HP 2133 Mini-Note User manual

MultiBoot
User Guide

© Copyright 2006, 2007 Hewlett-Packard
Development Company, L.P.
The information contained herein is subject
to change without notice. The only
warranties for HP products and services are
set forth in the express warranty statements
accompanying such products and services.
Nothing herein should be construed as
constituting an additional warranty. HP shall
not be liable for technical or editorial errors
or omissions contained herein.
Third Edition: June 2007
First Edition: March 2006
Document Part Number: 449434-001

Product notice
This user guide describes features that are common to most models. Some features may not be
available on your computer.
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iv Product notice

Table of contents
1 About the boot device order
2 Enabling boot devices in Computer Setup
3 Considering boot order changes
4 Choosing MultiBoot preferences
Setting a new boot order in Computer Setup ...................................................................................... 6
Dynamically choosing a boot device using the F9 prompt ................................................................... 7
Setting a MultiBoot Express prompt .................................................................................................... 8
Entering MultiBoot Express preferences .............................................................................................. 9
Index ................................................................................................................................................................... 10
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1 About the boot device order
As the computer starts, the system attempts to boot from enabled boot devices. The MultiBoot utility,
which is enabled at the factory, controls the order in which the system selects a boot device. Boot devices
can include optical drives, diskette drives, a network interface card (NIC), hard drives, and USB devices.
Boot devices contain bootable media or files that the computer needs to start and operate properly.
NOTE: Some boot devices must be enabled in Computer Setup before they can be included in the
boot order.
The factory setting is for the computer to select the boot device by searching enabled boot devices and
drive bay locations in the following order:
NOTE: Some of the boot devices and drive bay locations listed may not be supported on your
computer.
●MultiBay or optical drive
●Internal hard drive
●USB floppy
●USB diskette on key
●USB CD-ROM
●USB SuperDisk
●USB hard drive
●Network controller
You can change the order in which the computer searches for a boot device by changing the boot order
in Computer Setup. You can also press f9 while the “F9 = Boot device menu” message is displayed in
the lower-left corner of the screen when the computer starts up. Pressing f9 displays a menu that shows
the current boot devices and allows you to select a boot device. Or, you can use MultiBoot Express to
set the computer to prompt you for a boot location each time the computer turns on or restarts.
If MultiBoot is disabled, the computer uses a fixed boot order that consists of first searching for a drive
A boot device. If none is found, the computer looks for a drive C boot device. Drive A boot devices
include optical drives and diskette drives. Drive C boot devices include optical drives and hard drives.
The NIC does not have an assigned drive letter.
NOTE: An optical drive (such as a CD-ROM drive) can boot either as drive A or drive C, depending
on the format of the boot CD.
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The following list describes the factory setting for boot order in which drive letters A and C are assigned
when MultiBoot is disabled. (The actual order varies by configuration.)
●Boot order for drive A boot devices:
1. Optical drive in an optional docking device or in an optional external MultiBay that contains a
disc formatted as drive A
2. Optical drive in the internal MultiBay (select models only) that contains a disc formatted as
drive A
3. Diskette drive in an optional docking device or in an optional external MultiBay
●Boot order for drive C boot devices:
1. Optical drive in an optional docking device or in an optional external MultiBay that contains a
disc formatted as drive C
2. Optical drive in the internal MultiBay (select models only) that contains a disc formatted as
drive C
3. Hard drive in the computer hard drive bay
4. Hard drive in an optional docking device or in an optional external MultiBay
NOTE: Because no drive letter is associated with the NIC, changing the boot order of a NIC does not
affect the drive letters of the other devices.
2 Chapter 1 About the boot device order

2 Enabling boot devices in Computer
Setup
The computer will boot to a USB device or a NIC device only if the device has first been enabled in
Computer Setup.
To enable a USB device or a NIC device as a boot device, follow these steps:
1. Open Computer Setup by turning on or restarting the computer, and then pressing f10 while the
"F10 = ROM Based Setup" message is displayed in the lower-left corner of the screen.
2. To enable bootable media in USB drives or in drives inserted into an optional docking device (select
models only), use the arrow keys to select System Configuration > Device Configurations, and
then press enter. Use the arrow keys to select Enable in the USB legacy support field.
NOTE: The USB Port option must be enabled in order to use USB legacy support. It is enabled
at the factory. To disable or reenable this option, select System Configuration >Port Options.
– or –
To enable a NIC device, use the arrow keys to select System Configuration > Boot Options,
and then press enter. Use the arrow keys to select Enable in the Internal network adapter
boot field.
3. To save your preferences and exit Computer Setup, use the arrow keys to select File > Save
Changes and Exit. Then follow the instructions on the screen.
Your preferences go into effect when the computer restarts.
NOTE: To connect a NIC to a Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) or Remote Program Load (RPL)
server without using MultiBoot, quickly press f12 when the “Network Service Boot” message appears
in the lower-right corner of the screen (select models only).
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3 Considering boot order changes
Before changing the boot order, note the following considerations:
●When the computer restarts after the boot order has been changed, the computer attempts to start
using the new boot order.
●If there is more than one type of boot device, the computer attempts to boot using the first of each
type of boot device (except for optical devices). For example, if the computer is connected to an
optional docking device (select models only) that contains a hard drive, this hard drive will be shown
in the boot order as a USB hard drive. If the system attempts to boot from this USB hard drive and
fails, it will not attempt to boot to the hard drive in the hard drive bay. Instead, it will try to boot to
the next type of device in the boot order. However, if there are 2 optical devices, and the first optical
device does not boot (either because it does not contain media or the media is not a boot disc),
the system will try to boot to the second optical device.
●Changing the boot order also changes the logical drive designations. For example, if you start up
from a CD-ROM drive with a disc formatted as drive C, that CD-ROM drive becomes drive C and
the hard drive in the hard drive bay becomes drive D.
●The computer will boot from a NIC device only if the device has been enabled in the Built-In Device
Options menu of Computer Setup and if booting from the device has been enabled in the Boot
Options menu of Computer Setup. Booting from a NIC does not affect logical drive designations
because no drive letter is associated with the NIC.
●Drives in an optional docking device (select models only) are treated like external USB devices in
the boot order.
4 Chapter 3 Considering boot order changes