[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00 [VGA mode]" /basevideo /sos
IF WINDOZE NT IS INSTALLED FIRST...
This applies to Other Operating Systems as well, not just to Windoze NT. This is just the example OS because it is the most troublesome. DOS, OS/2, Win 9x, and Win2K should all work the same way.
other = /dev/hdax
lilo.conf boot options (taken from lilo.conf's man pages):
GLOBAL OPTIONS
backup=backup-file
Copy the original boot sector to backup-file (which
may also be a device, e.g. /dev/null) instead of
/boot/boot.NNNN.
boot=boot-device
Sets the name of the device (e.g. a hard disk par
tition) that contains the boot sector. If this key
word is omitted, the boot sector is read from (and
possibly written to) the device that is currently
mounted as root.
change-rules
Defines boot-time changes to partition type numbers
(`hiding'). See section "Partition type change
rules" of user.tex for details.
compact
Tries to merge read requests for adjacent sectors
into a single read request. This drastically
reduces load time and keeps the map smaller. Using
`compact' is especially recommended when booting
from a floppy disk.
default=name
Uses the specified image as the default boot image.
If `default' is omitted, the image appearing first
in the configuration file is used.
delay=tsecs
Specifies the number of tenths of a second the boot
loader should wait before booting the first image.
This is useful on systems that immediately boot
from the hard disk after enabling the keyboard.
The boot loader doesn't wait if `delay' is omitted
or is set to zero.
disk=device-name
Defines non-standard parameters for the specified
disk. See section "Disk geometry" of user.tex for
details. Especially useful is the `bios=' parame
ter. The BIOS numbers your disks 0x80, 0x81, etc.
and it is impossible to decide which Linux disk
corresponds to which BIOS disk (since this depends
on the BIOS setup, and on the type of BIOS), so if
you have an unusual setup you need to state the
correspondence between Linux disks and BIOS disks.
For example,
disk=/dev/sda
bios=0x80
disk=/dev/hda
bios=0x81
would say that your SCSI disk is the first BIOS
disk, and your (primary master) IDE disk is the
second BIOS disk.
disktab=disktab-file
Specifies the name of the disk parameter table.
The map installer looks for /etc/disktab if `disk
tab' is omitted. The use of disktabs is discour
aged.
fix-table
This allows lilo to adjust 3D addresses in parti
tion tables. Each partition entry contains a 3D
(sector/head/cylinder) and a linear address of the
first and the last sector of the partition. If a
partition is not track-aligned and if certain other
operating systems (e.g. PC/MS-DOS or OS/2) are
using the same disk, they may change the 3D
address. lilo can store its boot sector only on
partitions where both address types correspond.
lilo re-adjusts incorrect 3D start addresses if
`fix-table' is set.
WARNING: This does not guarantee that other operat
ing systems may not attempt to reset the address
later. It is also possible that this change has
other, unexpected side-effects. The correct fix is
to re-partition the drive with a program that does
align partitions to tracks. Also, with some disks
(e.g. some large EIDE disks with address transla
tion enabled), under some circumstances, it may
even be unavoidable to have conflicting partition
table entries.
force-backup=backup-file
Like `backup', but overwrite an old backup copy if
it exists.
ignore-table
tells lilo to ignore corrupt partition tables.
install=boot-sector
Install the specified file as the new boot sector.
If `install' is omitted, /boot/boot.b is used as
the default.
linear Generate linear sector addresses instead of sec
tor/head/cylinder addresses. Linear addresses are
translated at run time and do not depend on disk
geometry. Note that boot disks may not be portable
if `linear' is used, because the BIOS service to
determine the disk geometry does not work reliably
for floppy disks. When using `linear' with large
disks, /sbin/lilo may generate references to inac
cessible disk areas, because 3D sector addresses
are not known before boot time.
lock Enables automatic recording of boot command lines
as the defaults for the following boots. This way,
lilo "locks" on a choice until it is manually over
ridden.
map=map-file
Specifies the location of the map file. If `map' is
omitted, the file /boot/map is used.
message=message-file
specifies a file containing a message that is dis
played before the boot prompt. No message is dis
played while waiting for a shifting key after
printing "LILO ". In the message, the FF character
([Ctrl L]) clears the local screen. The size of the
message file is limited to 65535 bytes. The map
file has to be rebuilt if the message file is
changed or moved.
nowarn Disables warnings about possible future dangers.
optional
The per-image option `optional' (see below) applies
to all images.
password=password
The per-image option `password=...' (see below)
applies to all images.
prompt forces entering the boot prompt without expecting
any prior key-presses. Unattended reboots are
impossible if `prompt' is set and `timeout' isn't.
restricted
The per-image option `restricted' (see below)
applies to all images.
serial=parameters
enables control from a serial line. The specified
serial port is initialized and the boot loader is
accepting input from it and from the PC's keyboard.
Sending a break on the serial line corresponds to
pressing a shift key on the console in order to get
the boot loader's attention. All boot images
should be password-protected if the serial access
is less secure than access to the console, e.g. if
the line is connected to a modem. The parameter
string has the following syntax:
<port>[,<bps>[<parity>[<bits>]]]
<port>: the number of the serial port, zero-based.
0 corresponds to COM1 alias /dev/ttyS0, etc. All
four ports can be used (if present).
<bps>: the baud rate of the serial port. The fol
lowing baud rates are supported: 110, 150, 300,
600, 1200, 2400, 4800 and 9600 bps. Default is
2400 bps.
<parity>: the parity used on the serial line. The
boot loader ignores input parity and strips the 8th
bit. The following (upper or lower case) characters
are used to describe the parity: n for no parity,
e for even parity and o for odd parity.
<bits>: the number of bits in a character. Only 7
and 8 bits are supported. Default is 8 if parity is
"none", 7 if parity is "even" or "odd".
If `serial' is set, the value of `delay' is auto
matically raised to 20.
Example: serial=0,2400n8 initializes COM1 with the
default parameters.
timeout=tsecs
sets a timeout (in tenths of a second) for keyboard
input. If no key is pressed for the specified time,
the first image is automatically booted. Similarly,
password input is aborted if the user is idle for
too long. The default timeout is infinite.
verbose=level
Turns on lots of progress reporting. Higher numbers
give more verbose output. If -v is additionally
specified on the lilo command line, the level is
increased accordingly. The maximum verbosity level
is 5.
Additionally, the kernel configuration parameters append,
ramdisk, read-only, read-write, root and vga can be set in
the global options section. They are used as defaults if
they aren't specified in the configuration sections of the
respective kernel images.
PER-IMAGE OPTIONS
A per-image section starts with either a line
image=pathname
(to indicate a file or device containing the boot image of
a Linux kernel), or a line
other=pathname
to indicate an arbitrary system to boot.
In the former case, if an image line specifies booting
from a device, then one has to indicate the range of sec
tors to be mapped using
range=start-end
In the latter case (booting another system) there are the
three options
loader=chain-loader
This specifies the chain loader that should be
used. By default /boot/chain.b is used. The chain
loader must be specified if booting from a device
other than the first hard or floppy disk.
table=device
This specifies the device that contains the parti
tion table. The boot loader will not pass parti
tion information to the booted operating system if
this variable is omitted. (Some operating systems
have other means to determine from which partition
they have been booted. E.g., MS-DOS usually stores
the geometry of the boot disk or partition in its
boot sector.) Note that /sbin/lilo must be re-run
if a partition table mapped referenced with `table'
is modified.
unsafe Do not access the boot sector at map creation time.
This disables some sanity checks, including a par
tition table check. If the boot sector is on a
fixed-format floppy disk device, using UNSAFE
avoids the need to put a readable disk into the
drive when running the map installer. `unsafe' and
`table' are mutually incompatible.
In both cases the following options apply.
label=name
The boot loader uses the main file name (without
its path) of each image specification to identify
that image. A different name can be used by set
ting the variable `label'.
alias=name
A second name for the same entry can be used by
specifying an alias.
lock (See above.)
optional
Omit the image if it is not available at map cre
ation time. This is useful to specify test kernels
that are not always present.
password=password
Protect the image by a password.
restricted
A password is only required to boot the image if
parameters are specified on the command line (e.g.
single).
KERNEL OPTIONS
If the booted image is a Linux kernel, then one may pass
command line parameters to this kernel.
append=string
Appends the options specified to the parameter line
passed to the kernel. This is typically used to
specify parameters of hardware that can't be
entirely auto-detected or for which probing may be
dangerous. Example:
append = "hd=64,32,202"
literal=string
Like `append', but removes all other options (e.g.
setting of the root device). Because vital options
can be removed unintentionally with `literal', this
option cannot be set in the global options section.
ramdisk=size
This specifies the size of the optional RAM disk. A
value of zero indicates that no RAM disk should be
created. If this variable is omitted, the RAM disk
size configured into the boot image is used.
read-only
This specifies that the root file system should be
mounted read-only. Typically, the system startup
procedure re-mounts the root file system read-write
later (e.g. after fsck'ing it).
read-write
This specifies that the root file system should be
mounted read-write.
root=root-device
This specifies the device that should be mounted as
root. If the special name current is used, the
root device is set to the device on which the root
file system is currently mounted. If the root has
been changed with -r , the respective device is
used. If the variable `root' is omitted, the root
device setting contained in the kernel image is
used. (And that is set at compile time using the
ROOT_DEV variable in the kernel Makefile, and can
later be changed with the rdev(8) program.)
vga=mode
This specifies the VGA text mode that should be
selected when booting. The following values are
recognized (case is ignored):
normal: select normal 80x25 text mode.
extended (or ext): select 80x50 text mode.
ask: stop and ask for user input (at boot time).
<number>: use the corresponding text mode. A list
of available modes can be obtained by booting with
vga=ask and pressing [Enter].
If this variable is omitted, the VGA mode setting
contained in the kernel image is used. (And that is
set at compile time using the SVGA_MODE variable in
the kernel Makefile, and can later be changed with
the rdev(8) program.)
Back to Lilo.conf Back to Linux First Back to NT First
boot.ini switches:
/3GB New to Service Pack 3. This causes the split between
user and system portions of the Windows NT map to become 3GB for user
applications, 1GB for System.
To take advantage of this the system must be part of the NT Enterprise
suite and the application must be flagged as a 3GB aware application.
/BASEVIDEO The computer starts up using the standard VGA video driver. Use this if you have installed a graphics driver that is not working.
/BAUDRATE Specifies the baud rate to be used for debugging. If you do not set the baud rate, the default baud rate is 9600 if a modem is attached, and 19200 for a null-modem cable.
/BOOTLOG Makes WIN 2000 write a log of the boot to the file %SystemRoot%\NTBTLOG.TXT
WINDOWS 2000 ONLY
/BURNMEMORY= Makes NT forget about the given amount of memory in MB. If /burnmemory=64 was given then 64MB of memory would be unavailable
/CRASHDEBUG The debugger is loaded when you start Windows NT, but remains inactive unless a Kernel error occurs. This mode is useful if you are experiencing random, unpredictable Kernel errors.
/DEBUG The debugger is loaded when you start Windows NT, and can be activated at any time by a host debugger connected to the computer. This is the mode to use when you are debugging problems that are regularly reproducible.
/DEBUGPORT=comx Specifies the com port to use for debugging, where x is the communications port that you want to use.
/FASTDETECT Specifying
FASTDETECT causes NTDETECT to skip parallel and serial device
enumeration for a boot into Win2K, whereas ommitting the switch has
NTDETECT perform enumeration for a boot into NT 4.0. Win2K setup
automatically recognizes dual-boot configurations and sets this switch
for BOOT.INI lines that specify a Win2K boot.
WINDOWS 2000 ONLY
/HAL=
/INTAFFINITY Sets the multiprocessor HAL (HALMPS.DLL) to set
interrupt affinities such that only the highest numbered processor in
an SMP will receive interrupts. Without the switch the HAL defaults to
its normal behavior of letting all processors receive interrupts.
WINDOWS 2000 ONLY
/KERNEL=
/MAXMEM:n Specifies the maximum amount of RAM that Windows NT can
use. This switch is useful if you suspect a memory chip is bad.
/NODEBUG No debugging information is being used.
/NOGUIBOOT When this
option is specified the VGA video driver responsible for presenting
bit mapped graphics during Win2K's boot process is not initialized.
The driver is used to display boot progress information, as well as to
print the Blue Screen crash screen, so disabling it will disable
Win2K's ability to do those things as well.
WINDOWS 2000 ONLY
/NOSERIALMICE=[COMx | COM,x,y,z...] Disables serial mouse detection of the specified COM port(s). Use this switch if you have a component other than a mouse attached to a serial port during the startup sequence. If you use /NOSERIALMICE without specifying a COM port, serial mouse detection is disabled on all COM ports.
/NUMPROC=n Only enables the first n processors on a multiple processor system
/ONECPU Only use the first CPU in a multiple processor system
/PCILOCK Stops Windows NT from dynamically assigning IO/IRQ resources to PCI devices and leaves the devices configured by the BIOS.
/SAFEBOOT This is an automatic switch which NTLDR should complete for you when you use the F8 menu to perform a safe boot. Following the colon in the option you must specify one of three additional switches: MINIMAL, NETWORK, or DSREPAIR. The MINIMAL and NETWORK flags correspond to safe boot with no network and safe boot with network support. The safe boot is a boot where Windows 2000 only loads drivers and services that are specified by name or group in the Minimal or Network Registry keys under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot. The DSREPAIR (Directory Services Repair) switch causes NT to boot into a mode where it restores the Active Directory from a backup medium you present.
An additional option that you can
append is "(ALTERNATESHELL)." This tells NT to use the
program specified by HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\SafeBoot\AlternateShell
as the graphical shell, rather than to use the default which is
Explorer.
WINDOWS 2000 ONLY
/SOS Displays the driver names while they are being loaded. Use this switch if Windows NT won’t start up and you think a driver is missing. This option is configured by default on the [VGA] option on the boot menu.
/WIN95 This switch is only pertinent on a triple-boot system that has DOS, Win9x and Windows NT installed. Specifying the /WIN95 switch directs NTLDR to boot the Win9x boot sector stored in BOOTSECT.W40. See Microsoft KB Article Q157992 for more information.
/WIN95DOS This switch is only pertinent on a triple-boot system that has DOS, Win9x and Windows NT installed. Specifying the /WIN95DOS switch directs NTLDR to boot the DOS boot sector stored in BOOTSECT.DOS. See Microsoft KB Article Q157992 for more information.
/YEAR= Specifying this value causes NT/Windows 2000 core time function to ignore the year that the computer's real-time clock reports and instead use the one indicated. Thus, the year used in the switch affects every piece of software on the system, including the NT kernel. Example: /YEAR=2005. Note: this option is only available on NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 and Windows 2000.