Boot Methods

This page describes the various methods that can be used to set up a disk to boot Funtoo Linux. If you have more than one disk, choose a single disk to serve as your boot disk.

Pure MBR + GRUB

This option is the "classic" way to boot Funtoo Linux and uses traditional MBR partitions, which have existed since the origin of the PC. Here is the typical disk layout:

• MBR at beginning of boot disk
• /dev/sda1 is the /boot filesystem (typically ext2)
• /dev/sda2 is swap.
• /dev/sda3 is the / (root) filesystem.

Here's how the boot process works:

1. The system BIOS loads the MBR from your boot disk (containing stage1 of the GRUB boot loader) and runs it.
2. Extra boot-related code is loaded by the GRUB stage1 from the /boot filesystem on the disk.

Now, the boot loader is able to run and load the Linux kernel and initramfs, and start Funtoo Linux.

MBR/GPT + GRUB

This is a more modern way to boot Linux. It uses MBR for booting but uses the more modern GPT partition scheme. Here's the disk layout:

• MBR at beginning of boot disk

• /dev/sda1 is the /boot filesystem (typically ext2)
• /dev/sda2 is the boot loader partition (this contains more GRUB boot code, like MBR).
• /dev/sda3 is swap.
• /dev/sda4 is the / (root) filesystem.

Here's how this hybrid scheme works:

1. The system BIOS loads the MBR from your boot disk (containing stage1 of the GRUB boot loader) and runs it.
2. Extra boot-related code is loaded by the GRUB stage1 from a small (a few MB) GPT partition on the disk.

Now, the boot loader is able to run and load the Linux kernel and initramfs, and start Funtoo Linux.

UEFI + GRUB

UEFI is a new-style firmware that is used for booting. It is generally available on all new PCs (2012 and newer) and may be available on older systems as well. Here's the disk layout:

• /dev/sda1 is the /boot filesystem (vfat aka "FAT32").
• /dev/sda2 is swap.
• /dev/sda3 is the / (root) filesystem.

Here's how this boot scheme works:

1. UEFI (contained in your motherboard's firmware) loads the GRUB boot loader code from your /boot filesystem. UEFI can read from vfat partitions directly, which is why we use vfat instead of the normal ext2 for /boot.

Now, the boot loader is able to run and load the Linux kernel and initramfs from the vfat /boot filesystem, and start Funtoo Linux.

Pure UEFI

A Pure UEFI boot is also possible. The partitioning scheme is the same as the UEFI + GRUB scheme, above.

Here's how this boot scheme works:

1. UEFI loads the Linux kernel and initramfs directly, and runs the Linux kernel to start Funtoo Linux.