The Boot Screen

The Boot Screen
	Chapter 2. User-Defined Installation
Chapter 2. User-Defined Installation		Language Selection

Move from item to item using the arrow keys. For a normal installation, select ‘Installation’Confirm the selection with Enter.

Figure 2.1. The Boot Screen

The boot screen provides several options for starting from the CD. The options and the actions triggered by them are:

Boot from Harddisk: Boots the system installed on the hard disk (the system normally booted when the machine is started). This option is preselected.
Installation: The normal installation mode. All modern hardware functions are enabled.
Installation - ACPI Disabled: If the normal installation fails, this may be due to lacking ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) support of the system hardware. In this case, use this option to perform the installation without ACPI support.
Installation — Safe Settings: The DMA mode (for CD-ROM drives) and any critical power management functions are disabled. Experts can also use the command line to enter or change kernel parameters.
Manual Installation: If the automatic loading of drivers causes problems with the installation, you can perform the installation manually. In a manual installation, drivers are not loaded automatically. However, this will not work if you use a USB keyboard on your machine.
Rescue System: If you are unable to boot into your installed Linux system for some reason, you can boot the computer from the DVD or CD1 and select this item. This option starts a rescue system — a minimal Linux system without any graphical user interface, which can be used by experts to access disk partitions for troubleshooting.
Memory Test: This tests your system RAM by means of repeated read and write cycles. This is done in an endless loop, as memory corruption often shows up very sporadically, so many read and write cycles might be necessary to detect it. If you suspect that your RAM might be defective, start this test and let it run for several hours. If no errors are detected after a longer time period, you can assume that the memory is intact. Terminate the test by rebooting.

A few seconds after starting the installation, SuSE Linux loads a minimal Linux system, which takes control and performs the installation. A number of messages and copyright notices are displayed then, at the end of the loading process, the YaST installation program is started. After a few more seconds, the screen should display the graphical interface that will guide you through the installation.

The YaST screens have a common format. All buttons, entry fields, and lists can be accessed with the mouse. If your mouse pointer does not move, the mouse has not been correctly detected. In this case, use the keyboard for navigation.