3 A suite of bootloaders for Linux
5 Copyright 1994-2010 H. Peter Anvin and contributors
7 This program is provided under the terms of the GNU General Public
8 License, version 2 or, at your option, any later version. There is no
9 warranty, neither expressed nor implied, to the function of this
10 program. Please see the included file COPYING for details.
12 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
14 Syslinux now has a home page at http://syslinux.zytor.com/
16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
18 The Syslinux suite contains the following boot loaders
19 ("derivatives"), for their respective boot media:
21 SYSLINUX - MS-DOS/Windows FAT filesystem
22 PXELINUX - PXE network booting
23 ISOLINUX - ISO9660 CD-ROM
24 EXTLINUX - Linux ext2/ext3 filesystem
26 For historical reasons, some of the sections in this document applies
27 to the FAT loader (SYSLINUX) only; see pxelinux.txt, isolinux.txt and
28 extlinux.txt for what differs in these versions. The all-caps term
29 "SYSLINUX" generally refers to the FAT loader, whereas "Syslinux"
30 refers to the project as a whole.
32 Help with cleaning up the docs would be greatly appreciated.
37 These are the options common to all versions of Syslinux:
39 -s Safe, slow, stupid; uses simpler code that boots better
41 -r Raid mode. If boot fails, tell the BIOS to boot the next
42 device in the boot sequence (usually the next hard disk)
43 instead of stopping with an error message.
44 This is useful for RAID-1 booting.
46 These are only in the Windows version:
48 -m Mbr; install a bootable MBR sector to the beginning of the
50 -a Active; marks the partition used active (=bootable)
53 ++++ CREATING A BOOTABLE LINUX FLOPPY +++
55 In order to create a bootable Linux floppy using SYSLINUX, prepare a
56 normal MS-DOS formatted floppy. Copy one or more Linux kernel files to
57 it, then execute the DOS command:
59 syslinux [-sfrma][-d directory] a: [bootsecfile]
61 (or whichever drive letter is appropriate; the [] meaning optional.)
63 Use "syslinux.com" (in the dos subdirectory of the distribution) for
64 plain DOS (MS-DOS, DR-DOS, PC-DOS, FreeDOS...) or Win9x/ME.
66 Use "syslinux.exe" (in the win32 subdirectory of the distribution) for
69 Under Linux, execute the command:
71 syslinux [-sfr][-d directory][-o offset] /dev/fd0
73 (or, again, whichever device is the correct one.)
75 This will alter the boot sector on the disk and copy a file named
76 LDLINUX.SYS into its root directory (or a subdirectory, if the -d
79 The -s option, if given, will install a "safe, slow and stupid"
80 version of SYSLINUX. This version may work on some very buggy BIOSes
81 on which SYSLINUX would otherwise fail. If you find a machine on
82 which the -s option is required to make it boot reliably, please send
83 as much info about your machine as you can, and include the failure
86 The -o option is used with a disk image file and specifies the byte
87 offset of the filesystem image in the file.
89 For the DOS and Windows installers, the -m and -a options can be used
90 on hard drives to write a Master Boot Record (MBR), and to mark the
91 specific partition active.
93 If the Shift or Alt keys are held down during boot, or the Caps or Scroll
94 locks are set, Syslinux will display a LILO-style "boot:" prompt. The
95 user can then type a kernel file name followed by any kernel parameters.
96 The Syslinux loader does not need to know about the kernel file in
97 advance; all that is required is that it is a file located in the root
98 directory on the disk.
100 There are two versions of the Linux installer; one in the "mtools"
101 directory which requires no special privilege (other than write
102 permission to the device where you are installing) but requires the
103 mtools program suite to be available, and one in the "unix" directory
104 which requires root privilege.
107 ++++ CONFIGURATION FILE ++++
109 All the configurable defaults in SYSLINUX can be changed by putting a
110 file called "syslinux.cfg" in the root directory of the boot disk.
112 This is a text file in either UNIX or DOS format, containing one or
113 more of the following items (case is insensitive for keywords; upper
114 case is used here to indicate that a word should be typed verbatim):
116 Starting with version 3.35, the configuration file can also be in
117 either the /boot/syslinux or /syslinux directories (searched in that
118 order.) If that is the case, then all filenames are assumed to be
119 relative to that same directory, unless preceded with a slash or
122 All options here applies to PXELINUX, ISOLINUX and EXTLINUX as well as
123 SYSLINUX unless otherwise noted. See the respective .txt files.
126 A comment line. The whitespace after the hash mark is mandatory.
129 Inserts the contents of another file at this point in the
130 configuration file. Files can currently be nested up to 16
131 levels deep, but it is not guaranteed that more than 8 levels
132 will be supported in the future.
134 DEFAULT kernel options...
135 Sets the default command line. If Syslinux boots automatically,
136 it will act just as if the entries after DEFAULT had been typed
137 in at the "boot:" prompt.
139 If no configuration file is present, or no DEFAULT entry is
140 present in the config file, an error message is displayed and
141 the boot: prompt is shown.
144 Selects a specific user interface module (typically menu.c32
145 or vesamenu.c32). The command-line interface treats this as a
146 directive that overrides the DEFAULT and PROMPT directives.
149 Add one or more options to the kernel command line. These are
150 added both for automatic and manual boots. The options are
151 added at the very beginning of the kernel command line,
152 usually permitting explicitly entered kernel options to override
153 them. This is the equivalent of the LILO "append" option.
155 IPAPPEND flag_val [PXELINUX only]
156 The IPAPPEND option is available only on PXELINUX. The
157 flag_val is an OR of the following options:
159 1: indicates that an option of the following format
160 should be generated and added to the kernel command line:
162 ip=<client-ip>:<boot-server-ip>:<gw-ip>:<netmask>
164 ... based on the input from the DHCP/BOOTP or PXE boot server.
166 NOTE: The use of this option is no substitute for running a
167 DHCP client in the booted system. Without regular renewals,
168 the lease acquired by the PXE BIOS will expire, making the
169 IP address available for reuse by the DHCP server.
171 2: indicates that an option of the following format
172 should be generated and added to the kernel command line:
174 BOOTIF=<hardware-address-of-boot-interface>
176 ... in dash-separated hexadecimal with leading hardware type
177 (same as for the configuration file; see pxelinux.txt.)
179 This allows an initrd program to determine from which
180 interface the system booted.
182 4: indicates that an option of the following format
183 should be generated and added to the kernel command line:
185 SYSUUID=<system uuid>
187 ... in lower case hexadecimal in the format normally used for
188 UUIDs (same as for the configuration file; see pxelinux.txt.)
193 IPAPPEND flag_val [PXELINUX only]
194 Indicates that if "label" is entered as the kernel to boot,
195 Syslinux should instead boot "image", and the specified APPEND
196 and IPAPPEND options should be used instead of the ones
197 specified in the global section of the file (before the first
198 LABEL command.) The default for "image" is the same as
199 "label", and if no APPEND is given the default is to use the
200 global entry (if any).
202 Starting with version 3.62, the number of LABEL statements is
205 Note that LILO uses the syntax:
210 ... whereas Syslinux uses the syntax:
215 Note: The "kernel" doesn't have to be a Linux kernel; it can
216 be a boot sector or a COMBOOT file (see below.)
218 Since version 3.32 label names are no longer mangled into DOS
219 format (for SYSLINUX.)
221 The following commands are available after a LABEL statement:
223 LINUX image - Linux kernel image (default)
224 BOOT image - Bootstrap program (.bs, .bin)
225 BSS image - BSS image (.bss)
226 PXE image - PXE Network Bootstrap Program (.0)
227 FDIMAGE image - Floppy disk image (.img)
228 COMBOOT image - COMBOOT program (.com, .cbt)
229 COM32 image - COM32 program (.c32)
230 CONFIG image - New configuration file
231 Using one of these keywords instead of KERNEL forces the
232 filetype, regardless of the filename.
234 CONFIG means restart the boot loader using a different
238 Append nothing. APPEND with a single hyphen as argument in a
239 LABEL section can be used to override a global APPEND.
241 LOCALBOOT type [ISOLINUX, PXELINUX]
242 On PXELINUX, specifying "LOCALBOOT 0" instead of a "KERNEL"
243 option means invoking this particular label will cause a local
244 disk boot instead of booting a kernel.
246 The argument 0 means perform a normal boot. The argument 4
247 will perform a local boot with the Universal Network Driver
248 Interface (UNDI) driver still resident in memory. Finally,
249 the argument 5 will perform a local boot with the entire PXE
250 stack, including the UNDI driver, still resident in memory.
251 All other values are undefined. If you don't know what the
252 UNDI or PXE stacks are, don't worry -- you don't want them,
255 On ISOLINUX, the "type" specifies the local drive number to
256 boot from; 0x00 is the primary floppy drive and 0x80 is the
257 primary hard drive. The special value -1 causes ISOLINUX to
258 report failure to the BIOS, which, on recent BIOSes, should
259 mean that the next boot device in the boot sequence should be
263 Starting with version 3.71, an initrd can be specified in a
264 separate statement (INITRD) instead of as part of the APPEND
265 statement; this functionally appends "initrd=initrd_file" to
266 the kernel command line.
268 It supports multiple filenames separated by commas.
269 This is mostly useful for initramfs, which can be composed of
270 multiple separate cpio or cpio.gz archives.
271 Note: all files except the last one are zero-padded to a
272 4K page boundary. This should not affect initramfs.
275 If flag_val is 0, do not load a kernel image unless it has been
276 explicitly named in a LABEL statement. The default is 1.
278 ALLOWOPTIONS flag_val
279 If flag_val is 0, the user is not allowed to specify any
280 arguments on the kernel command line. The only options
281 recognized are those specified in an APPEND statement. The
285 Indicates how long to wait at the boot: prompt until booting
286 automatically, in units of 1/10 s. The timeout is cancelled as
287 soon as the user types anything on the keyboard, the assumption
288 being that the user will complete the command line already
289 begun. A timeout of zero will disable the timeout completely,
290 this is also the default.
293 Indicates how long to wait until booting automatically, in
294 units of 1/10 s. This timeout is *not* cancelled by user
295 input, and can thus be used to deal with serial port glitches
296 or "the user walked away" type situations. A timeout of zero
297 will disable the timeout completely, this is also the default.
299 Both TIMEOUT and TOTALTIMEOUT can be used together, for
302 # Wait 5 seconds unless the user types something, but
303 # always boot after 15 minutes.
307 ONTIMEOUT kernel options...
308 Sets the command line invoked on a timeout. Normally this is
309 the same thing as invoked by "DEFAULT". If this is specified,
310 then "DEFAULT" is used only if the user presses <Enter> to
313 ONERROR kernel options...
314 If a kernel image is not found (either due to it not existing,
315 or because IMPLICIT is set), run the specified command. The
316 faulty command line is appended to the specified options, so
317 if the ONERROR directive reads as:
321 ... and the command line as entered by the user is:
325 ... Syslinux will execute the following as if entered by the
328 xyzzy plugh foo bar baz
330 SERIAL port [[baudrate] flowcontrol]
331 Enables a serial port to act as the console. "port" is a
332 number (0 = /dev/ttyS0 = COM1, etc.) or an I/O port address
333 (e.g. 0x3F8); if "baudrate" is omitted, the baud rate defaults
334 to 9600 bps. The serial parameters are hardcoded to be 8
335 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit.
337 "flowcontrol" is a combination of the following bits:
340 0x008 - Enable interrupts
341 0x010 - Wait for CTS assertion
342 0x020 - Wait for DSR assertion
343 0x040 - Wait for RI assertion
344 0x080 - Wait for DCD assertion
345 0x100 - Ignore input unless CTS asserted
346 0x200 - Ignore input unless DSR asserted
347 0x400 - Ignore input unless RI asserted
348 0x800 - Ignore input unless DCD asserted
350 All other bits are reserved.
354 0 - No flow control (default)
355 0x303 - Null modem cable detect
356 0x013 - RTS/CTS flow control
357 0x813 - RTS/CTS flow control, modem input
358 0x023 - DTR/DSR flow control
359 0x083 - DTR/DCD flow control
361 For the SERIAL directive to be guaranteed to work properly, it
362 should be the first directive in the configuration file.
364 NOTE: "port" values from 0 to 3 means the first four serial
365 ports detected by the BIOS. They may or may not correspond to
366 the legacy port values 0x3F8, 0x2F8, 0x3E8, 0x2E8.
368 Enabling interrupts (setting the 0x008 bit) may give better
369 responsiveness without setting the NOHALT option, but could
370 potentially cause problems with buggy BIOSes.
373 If flag_val is 1, don't halt the processor while idle.
374 Halting the processor while idle significantly reduces the
375 power consumption, but can cause poor responsiveness to the
376 serial console, especially when using scripts to drive the
377 serial console, as opposed to human interaction.
380 If flag_val is 0, disable output to the normal video console.
381 If flag_val is 1, enable output to the video console (this is
384 Some BIOSes try to forward this to the serial console and
385 sometimes make a total mess thereof, so this option lets you
386 disable the video console on these systems.
389 Load a font in .psf format before displaying any output
390 (except the copyright line, which is output as ldlinux.sys
391 itself is loaded.) Syslinux only loads the font onto the
392 video card; if the .psf file contains a Unicode table it is
393 ignored. This only works on EGA and VGA cards; hopefully it
394 should do nothing on others.
397 Install a simple keyboard map. The keyboard remapper used is
398 *very* simplistic (it simply remaps the keycodes received from
399 the BIOS, which means that only the key combinations relevant
400 in the default layout -- usually U.S. English -- can be
401 mapped) but should at least help people with AZERTY keyboard
402 layout and the locations of = and , (two special characters
403 used heavily on the Linux kernel command line.)
405 The included program keytab-lilo.pl from the LILO distribution
406 can be used to create such keymaps. The file keytab-lilo.txt
407 contains the documentation for this program.
410 Displays the indicated file on the screen at boot time (before
411 the boot: prompt, if displayed). Please see the section below
414 NOTE: If the file is missing, this option is simply ignored.
417 Prints the message on the screen.
420 If flag_val is 0, display the boot: prompt only if the Shift or Alt
421 key is pressed, or Caps Lock or Scroll lock is set (this is the
422 default). If flag_val is 1, always display the boot: prompt.
425 If flag_val is set to 1, ignore the Shift/Alt/Caps Lock/Scroll
426 Lock escapes. Use this (together with PROMPT 0) to force the
427 default boot alternative.
430 If flag_val is set to 1, the Tab key does not display labels
440 Displays the indicated file on the screen when a function key is
441 pressed at the boot: prompt. This can be used to implement
442 pre-boot online help (presumably for the kernel command line
443 options.) Please see the section below on DISPLAY files.
445 When using the serial console, press <Ctrl-F><digit> to get to
446 the help screens, e.g. <Ctrl-F><2> to get to the F2 screen.
447 For F10-F12, hit <Ctrl-F><A>, <Ctrl-F>B, <Ctrl-F>C. For
448 compatibility with earlier versions, F10 can also be entered as
451 Blank lines are ignored.
453 Note that the configuration file is not completely decoded. Syntax
454 different from the one described above may still work correctly in this
455 version of Syslinux, but may break in a future one.
458 ++++ DISPLAY FILE FORMAT ++++
460 DISPLAY and function-key help files are text files in either DOS or UNIX
461 format (with or without <CR>). In addition, the following special codes
464 <FF> <FF> = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12
465 Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the screen is
466 filled with the current display color.
468 <SI><bg><fg> <SI> = <Ctrl-O> = ASCII 15
469 Set the display colors to the specified background and
470 foreground colors, where <bg> and <fg> are hex digits,
471 corresponding to the standard PC display attributes:
473 0 = black 8 = dark grey
474 1 = dark blue 9 = bright blue
475 2 = dark green a = bright green
476 3 = dark cyan b = bright cyan
477 4 = dark red c = bright red
478 5 = dark purple d = bright purple
480 7 = light grey f = white
482 Picking a bright color (8-f) for the background results in the
483 corresponding dark color (0-7), with the foreground flashing.
485 Colors are not visible over the serial console.
487 <CAN>filename<newline> <CAN> = <Ctrl-X> = ASCII 24
488 If a VGA display is present, enter graphics mode and display
489 the graphic included in the specified file. The file format
490 is an ad hoc format called LSS16; the included Perl program
491 "ppmtolss16" can be used to produce these images. This Perl
492 program also includes the file format specification.
494 The image is displayed in 640x480 16-color mode. Once in
495 graphics mode, the display attributes (set by <SI> code
496 sequences) work slightly differently: the background color is
497 ignored, and the foreground colors are the 16 colors specified
498 in the image file. For that reason, ppmtolss16 allows you to
499 specify that certain colors should be assigned to specific
502 Color indicies 0 and 7, in particular, should be chosen with
503 care: 0 is the background color, and 7 is the color used for
504 the text printed by Syslinux itself.
506 <EM> <EM> = <Ctrl-Y> = ASCII 25
507 If we are currently in graphics mode, return to text mode.
509 <DLE>..<ETB> <Ctrl-P>..<Ctrl-W> = ASCII 16-23
510 These codes can be used to select which modes to print a
511 certain part of the message file in. Each of these control
512 characters select a specific set of modes (text screen,
513 graphics screen, serial port) for which the output is actually
516 Character Text Graph Serial
517 ------------------------------------------------------
518 <DLE> = <Ctrl-P> = ASCII 16 No No No
519 <DC1> = <Ctrl-Q> = ASCII 17 Yes No No
520 <DC2> = <Ctrl-R> = ASCII 18 No Yes No
521 <DC3> = <Ctrl-S> = ASCII 19 Yes Yes No
522 <DC4> = <Ctrl-T> = ASCII 20 No No Yes
523 <NAK> = <Ctrl-U> = ASCII 21 Yes No Yes
524 <SYN> = <Ctrl-V> = ASCII 22 No Yes Yes
525 <ETB> = <Ctrl-W> = ASCII 23 Yes Yes Yes
529 <DC1>Text mode<DC2>Graphics mode<DC4>Serial port<ETB>
531 ... will actually print out which mode the console is in!
533 <SUB> <SUB> = <Ctrl-Z> = ASCII 26
534 End of file (DOS convention).
536 <BEL> <BEL> = <Ctrl-G> = ASCII 7
540 ++++ COMMAND LINE KEYSTROKES ++++
542 The command line prompt supports the following keystrokes:
544 <Enter> boot specified command line
545 <BackSpace> erase one character
546 <Ctrl-U> erase the whole line
547 <Ctrl-V> display the current Syslinux version
548 <Ctrl-W> erase one word
549 <Ctrl-X> force text mode
550 <Tab> list matching labels
551 <F1>..<F12> help screens (if configured)
552 <Ctrl-F><digit> equivalent to F1..F10
553 <Ctrl-C> interrupt boot in progress
554 <Esc> interrupt boot in progress
555 <Ctrl-N> display network information (PXELINUX only)
558 ++++ COMBOOT IMAGES AND OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS ++++
560 This version of Syslinux supports chain loading of other operating
561 systems (such as MS-DOS and its derivatives, including Windows 95/98),
562 as well as COMBOOT-style standalone executables (a subset of DOS .COM
563 files; see separate section below.)
565 Chain loading requires the boot sector of the foreign operating system
566 to be stored in a file in the root directory of the filesystem.
567 Because neither Linux kernels, boot sector images, nor COMBOOT files
568 have reliable magic numbers, Syslinux will look at the file extension.
569 The following extensions are recognized (case insensitive):
571 none or other Linux kernel image
572 .0 PXE bootstrap program (NBP) [PXELINUX only]
573 .bin "CD boot sector" [ISOLINUX only]
574 .bs Boot sector [SYSLINUX only]
575 .bss Boot sector, DOS superblock will be patched in [SYSLINUX only]
576 .c32 COM32 image (32-bit COMBOOT)
577 .cbt COMBOOT image (not runnable from DOS)
578 .com COMBOOT image (runnable from DOS)
579 .img Disk image [ISOLINUX only]
581 For filenames given on the command line, Syslinux will search for the
582 file by adding extensions in the order listed above if the plain
583 filename is not found. Filenames in KERNEL statements must be fully
586 If this is specified with one of the keywords LINUX, BOOT, BSS,
587 FDIMAGE, COMBOOT, COM32, or CONFIG instead of KERNEL, the filetype is
588 considered to be the one specified regardless of the filename.
591 ++++ BOOTING DOS (OR OTHER SIMILAR OPERATING SYSTEMS) ++++
593 This section applies to SYSLINUX only, not to PXELINUX or ISOLINUX.
594 See isolinux.txt for an equivalent procedure for ISOLINUX.
596 This is the recommended procedure for creating a SYSLINUX disk that
597 can boot either DOS or Linux. This example assumes the drive is A: in
598 DOS and /dev/fd0 in Linux; for other drives, substitute the
599 appropriate drive designator.
601 ---- Linux procedure ----
603 1. Make a DOS bootable disk. This can be done either by specifying
604 the /s option when formatting the disk in DOS, or by running the
605 DOS command SYS (this can be done under DOSEMU if DOSEMU has
606 direct device access to the relevant drive):
612 2. Boot Linux. Copy the DOS boot sector from the disk into a file:
614 dd if=/dev/fd0 of=dos.bss bs=512 count=1
616 3. Run SYSLINUX on the disk:
620 4. Mount the disk and copy the DOS boot sector file to it. The file
621 *must* have extension .bss:
623 mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /mnt
626 5. Copy the Linux kernel image(s), initrd(s), etc to the disk, and
627 create/edit syslinux.cfg and help files if desired:
632 6. Unmount the disk (if applicable.)
636 ---- DOS/Windows procedure ----
638 To make this installation in DOS only, you need the utility copybs.com
639 (included with Syslinux) as well as the syslinux.com installer. If
640 you are on an WinNT-based system (WinNT, Win2k, WinXP or later), use
641 syslinux.exe instead.
643 1. Make a DOS bootable disk. This can be done either by specifying
644 the /s option when formatting the disk in DOS, or by running the
651 2. Copy the DOS boot sector from the disk into a file. The file
652 *must* have extension .bss:
656 3. Run SYSLINUX on the disk:
660 4. Copy the Linux kernel image(s), initrd(s), etc to the disk, and
661 create/edit syslinux.cfg and help files if desired:
667 ++++ COMBOOT EXECUTABLES ++++
669 Syslinux supports simple standalone programs, using a file format
670 similar to DOS ".com" files. A 32-bit version, called COM32, is also
671 provided. A simple API provides access to a limited set of filesystem
672 and console functions.
674 See the file comboot.txt for more information on COMBOOT and COM32
678 ++++ NOVICE PROTECTION ++++
680 Syslinux will attempt to detect booting on a machine with too little
681 memory, which means the Linux boot sequence cannot complete. If so, a
682 message is displayed and the boot sequence aborted. Holding down the
683 Ctrl key while booting disables this feature.
685 Any file that SYSLINUX uses can be marked hidden, system or readonly
686 if so is convenient; SYSLINUX ignores all file attributes. The
687 SYSLINUX installed automatically sets the readonly/hidden/system
688 attributes on LDLINUX.SYS.
691 ++++ NOTES ON BOOTABLE CD-ROMS ++++
693 SYSLINUX can be used to create bootdisk images for El
694 Torito-compatible bootable CD-ROMs. However, it appears that many
695 BIOSes are very buggy when it comes to booting CD-ROMs. Some users
696 have reported that the following steps are helpful in making a CD-ROM
697 that is bootable on the largest possible number of machines:
699 a) Use the -s (safe, slow and stupid) option to SYSLINUX;
700 b) Put the boot image as close to the beginning of the
701 ISO 9660 filesystem as possible.
703 A CD-ROM is so much faster than a floppy that the -s option shouldn't
704 matter from a speed perspective.
706 Of course, you probably want to use ISOLINUX instead. See isolinux.txt.
709 ++++ BOOTING FROM A FAT FILESYSTEM PARTITION ON A HARD DISK ++++
711 SYSLINUX can boot from a FAT filesystem partition on a hard disk
712 (including FAT32). The installation procedure is identical to the
713 procedure for installing it on a floppy, and should work under either
714 DOS or Linux. To boot from a partition, SYSLINUX needs to be launched
715 from a Master Boot Record or another boot loader, just like DOS itself
718 Under DOS, you can install a standard simple MBR on the primary hard
719 disk by running the command:
723 Then use the FDISK command to mark the appropriate partition active.
725 A simple MBR, roughly on par with the one installed by DOS (but
726 unencumbered), is included in the SYSLINUX distribution. To install
727 it under Linux, simply type:
729 cat mbr.bin > /dev/XXX
731 ... where /dev/XXX is the device you wish to install it on.
733 Under DOS or Win32, you can install the SYSLINUX MBR with the -m
734 option to the SYSLINUX installer, and use the -a option to mark the
735 current partition active:
739 Note that this will also install SYSLINUX on the specified partition.
742 ++++ HARDWARE INFORMATION +++
744 I have started to maintain a web page of hardware with known
745 problems. There are, unfortunately, lots of broken hardware out
746 there; especially early PXE stacks (for PXELINUX) have lots of
749 A list of problems, and workarounds (if known), is maintained at:
751 http://syslinux.zytor.com/hardware.php
754 ++++ BOOT LOADER IDS USED ++++
756 The Linux boot protocol supports a "boot loader ID", a single byte
757 where the upper nybble specifies a boot loader family (3 = Syslinux)
758 and the lower nybble is version or, in the case of Syslinux, media:
765 In recent versions of Linux, this ID is available as
766 /proc/sys/kernel/bootloader_type.
769 ++++ BUG REPORTS ++++
771 I would appreciate hearing of any problems you have with Syslinux. I
772 would also like to hear from you if you have successfully used Syslinux,
773 *especially* if you are using it for a distribution.
775 If you are reporting problems, please include all possible information
776 about your system and your BIOS; the vast majority of all problems
777 reported turn out to be BIOS or hardware bugs, and I need as much
778 information as possible in order to diagnose the problems.
780 There is a mailing list for discussion among Syslinux users and for
781 announcements of new and test versions. To join, or to browse the
784 http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux
786 Please DO NOT send HTML messages or attachments to the mailing list
787 (including multipart/alternative or similar.) All such messages will