| = syslinux.cfg(5) = |
| :doctype: manpage |
| :revdate: 2012-10-28 |
| :author: H. Peter Anvin |
| :author-email: [email protected] |
| :editor1: Gene Cumm |
| :editor1-email: [email protected] |
| :editor1-revlast: 2012-10-28 |
| :nbsp8:          |
| :nbsp32: {nbsp8}{nbsp8}{nbsp8}{nbsp8} |
| :data-uri: |
| |
| == NAME == |
| syslinux.cfg - *Syslinux* configuration file |
| |
| |
| == DESCRIPTION == |
| Configuration for the boot behavior and user experience of *Syslinux* |
| boot loaders, the format of display files and the boot prompt behavior. |
| |
| Blank lines are ignored. |
| |
| Note that the configuration file is not completely decoded. Syntax |
| different from the one described above may still work correctly in this |
| version of *Syslinux*, but may break in a future one. |
| |
| |
| == LOCATION/NAME == |
| *SYSLINUX* (before 4.00) used the configuration filename of |
| syslinux.cfg. *EXTLINUX* (merged into *SYSLINUX* as of 4.00) used the |
| filename extlinux.conf. Both default to searching for the config file |
| in the installed directory (containing ldlinux.sys/extlinux.sys). As of |
| 4.00, *SYSLINUX* will search for extlinux.conf then syslinux.cfg in each |
| directory before falling back to the next directory. |
| |
| As of 3.35, *SYSLINUX* also searches /boot/syslinux, /syslinux and /. |
| |
| *ISOLINUX* (before 4.02) used the configuration filename of |
| isolinux.cfg, searching /boot/isolinux (starting 2.00), then /isolinux |
| and /. As of 4.02, *ISOLINUX* will search for isolinux.cfg then |
| syslinux.cfg in /boot/isolinux before searching for the same files in |
| /isolinux, /boot/syslinux, /syslinux, and /. |
| |
| |
| == GLOBAL DIRECTIVES - MAIN == |
| *#* comment:: |
| A line comment. As of version 3.10, the space between the *#* and the |
| comment is no longer required. |
| |
| *MENU* any string:: |
| (3.00+) A directive for the simple menu system, treated as a comment |
| outside the menu. See menu.txt. |
| |
| *INCLUDE* 'filename':: |
| Inserts the contents of another file at this point in the configuration |
| file. Files can currently be nested up to 16 levels deep, but it is not |
| guaranteed that more than 8 levels will be supported in the future. |
| |
| *DEFAULT* 'kernel' 'options...':: |
| Sets the default command line (which often references a LABEL). If |
| *Syslinux* boots automatically, it will act just as if the entries after |
| *DEFAULT* had been typed in at the 'boot:' prompt. Multiple uses will |
| result in an override. |
| + |
| If no configuration file is present, or no *DEFAULT* or *UI* entry is |
| present in the config file, an error message is displayed and the |
| 'boot:' prompt is shown (3.85+). |
| |
| *UI* 'module' 'options...':: |
| Selects a specific user interface 'module' (typically menu.c32 or |
| vesamenu.c32). The command-line interface treats this as a directive |
| that overrides the *DEFAULT* directive to load this module instead at |
| startup, for an empty command line and at timeout and *PROMPT* directive |
| to not prompt (but these directives may have effects on other |
| configuration parsers). Multiple uses will result in an override. |
| |
| *LABEL* 'mylabel':: |
| Begin a new *LABEL* clause. If 'mylabel' is entered as the kernel to |
| boot, *Syslinux* should instead boot "image" (specified by a directive |
| from *KERNEL-LIKE DIRECTIVES*) with any specified *DUAL-PURPOSE |
| DIRECTIVES* being used instead of the global instance. |
| + |
| 'mylabel' must be unique. Currently the first instance is used but may |
| result in an error or undesired behavior. 'mylabel' ends at the first |
| character that is not a non-white-space printable character and should |
| be restricted to non-white-space typeable characters. Prior to version |
| 3.32, this would transformed to a DOS compatible format of 8.3 with a |
| restricted character set. A *LABEL* clause must contain exactly 1 of |
| the *KERNEL-LIKE DIRECTIVES* and may contain 1 each of the *LABEL-ONLY |
| DIRECTIVES* or *DUAL-PURPOSE DIRECTIVES*. |
| + |
| Within a *LABEL*, using multiple *KERNEL-LIKE DIRECTIVES* or reuse of |
| *LABEL-ONLY DIRECTIVES* or *DUAL-PURPOSE DIRECTIVES* will result in an |
| override. Otherwise, multiple instances of the same directive will |
| result in the last being effective. |
| |
| |
| == DUAL-PURPOSE DIRECTIVES == |
| Use of any of the *DUAL-PURPOSE DIRECTIVES* as *GLOBAL DIRECTIVES* is |
| discouraged if there will be any non-Linux images loaded as *ALL* images |
| will get these, including those manually entered at the 'boot:' prompt. |
| |
| *APPEND* 'options...':: |
| Add one or more options to the kernel command line. These are added |
| both for automatic and manual boots. The options are added at the very |
| beginning of the kernel command line, usually permitting explicitly |
| entered kernel options to override them. This is the equivalent of the |
| LILO "append" option. |
| + |
| Use of the parameter 'initrd=' supports multiple filenames separated by |
| commas (ie 'initrd=initrd_file1,initrd_file2') within a single instance. |
| This is mostly useful for initramfs, which can be composed of multiple |
| separate cpio or cpio.gz archives. |
| + |
| Note: all initrd files except the last one are zero-padded to a 4K page |
| boundary. This should not affect initramfs. |
| + |
| Note: Only the last effective 'initrd=' parameter is used for loading |
| initrd files. |
| |
| *APPEND* -:: |
| Append nothing. *APPEND* with a single hyphen as argument in a *LABEL* |
| section can be used to override a global *APPEND*. |
| |
| //[FIXME: Shorten subdefinitions] |
| *SYSAPPEND* 'bitmask':: |
| *IPAPPEND* 'bitmask':: |
| (*SYSAPPEND*: 5.10+; *IPAPPEND*: *PXELINUX* only) |
| The *SYSAPPEND* option was introduced in *Syslinux* 5.10; it is an |
| enhancement of a previous option *IPAPPEND* which was only available on |
| *PXELINUX*. 'bitmask' is interpreted as decimal format unless prefixed |
| with "0x" for hexadecimal or "0" (zero) for octal. The 'bitmask' is an |
| OR (sum) of the following integer options: |
| |
| ifndef::doctype-manpage[[horizontal]] |
| *1*::: An option of the following format should be generated, based on |
| the input from the DHCP/BOOTP or PXE boot server and added to the kernel |
| command line(see note below; empty for non-PXELINUX variants): |
| + |
| ---- |
| ip=<client-ip>:<boot-server-ip>:<gw-ip>:<netmask> |
| ---- |
| + |
| NOTE: The use of option 1 is no substitute for running a DHCP client in |
| the booted system and should instead only be used to seed the client for |
| a request. Without regular renewals, the lease acquired by the PXE BIOS |
| will expire, making the IP address available for reuse by the DHCP |
| server. |
| + |
| *2*::: An option of the following format should be generated, in |
| dash-separated hexadecimal with leading hardware type (same as for the |
| configuration file; see pxelinux.txt.) and added to the kernel command |
| line, allowing an initrd program to determine from which interface the |
| system booted(empty for non-PXELINUX variants): |
| + |
| ---- |
| BOOTIF=<hardware-address-of-boot-interface> |
| ---- |
| + |
| *4*::: An option of the following format should be generated, in lower |
| case hexadecimal in the format normally used for UUIDs (same as for the |
| configuration file; see pxelinux.txt.) and added to the kernel command |
| line: |
| + |
| ---- |
| SYSUUID=<system uuid> |
| ---- |
| + |
| *8*::: (5.10+) indicate the CPU family and certain particularly |
| significant CPU feature bits: |
| + |
| ---- |
| CPU=<family><features> |
| ---- |
| + |
| The <family> is a single digit from 3 (i386) to 6 (i686 or higher.) The |
| following CPU features are currently reported; additional flags may be |
| added in the future: |
| + |
| .... |
| P Physical Address Extension (PAE) |
| V Intel Virtualization Technology (VT/VMX) |
| T Intel Trusted Exection Technology (TXT/SMX) |
| X Execution Disable (XD/NX) |
| L Long Mode (x86-64) |
| S AMD SMX virtualization |
| .... |
| + |
| *DMI*::: (5.10+) The following strings are derived from DMI/SMBIOS |
| information if available: |
| + |
| Bit String Significance |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 0x00010 SYSVENDOR= System vendor name |
| 0x00020 SYSPRODUCT= System product name |
| 0x00040 SYSVERSION= System version |
| 0x00080 SYSSERIAL= System serial number |
| 0x00100 SYSSKU= System SKU |
| 0x00200 SYSFAMILY= System family |
| 0x00400 MBVENDOR= Motherboard vendor name |
| 0x00800 MBVERSION= Motherboard version |
| 0x01000 MBSERIAL= Motherboard serial number |
| 0x02000 MBASSET= Motherboard asset tag |
| 0x04000 BIOSVENDOR= BIOS vendor name |
| 0x08000 BIOSVERSION= BIOS version |
| 0x10000 SYSFF= System form factor |
| + |
| If these strings contain white-space characters, they are replaced with |
| underscores (_). |
| + |
| The system form factor value is a number defined in the SMBIOS |
| specification, available at http://www.dmtf.org/. As of version 2.7.1 |
| of the specification, the following values are defined: |
| + |
| 1 Other |
| 2 Unknown |
| 3 Desktop |
| 4 Low profile desktop |
| 5 Pizza box |
| 6 Mini tower |
| 7 Tower |
| 8 Portble |
| 9 Laptop |
| 10 Notebook |
| 11 Handheld |
| 12 Docking station |
| 13 All-in-one |
| 14 Subnotebook |
| 15 Space-saving |
| 16 Lunch box |
| 17 Main server chassis |
| 18 Expansion chassis |
| 19 Subchassis |
| 20 Bus expansion chassis |
| 21 Peripheral chassis |
| 22 RAID chassis |
| 23 Rack mount chasss |
| 24 Sealed-case PC |
| 25 Multi-system chassis |
| 26 Compact PCI |
| 27 Advanced TCI |
| 28 Blade |
| 29 Blade enclosure |
| |
| |
| |
| == KERNEL-LIKE DIRECTIVES == |
| // Alpha sort after KERNEL and LINUX |
| *KERNEL* 'image':: |
| Load a kernel-like file 'image' with automatic filetype detection based |
| on file extension, listed under the non-auto-detecting directives, |
| defaulting to *LINUX*. |
| |
| //[FIXME: Should "'image' as " be removed entirely or added to all? |
| *LINUX* is used as an example] |
| *LINUX* 'image':: |
| Load 'image' as a Linux-like kernel. MEMDISK is an example of a |
| non-Linux kernel loaded in a Linux-like fashion. |
| |
| *BOOT* 'image':: |
| (*ISOLINUX* only: .bin; *SYSLINUX* only: .bs) Load a boot sector. .bin |
| is a "CD boot sector" and .bs is a regular disk boot sector. |
| |
| *BSS* 'image':: |
| (*SYSLINUX* only: .bss) Load a BSS image, a .bs image with the DOS |
| superblock patched in. |
| |
| *COMBOOT* 'image':: |
| (.com, .cbt; Removed as of 5.00) Load a *Syslinux* COMBOOT image. .com |
| images may also be runnable from DOS while .cbt images are not. See |
| also *comboot.txt* |
| |
| *COM32* 'image':: |
| (.c32) Load a *Syslinux* COM32 (32-bit *COMBOOT*) image. See also |
| *comboot.txt* |
| |
| *CONFIG* 'image':: |
| Load a new configuration file. The configuration file is read, the |
| working directory is changed (if specified via an *APPEND*), then the |
| configuration file is parsed. |
| |
| *FDIMAGE* 'image':: |
| (Removed as of 4.05, added 1.65; *ISOLINUX* only: .img) Load a disk |
| image. |
| |
| *LOCALBOOT* 'type':: |
| (*PXELINUX* 1.53+; *ISOLINUX* ??3.10+; *SYSLINUX* 3.70+)Attempt a |
| different local boot method. The special value -1 causes the boot |
| loader to report failure to the BIOS, which, on recent BIOSes, should |
| mean that the next boot device in the boot sequence should be activated. |
| Values other than those documented may produce undesired results. |
| + |
| On *PXELINUX*, 'type' 0 means perform a normal boot. 'type' 4 will |
| perform a local boot with the Universal Network Driver Interface (UNDI) |
| driver still resident in memory. Finally, 'type' 5 will perform a local |
| boot with the entire PXE stack, including the UNDI driver, still |
| resident in memory. All other values are undefined. If you don't know |
| what the UNDI or PXE stacks are, don't worry -- you don't want them, |
| just specify 0. |
| + |
| On *ISOLINUX*/*SYSLINUX*, the 'type' specifies the local drive number to |
| boot from; 0x00 is the primary floppy drive and 0x80 is the primary hard |
| drive. |
| |
| *PXE* 'image':: |
| (*PXELINUX* only: .0) Load a PXE NBP (Network Boot Program) image. The |
| PXE protocol does not provide any means for specifiying or using a |
| command line or initrd. |
| |
| |
| == LABEL-ONLY DIRECTIVES == |
| *INITRD* 'initrd_file':: |
| (3.71+) An initrd can be specified in a separate statement (INITRD) |
| instead of as part of the *APPEND* statement; this functionally appends |
| "initrd=initrd_file" to the kernel command line. Like 'initrd=', this |
| also supports multiple comma separated file names (see *APPEND*). |
| |
| |
| == GLOBAL DIRECTIVES - SECONDARY == |
| These are global directives that are of lesser importance, often |
| affecting the user experience and not the boot process. |
| |
| *ALLOWOPTIONS* 'flag_val':: |
| If 'flag_val' is 0, the user is not allowed to specify any arguments on |
| the kernel command line. The only options recognized are those |
| specified in an *APPEND*) statement. The default is 1. |
| |
| *IMPLICIT* 'flag_val':: |
| If 'flag_val' is 0, do not load a kernel image unless it has been |
| explicitly named in a *LABEL* statement. The default is 1. |
| |
| *TIMEOUT* 'timeout':: |
| Indicates how long to wait at the 'boot:' prompt until booting |
| automatically, in units of 1/10 s. The timeout is cancelled as soon as |
| the user types anything on the keyboard, the assumption being that the |
| user will complete the command line already begun. The timer is reset |
| to 0 upon return from an unsuccessful attempt to boot or from a module. |
| A timeout of zero (the default) will disable the timeout completely. |
| |
| *TOTALTIMEOUT* 'timeout':: |
| Indicates how long to wait until booting automatically, in units of |
| 1/10 s. This timeout is *not* cancelled by user input, and can thus be |
| used to deal with serial port glitches or "the user walked away" type |
| situations. A timeout of zero (the default) will disable the timeout |
| completely. |
| + |
| Both *TIMEOUT* and *TOTALTIMEOUT* can be used together, for example: |
| + |
| ---- |
| # Wait 5 seconds unless the user types something, but |
| # always boot after 15 minutes. |
| TIMEOUT 50 |
| TOTALTIMEOUT 9000 |
| ---- |
| |
| // FIXME: be consistent |
| *ONTIMEOUT* 'kernel options...':: |
| Sets the command line invoked on a timeout (which often references a |
| LABEL). If not specified, 'UI' (if used) or 'DEFAULT is used. |
| |
| *ONERROR* 'kernel options...':: |
| If a kernel image is not found (either due to it not existing, or |
| because *IMPLICIT* is set), run the specified command. The faulty |
| command line is appended to the specified options, so if the *ONERROR* |
| directive reads as: |
| + |
| ---- |
| ONERROR xyzzy plugh |
| ---- |
| + |
| and the command line as entered by the user is: |
| + |
| ---- |
| foo bar baz |
| ---- |
| + |
| *Syslinux* will execute the following as if entered by the user: |
| + |
| ---- |
| xyzzy plugh foo bar baz |
| ---- |
| |
| *SERIAL* 'port [baudrate [flowcontrol]]':: |
| Enables a serial port to act as the console. 'port' is a number (0 = |
| /dev/ttyS0 = COM1, etc.) or an I/O port address (e.g. 0x3F8); if |
| 'baudrate' is omitted, the baud rate defaults to 9600 bps. The serial |
| parameters are hardcoded to be 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit. |
| + |
| 'flowcontrol' is a combination of the following bits: |
| + |
| .... |
| 0x001 - Assert DTR |
| 0x002 - Assert RTS |
| 0x008 - Enable interrupts |
| 0x010 - Wait for CTS assertion |
| 0x020 - Wait for DSR assertion |
| 0x040 - Wait for RI assertion |
| 0x080 - Wait for DCD assertion |
| 0x100 - Ignore input unless CTS asserted |
| 0x200 - Ignore input unless DSR asserted |
| 0x400 - Ignore input unless RI asserted |
| 0x800 - Ignore input unless DCD asserted |
| .... |
| + |
| All other bits are reserved. |
| + |
| Typical values are: |
| + |
| .... |
| 0 - No flow control (default) |
| 0x303 - Null modem cable detect |
| 0x013 - RTS/CTS flow control |
| 0x813 - RTS/CTS flow control, modem input |
| 0x023 - DTR/DSR flow control |
| 0x083 - DTR/DCD flow control |
| .... |
| + |
| For the *SERIAL* directive to be guaranteed to work properly, it should |
| be the first directive in the configuration file. |
| + |
| NOTE: 'port' values from 0 to 3 means the first four serial ports |
| detected by the BIOS. They may or may not correspond to the legacy port |
| values 0x3F8, 0x2F8, 0x3E8, 0x2E8. |
| + |
| Enabling interrupts (setting the 0x008 bit) may give better |
| responsiveness without setting the *NOHALT* option, but could |
| potentially cause problems with buggy BIOSes. |
| + |
| This option is "sticky" and is not automatically reset when loading a |
| new configuration file with the CONFIG command. |
| |
| *NOHALT* 'flag_val':: |
| If 'flag_val' is 1, don't halt the processor while idle. Halting the |
| processor while idle significantly reduces the power consumption, but |
| can cause poor responsiveness to the serial console, especially when |
| using scripts to drive the serial console, as opposed to human |
| interaction. |
| |
| *CONSOLE* 'flag_val':: |
| If 'flag_val' is 0, disable output to the normal video console. If |
| 'flag_val' is 1, enable output to the video console (this is the |
| default.) |
| + |
| Some BIOSes try to forward this to the serial console and sometimes make |
| a total mess thereof, so this option lets you disable the video console |
| on these systems. |
| |
| *FONT* 'filename':: |
| Load a font in .psf format before displaying any output (except the |
| copyright line, which is output as ldlinux.sys itself is loaded.) |
| *Syslinux* only loads the font onto the video card; if the .psf file |
| contains a Unicode table it is ignored. This only works on EGA and VGA |
| cards; hopefully it should do nothing on others. |
| |
| *KBDMAP* 'keymap':: |
| Install a simple keyboard map. The keyboard remapper used is *very* |
| simplistic (it simply remaps the keycodes received from the BIOS, which |
| means that only the key combinations relevant in the default layout -- |
| usually U.S. English -- can be mapped) but should at least help people |
| with AZERTY keyboard layout and the locations of = and , (two special |
| characters used heavily on the Linux kernel command line.) |
| + |
| The included program keytab-lilo.pl from the LILO distribution can be |
| used to create such keymaps. The file keytab-lilo.txt contains the |
| documentation for this program. |
| |
| *DISPLAY* 'filename':: |
| Displays the indicated file on the screen at boot time (before the boot: |
| prompt, if displayed). Please see the section below on *DISPLAY* files. |
| + |
| NOTE: If the file is missing, this option is simply ignored. |
| |
| *SAY* 'message':: |
| Prints the message on the screen. |
| |
| *PROMPT* 'flag_val':: |
| If 'flag_val' is 0, display the boot: prompt only if the Shift or Alt |
| key is pressed, or Caps Lock or Scroll lock is set (this is the |
| default). If 'flag_val' is 1, always display the boot: prompt. |
| |
| *NOESCAPE* 'flag_val':: |
| If 'flag_val' is set to 1, ignore the Shift/Alt/Caps Lock/Scroll Lock |
| escapes. Use this (together with PROMPT 0) to force the default boot |
| alternative. |
| |
| *NOCOMPLETE* 'flag_val':: |
| If 'flag_val' is set to 1, the Tab key does not display labels at the |
| boot: prompt. |
| |
| // ...etc... |
| *F1* 'filename':: |
| *F2* 'filename':: |
| *F3* 'filename':: |
| *F4* 'filename':: |
| *F5* 'filename':: |
| *F6* 'filename':: |
| *F7* 'filename':: |
| *F8* 'filename':: |
| *F9* 'filename':: |
| *F10* 'filename':: |
| *F11* 'filename':: |
| *F12* 'filename':: |
| Displays the indicated file on the screen when a function key is pressed |
| at the boot: prompt. This can be used to implement pre-boot online help |
| (presumably for the kernel command line options.) Please see the |
| section below on DISPLAY files. |
| + |
| When using the serial console, press <Ctrl-F><digit> to get to the help |
| screens, e.g. <Ctrl-F><2> to get to the F2 screen. For F10-F12, hit |
| <Ctrl-F><A>, <Ctrl-F>B, <Ctrl-F>C. For compatibility with earlier |
| versions, F10 can also be entered as <Ctrl-F>0. |
| |
| *PATH* 'path':: |
| (5.00+) Specify a space-separated (' '; 5.00-5.10 was a colon ':') list |
| of directories to search when attempting to load modules. This directive |
| is useful for specifying the directories containing the lib*.c32 library |
| files as other modules may be dependent on these files, but may not |
| reside in the same directory. Multiple instances will append additional |
| paths. |
| |
| *SENDCOOKIES* 'bitmask':: |
| (*PXELINUX* 5.10+) When downloading files over http, the SYSAPPEND |
| strings are prepended with _Syslinux_ and sent to the server as cookies. |
| The cookies are URL-encoded; whitespace is *not* replaced with |
| underscores. |
| + |
| This command limits the cookies send; 0 means no cookies. The default |
| is -1, meaning send all cookies. |
| + |
| This option is "sticky" and is not automatically reset when loading a |
| new configuration file with the CONFIG command. |
| |
| |
| == DISPLAY FILE FORMAT == |
| DISPLAY and function-key help files are text files in either DOS or UNIX |
| format (with or without <CR>). In addition, the following special codes |
| are interpreted: |
| |
| //[FIXME]: #1 doesn't break; #2 as-is; #3 broken but not on right; #4 |
| identical to #3 |
| // horizontal extends the line's label, reducing the definition |
| // tab or space to shift explanation ? align beginning or end? |
| |
| // ifndef::doctype-manpage[[horizontal]] |
| *<FF>*:: {nbsp32} = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12 + |
| Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the screen is filled with |
| the current display color. |
| |
| *<FF>*:: |
| = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12; Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the |
| screen is filled with the current display color. |
| |
| *<FF>*:: <FF> = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12 |
| + |
| Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the screen is filled with |
| the current display color. |
| |
| *<FF>*:: |
| <FF> = <Ctrl-L> = ASCII 12 + |
| Clear the screen, home the cursor. Note that the screen is filled with |
| the current display color. |
| |
| *<SI>*'<bg><fg>':: <SI> = <Ctrl-O> = ASCII 15 |
| + |
| Set the display colors to the specified background and foreground |
| colors, where <bg> and <fg> are the 2 hex digits representing 1 byte, |
| corresponding to the standard PC display attributes: |
| + |
| 0 = black 8 = dark grey |
| 1 = dark blue 9 = bright blue |
| 2 = dark green a = bright green |
| 3 = dark cyan b = bright cyan |
| 4 = dark red c = bright red |
| 5 = dark purple d = bright purple |
| 6 = brown e = yellow |
| 7 = light grey f = white |
| + |
| Picking a bright color (8-f) for the background results in the |
| corresponding dark color (0-7), with the foreground flashing. |
| + |
| Colors are not visible over the serial console. |
| |
| *<CAN>*'filename<newline>':: <CAN> = <Ctrl-X> = ASCII 24 |
| + |
| If a VGA display is present, enter graphics mode and display the graphic |
| included in the specified file. The file format is an ad hoc format |
| called LSS16; the included Perl program "ppmtolss16" can be used to |
| produce these images. This Perl program also includes the file format |
| specification. |
| + |
| The image is displayed in 640x480 16-color mode. Once in graphics mode, |
| the display attributes (set by <SI> code sequences) work slightly |
| differently: the background color is ignored, and the foreground colors |
| are the 16 colors specified in the image file. For that reason, |
| ppmtolss16 allows you to specify that certain colors should be assigned |
| to specific color indicies. |
| + |
| Color indicies 0 and 7, in particular, should be chosen with care: 0 is |
| the background color, and 7 is the color used for the text printed by |
| *Syslinux* itself. |
| |
| *<EM>*:: <EM> = <Ctrl-Y> = ASCII 25 + |
| If we are currently in graphics mode, return to text mode. |
| |
| *<DLE>*..*<ETB>*:: <Ctrl-P>..<Ctrl-W> = ASCII 16-23 |
| + |
| These codes can be used to select which modes to print a certain part of |
| the message file in. Each of these control characters select a specific |
| set of modes (text screen, graphics screen, serial port) for which the |
| output is actually displayed: |
| + |
| Character Text Graph Serial |
| ------------------------------------------------------ |
| <DLE> = <Ctrl-P> = ASCII 16 No No No |
| <DC1> = <Ctrl-Q> = ASCII 17 Yes No No |
| <DC2> = <Ctrl-R> = ASCII 18 No Yes No |
| <DC3> = <Ctrl-S> = ASCII 19 Yes Yes No |
| <DC4> = <Ctrl-T> = ASCII 20 No No Yes |
| <NAK> = <Ctrl-U> = ASCII 21 Yes No Yes |
| <SYN> = <Ctrl-V> = ASCII 22 No Yes Yes |
| <ETB> = <Ctrl-W> = ASCII 23 Yes Yes Yes |
| + |
| For example, the following will actually print out which mode the |
| console is in: |
| + |
| <DC1>Text mode<DC2>Graphics mode<DC4>Serial port<ETB> |
| |
| *<SUB>*:: <SUB> = <Ctrl-Z> = ASCII 26 |
| + |
| End of file (DOS convention). |
| |
| *<BEL>*:: <BEL> = <Ctrl-G> = ASCII 7 + |
| Beep the speaker. |
| |
| |
| == BOOT LOADER IDS USED == |
| The Linux boot protocol supports a "boot loader ID", a single byte where |
| the upper nybble specifies a boot loader family (3 = *Syslinux*) and the |
| lower nybble is version or, in the case of *Syslinux*, media: |
| |
| 0x31 (49) = SYSLINUX |
| 0x32 (50) = PXELINUX |
| 0x33 (51) = ISOLINUX |
| 0x34 (52) = EXTLINUX |
| |
| In recent versions of Linux, this ID is available as |
| /proc/sys/kernel/bootloader_type. |
| |
| |
| == NOVICE PROTECTION == |
| *Syslinux* will attempt to detect booting on a machine with too little |
| memory, which means the Linux boot sequence cannot complete. If so, a |
| message is displayed and the boot sequence aborted. Holding down the |
| Ctrl key while booting disables this feature. |
| |
| Any file that *Syslinux* uses can be marked hidden, system or readonly |
| if so is convenient; *Syslinux* ignores all file attributes. The |
| *SYSLINUX* installer automatically sets the readonly/hidden/system |
| attributes on LDLINUX.SYS. |
| |
| == EXAMPLE == |
| Here are some sample config files: |
| ---- |
| # SERIAL 0 115200 |
| DEFAULT linux |
| PROMPT 1 |
| TIMEOUT 600 |
| |
| LABEL linux |
| LINUX vmlinuz |
| APPEND initrd=initrd1.gz,initrd2.gz |
| |
| LABEL m |
| COM32 menu.c32 |
| ---- |
| In this example, serial port use is disabled but can be enabled by |
| uncommenting the first line and utilize serial port 0 at 115200 bps. If |
| 'linux' is typed on the command line, the kernel-like file 'vmlinuz' is |
| executed as a Linux kernel, initrd files initrd1.gz and initrd2.gz are |
| loaded as initial ramdisk files (like cpio.gz files for initramfs). If |
| 'm' is typed on the command line, the COM32 module 'menu.c32' is |
| executed to launch a menu system. |
| |
| |
| |
| == KNOWN BUGS == |
| include::com-bug.txt[] |
| |
| |
| == BUG REPORTS == |
| include::com-rpt.txt[] |
| |
| |
| == AUTHOR == |
| This AsciiDoc derived document is a modified version of the original |
| *SYSLINUX* documentation by {author} <{author-email}>. The conversion |
| to an AsciiDoc was made by {editor1} <{editor1-email}> |