Chapter 5Booting and Stopping LinuxIn This Chapter Understanding (Web hosting billing)
Chapter 5Booting and Stopping LinuxIn This Chapter Understanding what happens when you turn on your Linux machine Identifying and isolating boot problems Shutting down safelyI like work; it fascinates me. I can sit back and look at it for hours. Jerome K. JeromeIf you came here from Chapter 3 or 4, you likely just survived the first gaunt- let of the Linux world: installing the operating system. I hope that bootingfor the first time worked well. If it did and you decide that most of this chapterisn t for you, at least skip to the last section in this chapter, Don t Just TurnOff the Machine! Otherwise, if you re interested in learning about what yourmachine does as it boots (this chapter can get pretty geeky!), read on. Your Linux installation failing to boot properly is not necessarily an emer- gency. Much of this chapter is designed to help you deal with any problemsyou might run into. Before you curse Linux, remember that installing an oper- ating system is no small task and that, because many technical variables areassociated with such an installation, many computer manufacturers insist onperforming the task at the factory. Companies such as Hewlett Packard andWal-mart (believe it or not) have been offering Linux pre-installed, so if you retoo discouraged at this point or are reading ahead and are too nervous togive it a shot, you can either use Knoppix (see Chapter 4 for how to useKnoppix without having to install it) or purchase a pre-installed machinefrom a vendor or a local computer builder. To unravel the mystery of a Linux system that won t boot requires a bit ofunderstanding of how your computer starts up.