The boot loader online help is context sensitive. It gives information
about the selected menu item or, if you are editing boot options,
it tries to look up information about the option in which the cursor is
positioned.
Navigation Keys
Up Arrow: highlight previous link
Down Arrow: highlight next link
Left Arrow, Backspace: return to previous topic
Right Arrow, Enter, Space: follow link
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Esc: leave help
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Press F2 to change language and keyboard layout the boot loader uses.
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Press F3 to select a profile. Your system will be started using the
configuration saved in this profile.
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splash -- influence the behavior of the splash screen
apm -- toggle power management
acpi -- advanced configuration and power interface
ide -- control the IDE subsystem
The splash screen is the picture shown during system start-up.
splash=0
The splash screen is switched off. This may be useful
with very old monitors or if some error occurs.
splash=verbose
Activates splash, kernel and boot messages are
still shown.
splash=silent
Activates splash, but no messages. Instead a progress bar is drawn.
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APM is one of the two power management strategies used on current
computers. It is mainly used with laptops for functions like suspend
to disk, but it may also be responsible for switching off the
computer after power down. APM relies on a correct working BIOS. If
the BIOS is broken, APM may have only limited use or even prevent the
computer from working. Therefore, it may be switched off with the
parameter
apm=off -- switch off APM completely
Some very new computers may benefit more from the newer
ACPI.
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ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) is a
standard that defines power and configuration management interfaces
between an operating system and the BIOS. By default, acpi is
switched on when a BIOS is detected that is newer than from year
2000. There are several commonly
used parameters to control the behavior of ACPI:
pci=noacpi -- do not use ACPI to route PCI interrupts
acpi=oldboot -- only the parts of ACPI that are relevant
for booting remain activated
acpi=off -- switch off ACPI completely
acpi=force -- switch on ACPI even if your BIOS is dated
before 2000
Especially on new computers, it replaces the old
apm system.
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IDE is, unlike SCSI, commonly used in most desktop workstations.
To circumvent some hardware problems that occur with IDE systems, use the
kernel parameter:
ide=nodma -- switch off dma for IDE drives
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