Overview of BIOS Features
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3.8 Boot Options
In the BIOS Setup program, the user can choose to boot from a diskette drive, hard
drive, USB drive, USB flash drive, CD-ROM, or the network. The default setting is for
the diskette drive to be the first boot device, the hard drive second, and the ATAPI
CD-ROM third. The fourth device is disabled.
3.8.1 CD-ROM Boot
Booting from CD-ROM is supported in compliance to the El Torito bootable CD-ROM
format specification. Under the Boot menu in the BIOS Setup program, ATAPI CD-
ROM is listed as a boot device. Boot devices are defined in priority order. Accordingly,
if there is not a bootable CD in the CD-ROM drive, the system will attempt to boot
from the next defined drive.
3.8.2 Network Boot
The network can be selected as a boot device. This selection allows booting from the
onboard LAN or a network add-in card with a remote boot ROM installed.
Pressing the <F12> key during POST automatically forces booting from the LAN. To
use this key during POST, the User Access Level in the BIOS Setup program's Security
menu must be set to Full.
3.8.3 Booting Without Attached Devices
For use in embedded applications, the BIOS has been designed so that after passing
the POST, the operating system loader is invoked even if the following devices are not
present:
• Video adapter
• Keyboard
• Mouse
3.8.4 Changing the Default Boot Device During POST
Pressing the <F10> key during POST causes a boot device menu to be displayed. This
menu displays the list of available boot devices (as set in the BIOS setup program’s
Boot Device Priority Submenu). Table 35 lists the boot device menu options.
Table 35. Boot Device Menu Options
Boot Device Menu Function Keys Description
<↑> or <↓>
Selects a default boot device
<Enter> Exits the menu, saves changes, and boots from the selected
device
<Esc> Exits the menu without saving changes
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