Handbook:IA64/Blocks/Booting

Booting the installation CD
Once the installation CD is burned, it is time to boot it. Remove all CDs from the CD drives, and insert the Gentoo installation CD. Reboot the system and wait for the EFI firmware to load on the console. The exact option to select will differ depending on the hardware.

Most implementations usually present an option directly on the first menu (the EFI Boot Manager). The exact wording would differ but would usually be something like "CD Boot", "Removable Media Boot" or "Internal Bootable DVD". Select this option.

If the EFI implementation does not present such an option, boot the CD using the EFI Shell. All implementations will present an option to enter the shell on the Boot Manager menu. Select this option. The EFI Shell will display a list of usable block devices (blkn:) and also a list of filesystems the EFI Shell can actually access (fsn:).

In most cases the option will be the fs0: choice; regardless, (provided the CD drive recognizes the CD), one fsn entry for the CD drive (the CD drive's EFI device path will contain CDROM in the wording) will be displayed. Enter fsn:, replacing n as required and including the colon, followed by the key. Next just type  followed by the  key.

The ELILO boot message is up next, and asks the user to enter a kernel to boot as well as any additional options to pass to the kernel command line. In most cases just hit the key or wait five seconds. Only one kernel is supplied on the IA64 installation CD, the gentoo kernel.

Several kernel aliases are provided which add extra options to the kernel command line, which may need to be used instead of the default gentoo option depending on the hardware:
 * The gentoo-serial option forces a serial console on the first serial port (ttyS0) at 9600bps. This may be required on some older EFI implementations where the kernel can't detect what console to use. Try this option if booting the default gentoo kernel produces no output and if a serial console is used. If the serial console is not connected to the the first serial port then manually select the console by typing gentoo console=ttyS#,9600 where # is the number of the serial port.
 * The gentoo-ilo option forces a serial console on the ttyS3 serial port at 9600bps. This should be used when installing using the HP iLO remote console feature.
 * The gentoo-sgi option forces a serial console on the ttySG0 serial port at 115200bps. This should only be needed on SGI hardware; if the console is properly selected in the default EFI settings, or when using a video console, then this option should not be required.

It is also possible to provide additional kernel options. They represent optional settings to (de)activate at will.

Next the user will be greeted with a boot screen and progress bar. If the installation is done on a system with a non-US keyboard, make sure to immediately press to switch to verbose mode and follow the prompt. If no selection is made in 10 seconds the default (US keyboard) will be accepted and the boot process will continue. Once the boot process completes, the user is automatically logged in to the "Live" Gentoo Linux environment as the root user, the super user. A root prompt is displayed on the current console, and one can switch to other consoles by pressing, and. Get back to the one started on by pressing.