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Title: SuSE Linux 6.3 Boot concept

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SuSE Linux 6.3 Boot concept
Applies to
SuSE Linux: Versions since 6.3
Description:
Since SuSE Linux 6.3 the boot concept has changed which has, among other implications,
the consequence that you no longer need to choose a special SCSI kernel. What follows is a step by step look at the normal bootiong sequence of SuSE Linux. For a normal IDE system the changes are minor.
Boot sequence up to, and including, SuSE Linux 6.2:
- LILO is started by the BIOS (this process is much the same as booting with Loadlin).
- LILO, with the help of the BIOS, loads the kernel.
- The kernel installs all drivers included in it.
- The kernel mounts the Root-filesystem and starts the init process.
With this boot sequence the driver necessary to mount the Root-filesystem must be compiled in the kernel.
New Boot sequence (since SuSE Linux 6.3):
Because the new boot concept offers, in addittion to the standard kernel, special kernels (e.g. SMP or Pentium-optimized, etc.) there would be an extremely long list (over 200) of possible kernels using the old boot concept.
Therefore the boot concept is as follows:
- LILO is started by the BIOS (this process is much the same as booting with Loadlin).
- LILO, with the help of the BIOS, loads initrd (the Ramdisk) into memory.
- LILO, with the help of the BIOS, loads the kernel into memory, passes a few necessary parameters and starts the kernel.
- The kernel initializes and mounts the Ramdisk as Root-filesystem.
- The necessary kernel modules are loaded from the Ramdisk (mostly SCSI modules). The IDE driver is still included in the kernel.
- The Root-filesystem is remounted to the actual hard drive location and the init process starts.
What changes for the User:
The main difference for the user is the selection of kernels in YaST. There is no longer a list of kernels for every SCSI driver rather only Basic kernels for your platform (i386, Pentium, SMP, APM, etc.). The necessary SCSI driver is, in most cases, automatically detected during installation.
For Experts
Experts that wish to change system-basics should be aware of the following:
For LOADLIN Users:
If you boot using LOADLIN you'll need to copy, in addition to the kernel-image, the file /boot/initrd
(also made using mk_initrd
) in a DOS directory (for example c:\loadlin\initdisk
) as well adding the following line to the file linux.par
:
initrd=c:\loadlin\initdisk
or you can enter it at the LOADLIN command-line as in:
loadlin ... initrd=c:\loadlin\initdisk
Attention!
If you've compiled your own kernel which includes all the necessary drivers to mount the Root-filesystem you don't need a Ramdisk and you should leave out the initrd
line in /etc/lilo.conf
and/or the loadlin
parameter file. Don't forget to re-intialize LILO with the command lilo
at the command-prompt.

Keywords: BOOT, INITRD, RAMDISK, VFS, SCSI, LILO, LOADLIN

Categories:
Installation
, LILO
, Loadlin

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SDB-adrian_6.3_boot, Copyright SuSE GmbH, Nuremberg, Germany
- Version: 30. Nov 1999
SuSE GmbH - Last generated: 30. Nov 1999 23:16:34
by wimer
with sdb_gen 1.00.0