SysLinux
SysLinux is a multiboot compatible bootloader that can be installed on a FAT formatted Floppy Disk, The project has three sister projects, ISOLinux, EXTLinux, and PXELinux for El Torito CD's, ext file systems, and Intel's Preboot Execution Enviroment, respectively.
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Installation
Installing SYSLinux will install a bootloader to the disk, and will copy a file LDLINUX.SYS on the root directory.
Windows
Syntax:
syslinux.exe [-sfmar] [-d directory] <drive>: [bootsecfile]
Installation on a Floppy Disk:
syslinux.exe a:
Installation on a HD / Flash Drive
Where the drive letter is Z:
syslinux.exe -m -a -d /boot/syslinux z:
DOS
Same as windows version, but with .com instead of .exe
Linux
Syntax:
syslinux [-sfr] [-d directory] [-o offset] <Device/Image>
Example
syslinux /dev/fd0
The -o option can be used with a disk image file and specifies the byte offset of the filesystem image in the file.
Configuration
SysLinux uses a configuration file called syslinux.cfg. It searches for the file in the following places in order:
- /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
- /syslinux/syslinux.cfg
- /syslinux.cfg
The configuration file is common to all variants, and uses the following format:
DEFAULT Name LABEL Name SAY Now Booting Your kernel KERNEL /kernel.bin APPEND initrd=file.tar
Individual Commands:
DEFAULT
The default kernel to load, has to be one of the labels
LABEL
The human readable name of the kernel to boot, this is used in menus.
SAY
Write to the screen when the kernel is loading
KERNEL
The Location of the kernel to load to
APPEND
Additional options on boot, some are ro, initrd, and rootfs
Please note that all files are relative to the config file's path unless preceded by a slash
