locate your
<filename>menu.lst</filename> in the <filename>/boot/grub/</filename>
directory (or sometimes <filename>/boot/boot/grub/</filename>) and add an
entry for the installer, for example (assuming <filename>/boot</filename>
is on the first partition of the first disk in the system):

<informalexample><screen>
title  New Install
root   (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/newinstall/vmlinuz
initrd /boot/newinstall/initrd.gz
</screen></informalexample>

</para><para>

From here on, there should be no difference between <command>GRUB</command>
or <command>LILO</command>.

</para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 arch="x86" condition="bootable-usb" id="usb-boot">
  <title>Booting from USB Memory Stick</title>
<para>

Let's assume you have prepared everything from <xref
linkend="boot-dev-select"/> and <xref linkend="boot-usb-files"/>.  Now
just plug your USB stick into some free USB connector and reboot the
computer.  The system should boot up, and you should be presented with
the <prompt>boot:</prompt> prompt.  Here you can enter optional boot
arguments, or just hit &enterkey;.

</para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 arch="x86" condition="supports-floppy-boot" id="floppy-boot">
  <title>Booting from Floppies</title>
<para>

You will have already downloaded the floppy images you needed and
created floppies from the images in <xref linkend="create-floppy"/>.
<!-- missing-doc FIXME If you need to, you can also modify the boot floppy; see
<xref linkend="rescue-replace-kernel"/>. -->

</para><para>

To boot from the installer boot floppy, place it in the primary floppy
drive, shut down the system as you normally would, then turn it back
on.

</para><para>

For installing from an LS-120 drive (ATAPI version) with a set of
floppies, you need to specify the virtual location for the floppy
device.  This is done with the <emphasis>root=</emphasis> boot
argument, giving the device that the ide-floppy driver maps the device
to. For example, if your LS-120 drive is connected as the first IDE
device (master) on the second cable, you enter
<userinput>install root=/dev/hdc</userinput> at the boot prompt.

</para><para>

Note that on some machines, <keycombo><keycap>Control</keycap>
<keycap>Alt</keycap> <keycap>Delete</keycap></keycombo> does not
properly reset the machine, so a <quote>hard</quote> reboot is recommended.  If
you are installing from an existing operating system (e.g., from a DOS
box) you don't have a choice. Otherwise, please do a hard reboot when
booting.

</para><para>

The floppy disk will be accessed, and you should then see a screen
that introduces the boot floppy and ends with the <prompt>boot:</prompt>
prompt.

</para><para>

Once you press &enterkey;, you should see the message
<computeroutput>Loading...</computeroutput>, followed by
<computeroutput>Uncompressing Linux...</computeroutput>, and
then a screenfull or so of information about the hardware in your
system.  More information on this phase of the boot process can be
found below in <xref linkend="kernel-msgs"/>.

</para><para>

After booting from the boot floppy, the root floppy is
requested. Insert the root floppy and press &enterkey;, and the
contents are loaded into memory. The installer program
<command>debian-installer</command> is automatically launched.

</para>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 arch="x86" id="boot-tftp"><title>Booting with TFTP</title>

&boot-installer-intro-net.xml;

<para>

There are various ways to do a TFTP boot on i386.

</para>

   <sect3><title>NIC or Motherboard that support PXE</title>
<para>

It could be that your Network Interface Card or Motherboard provides
PXE boot functionality.
This is a <trademark class="trade">Intel</trademark> re-implementation
of TFTP boot. If so, you may be able to configure your BIOS to boot from the
network.

</para>
   </sect3>

   <sect3><title>NIC with Network BootROM</title>
<para>

It could be that your Network Interface Card provides
TFTP boot functionality.

</para><para condition="FIXME">

Let us (<email>&email-debian-boot-list;</email>) know how did you manage it.
Please refer to this document.

</para>
   </sect3>

   <sect3><title>Etherboot</title>
<para>

The <ulink url="http://www.etherboot.org">etherboot project</ulink>
provides bootdiskettes and even bootroms that do a TFTPboot.

</para>
   </sect3>
  </sect2>

  <sect2 arch="x86" id="boot-screen">
  <title>The Boot Screen</title>
<para>

When the installer boots, you should be presented with a friendly graphical
screen showing the Debian logo and a menu:

<informalexample><screen>
Installer boot menu

Install
Graphical install
Advanced options       >
Help

Press ENTER to boot or TAB to edit a menu entry
</screen></informalexample>

Depending on the installation method you are using, the <quote>Graphical
install</quote> option may not be available.

</para><para>

For a normal installation, select either the <quote>Install</quote> or
the <quote>Graphical install</quote> entry  &mdash; using either the
arrow keys on your keyboard or by typing the first (highlighted) letter
&mdash; and press &enterkey; to boot the installer.

</para><para>

The <quote>Advanced options</quote> entry gives access to a second menu
that allows to boot the installer in expert mode, in rescue mode and for
automated installs.

</para><para>

If you wish or need to add any boot parameters for either the installer
or the kernel, press &tabkey;. This will display the default boot command
for the selected menu entry and allow to add additional options. The help
screens (see below) list some common possible options. Press &enterkey; to
boot the installer with your options; pressing &escapekey; will return you
to the boot menu and undo any changes you made.

</para><para>

Choosing the <quote>Help</quote> entry will result in the first help screen
being displayed which gives an overview of all available help screens.
Note that it is not possible to return to the boot menu after the help
screens have been displayed. However, the F3 and F4 help screens list
commands that are equivalent to the boot methods listed in the menu. All
help screens have a boot prompt at which the boot command can be typed:

<informalexample><screen>
Press F1 for the help index, or ENTER to boot:
</screen></informalexample>

At this boot prompt you can either just press &enterkey; to boot the
installer with default options or enter a specific boot command and,
optionally, boot parameters. A number of boot parameters which might be
useful can be found on the various help screens. If you do add any
parameters to the boot command line, be sure to first type the boot method
(the default is <userinput>install</userinput>) and a space before the
first parameter (e.g., <userinput>install fb=false</userinput>).

<note><para>

The keyboard is assumed to have a default American English layout at this
point. This means that if your keyboard has a different (language-specific)
layout, the characters that appear on the screen may be different from what
you'd expect when you type parameters. Wikipedia has a
<ulink url="&url-us-keymap;">schema of the US keyboard layout</ulink> which
can be used as a reference to find the correct keys to use.

</para></note>
<note><para>

If you are using a system that has the BIOS configured to use serial console,
you may not be able to see the initial graphical splash screen upon booting
the installer; you may even not see the boot menu. The same can happen if
you are installing the system via a remote management device that provides a
text interface to the VGA console. Examples of these devices include the text
console of Compaq's <quote>integrated Lights Out</quote> (iLO) and HP's
<quote>Integrated Remote Assistant</quote> (IRA).

</para><para>

To bypass the graphical boot screen you can either blindly press &escapekey;
to get a text boot prompt, or (equally blindly) press <quote>H</quote>
followed by &enterkey; to select the <quote>Help</quote> option described
above. After that your keystrokes should be echoed at the prompt.
To prevent the installer from using the framebuffer for the rest of the
installation, you will also want to add <userinput>fb=false</userinput> to
the boot prompt, as described in the help text.

</para></note>
</para>

  </sect2>