Boot Options
Unlike the graphical interface, the dierent boot options cannot be selected using
the cursor keys of your keyboard. The boot menu of the text mode boot screen
oers some keywords to enter at the boot prompt. These keywords map to the
options oered in the graphical version. Enter your choice and hit [Enter] to launch
the boot process.
Custom Boot Options
After selecting a boot option, enter the appropriate keyword at the boot prompt
or enter some custom boot options as described in Section A.2.2.5, “Fails to Boot”
(page 244). To launch the installation process, press [Enter].
Screen Resolutions
Use the F keys to determine the screen resolution for installation. If you need to
boot in text mode, choose [F3].
A.2.3 Boot Problems
Boot problems are situations when your system does not boot properly (does not
boot to the expected runlevel and login screen).
A.2.3.1 Fails to Load the GRUB Boot Loader
If the hardware is functioning properly, it is possible that the boot loader is corrupted
and Linux cannot start on the machine. In this case, it is necessary to repair the boot
loader. To do so, you need start the Rescue System as described in Section A.2.7,
“Recovering a Corrupted System” (page 261) and follow the instructions at Section
“Modifying and Reinstalling the Boot Loader” (page 264).
Other reasons for the machine not booting may be BIOS-related:
BIOS Settings
Check your BIOS for references to your hard drive. GRUB may simply not be
started if the hard drive itself cannot be found with the current BIOS settings.
BIOS Boot Order
Check whether your system's boot order includes the hard disk. If the hard disk
option was not enabled, your system may install properly, but fails to boot when
access to the hard disk is required.
A.2.3.2 No Graphical Login
If the machine comes up, but does not boot into the graphical login manager, antic-
ipate problems either with the choice of the default runlevel or the conguration of
the X Window System. To check the runlevel conguration, log in as the root user
and check whether the machine is congured to boot into runlevel 5 (graphical
desktop). A quick way to check this is to examine the contents of /etc/inittab, as
follows:
tux@mercury:~> grep "id:" /etc/inittab
id:5:initdefault:
248 Start-Up
