The BIOS implements the Boot Order according to the BIOS Boot Specification (BBS). The BBS identifies all Initial Program Load (IPL) devices in the system, establishes IPL priority based on the user selections in the BIOS Setup utility, then goes through the list sequentially, attempting to boot from each list item.
The Sun Blade 8000 Series BIOS supports up to 20 bootable devices. If there are more than 20 bootable devices found, only the first 20 devices are displayed in the Boot menu.
There are 20 CMOS configuration items, one for each boot device entry. These configuration items control the boot order of the devices in the Boot menu. The value in the CMOS is used to obtain the boot device from the IPL Priority Entry table. The BIOS attempts to boot from the highest boot priority (which is listed first in the Setup Boot menu) to the lowest priority. If the BIOS fails to boot to the first device listed on the Boot menu, it moves on to the next device. BIOS continues to boot through the list, in sequential order, until the end of ths list is reached or the value specified in the Maximum Boot to Device Attempt configuration setting is obtained.
Each bootable device is uniquely identified using up to 45 characters. The Boot devices supported on the Sun Blade 8000 Series include: Universal Serial Bus (USB), Preboot Execution Environment (PXE), Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), Fiber Channel (FC), and InfiniBand (IB).
If the BIOS detects the boot order is different due to a change in the number of bootable devices, the following message is displayed: IPL configuration has been changed.
Removing a bootable device and replacing it with a different one is not considered a change in bootable devices because the total number of bootable devices remains the same.
If the IPL configuration has been changed
message appears, perform the following tasks:
Press F1 to enter Setup.
Press any key to continue.
BIOS provides a Setup option to enable or disable the prompt for the BIOS Setup utility due to a change in the BIOS Boot Specification list.
If a new device is added to the system, the new device is added to the end of the BIOS Boot Specification list. If a bootable device is removed from the system, the boot device is removed from the BIOS Boot Specification list, but the relative order of the remaining devices remains the same.
During POST, you can display a popup Boot menu by pressing function key F8. This feature enables you to override the current boot order in the BIOS Setup without entering the Setup utility. This override applies only to the current boot and does not become a permanent setting.