User Manual

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3.5 Boot Options
In the BIOS Setup program, the user can choose to boot from a hard drive, optical drive,
removable drive, or the network. The default setting is for the optical drive to be the first boot
device, the hard drive second, removable drive third, and the network fourth.
NOTE
Optical drives are not supported by the onboard SATA connectors. Optical drives are supported
only via the USB interfaces.
3.5.1 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.
3.5.2 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 cable
• Keyboard
• Mouse
3.5.3 Boot Device Selection 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. Table 12 lists the boot device menu options.
Table 12. Boot Device Menu Options
Boot Device Menu Function Keys
Description
<> or <>
Selects a default boot device
<Enter>
Exits the menu, and boots from the selected device
<Esc>
Exits the menu and boots according to the boot priority defined
through BIOS setup