9.1. Introduction to the Linux Boot Process
The very first thing that happens when a PC starts up is the loading of the BIOS from ROM. The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) performs memory and other hardware checks, and then loads a tiny piece of code from the first part of one of the system's hard disks—known as the master boot record or MBR. This piece of code is called a boot loader, and is responsible for displaying a menu of operating systems to the user and loading one of them. There are several boot loaders available for Linux, such as LILO and GRUB, but they all do basically the same thing.
Once the kernel has been loaded, it mounts the root filesystem and runs the init program, which is responsible for managing the rest of the boot process. ...
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