Using the Help System

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
Page Up: scroll up one page
Page Down: scroll down one page
Home: go to page start
End: go to page end
Esc: leave help

Return to Boot Options

Splash Mode Selection

F3 lets you change the splash screen mode. You can use the splash kernel option directly, if you prefer.

native turns the splash screen off (same as splash=0)

silent suppresses all kernel and boot messages and shows a progress bar instead

verbose shows nice picture and kernel and boot messages

Return to Boot Options

Language and Keyboard Layout Selection

Press F2 to change language and keyboard layout the boot loader uses.

Return to Boot Options

Choose Profile

Press F4 to select a profile. Your system will be started using the configuration saved in this profile.

Return to Boot Options

Boot Options

Morphix



About -- short introduction to Morphix.
ACPI -- advanced configuration and power interface
APM -- toggle power management
AutoInstall -- Settings for autoinstalling Morphix
Clock -- Clock options
Debug -- Settings to debug your Morphix Live CD
Expert -- Interactive setup for experts
failsafe -- Boot with (almost) no HW-detection.
Framebuffer -- Use the Framebuffer for graphics
FromHD -- Boot from previously copied CD-Image
/home -- Mount loopback file.
hostname -- Use a different hostname instead
HRate -- Use specified horizontal refresh rate for X.
IDE DMA -- Enable/Disable DMA for IDE-Drives
Keyboard -- Use different keyboard (text/X)
Language -- specify language/keyboard.
Main -- Search for Morphix mainmodules
Mem -- Specify Memory size in MByte.
Memtest -- Run the memtest86 utility.
no -- Skip specified parts of HW-detection.
PCI -- some PIC settings.
Runlevel -- Runlevel 1, load Morphix base, Textmode only
Splash -- influence the behavior of the splash screen.
TestCD -- Check CD data integrity and md5sums
ToHD -- Copy CD to HD partition and run from there
ToRAM -- Copy CD to RAM and run from there
Translucency -- Settings to debug translucency
VGA -- Framebuffer settings.
VRate -- Use specified vertical refresh rate for X.
Username -- Use a different username instead
Usb boot -- Use the USB device to boot from instead
WM Screen -- Use specified Screen resolution for X.
X module -- Use specified X Window System driver.

Morphix: About

Morphix GNU/Linux is a Live CD distribution with a number of different flavours. It boots from the CD/DVD media, while not touching the contents of your harddisk. Morphix is modular in nature, allowing more flexibility in usage than a regular 'monolithic' Live CD. Morphix has a large number of derivatives for a variety of uses. For more information, please take a look on http://www.morphix.org

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: ACPI

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.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: APM

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 take more advantage from the newer ACPI.

Return to Boot Options


Morphix: expert

Expert Settings. Use

expert

to enable this modus.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Failsafe

Boot Morphix with (almost) no HW-detection.. Use

failsafe

to enable this modus.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Framebuffer

Some Framebuffer settings:

fb1280x1024 - used fixed framebuffer for graphics
fb1024x768 - used fixed framebuffer for graphics
fb800x600 - used fixed framebuffer for graphics
Return to Boot Options

Morphix: fromHD

Use the command

fromhd=/dev/hda1 (hda2,hda3,...)

to boot from previously copied CD image to this partition.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: home

Mount Morphix homedir.

home=/dev/sda1 - Mount loopback file (morphix.img) as /home/morph.

home=scan - Automatic search for morphix homedir image.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Horizontal refresh rate

You can set your horizontal refresh rate with:

xhrefresh=80 (or hsync=80) - Use 80 kHz horizontal refresh rate for X

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Keyboard

Keyboard settings:

keyboard=us xkeyboard=us - Use different keyboard (tet/X)

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Language

Specifies a language for your keyboard. If available, Morphix sets the correct locale for your language. Possible settings are:

lang=be - Belgian
lang=bg - Bulgarian
lang=ch - Swiss
lang=cn - Chinese
lang=cz - Czech
lang=de - German
lang=da - Danish
lang=el - Greek
lang=es - Spanish
lang=fi - Finnish
lang=fr - French
lang=gl - Galician
lang=he - Hebrew
lang=it - Italian
lang=ja - Japanese
lang=lv - Latvian
lang=lt - Lithuanian
lang=nl - Dutch
lang=pl - Polish
lang=ru - Russian
lang=sf - Swiss French
lang=sk - Slovak
lang=sl - Slovenian
lang=tr - Turkish
lang=tw - Taiwanese
lang=uk - British
lang=us - US (default)
Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Memory size

Specify Memory size in MByte.

mem=128M

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Main module

Scan for mainmodules on this partition

main=partitionname

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: memtest86 utility

Check the RAM of your system, doesn't boot Morphix

memtest

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: No!

Skip specified parts of HW-detection.Available are:

(select one for more informations)

noapic - turns APIC off.
noagp - turns AGP off.
noapm - turns APM off.
noacpi - turns ACPI off.
noaudio - turns AUDIO off.
noddc - turns DDC off.
nodma - turns DMA off.
nofirewire - turns FIREWIRE off.
noisapnpbios - turns ISAPNPBIOS off.
nopcmcia - turns PCMCIA off.
noscsi - turns SCSI off.
noswap - turns SWAP off.
nousb - turns USB off.

nonvidia - turns off the proprietary NVidia driver minimodule (if available)

To turn almos everything off see failsafe off.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: PCI

Some PCI settnigs:

pci=irqmask=0x0e98 - Try this, if PS/2 mouse doesn't work.
pci=bios - Workaround for bad PCI controllers.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: runlevel 1

Boot only the Morphix base, don't load any modules. Useful for debugging.

1

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: splash options

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.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: testCD

With the command

testcd

you can check CD data integrity and md5sums.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: toHD

Use the command

tohd=/dev/hda1 (hda2,hda3,...)

to copy the whole CD to specified partition and boot from there.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: to RAM

Use the command

toram

to copy the whole CD to RAM an boot from there.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: VGA

Framebuffer setting.

vga=normal - No framebuffer, but X.
vga=785 - 640x480 framebuffer.
vga=788 - 800x600 framebuffer.
vga=791 - 1024x786 framebuffer.
vga=794 - 1280x1024 framebuffer.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Vertical refresh rate

You can set your vertical refresh rate with:

xvrefresh=60 (or vsync=60) - Use 60 Hz vertical refresh rate for X.

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: Screen resolution for X

Sets the Screen Resolution for X (for your windowmanager).

screen=1280x1024 - to use for a resolution of 1280x1024
screen=1024x768 - to use for a resolution of 1024x768

Return to Boot Options

Morphix: X Module

Its possible to use different modules, also posiible to combine them:

xmodule=ati - uses ati module.
xmodule=fbdev - uses bdev module.
xmodule=i810 - uses i810 sound module (intel compatible).
xmodule=mga - uses mga module.
xmodule=nv - uses NVidia module.
xmodule=radeon - uses Radeon module.
xmodule=savage - uses Savage module.
xmodule=s3 - uses SiS module.
xmodule=svga - uses SVGA module.



Return to Boot Options

Kernel Options: ide

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


Return to Boot Options


Translucency options

For debugging translucency, a number of options are available:

blocktrans=yes -- Don't load translucency
nowhiteout=on -- Prevents you from removing existing files using translucency
normaloverlay=on -- Use the older method of overlaying, which works on a per-directory basis


Return to Boot Options


Debug options

Sometimes your Morphix Live CD doesn't work exactly as hoped for. Here are a few options in order of usefulness:

failsafe -- Try to use conservative defaults
vga=normal -- Don't use the framebuffer, disables bootsplash
xmodule=vesa -- Load the default X driver, don't autodetect
debugmorphix=on -- Don't reboot the Live CD after exiting, open a shell
debugmorphix=miniroot -- Miniroot debugging
blocktrans=yes -- Don't load translucency
nowhiteout=on -- Prevents you from removing existing files using translucency
normaloverlay=on -- Use the older method of overlaying, which works on a per-directory basis


Return to Boot Options.

AutoInstall options

We're currently working on a number of methods for installing. These settings are mainmodule-specific, so they only work on Morphix Live CDs which support these settings.

autoinstall=cl -- Start with the command-line installer, prompting for details if no free space is available
autoinstall=gui -- Start with the interactive graphical installer
autoinstall=auto -- Commandline installer, wipe out everything, don't prompt the user, fully automatic


Return to Boot Options.

USB Booting options

Boot from a USB device. Support for this type of booting depends largely on the version of the Morphix base module, YMMV.

usbboot=on -- Boot from the first USB device


Return to Boot Options.

Hostname options

Modify the default hostname, which is "Morphix"

hostname=mybox -- Set the hostname to "mybox"


Return to Boot Options.

Username options

Modify the default username, which is "morph"

username=mymorph -- Set the username to "mymorph"


Return to Boot Options.

Clock options

Use the hardware clock as the GMT time

gmt


Return to Boot Options.