[gPXE] gPXE boot menu selection with qemu

[Stefan Hajnoczi]

On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 8:14 PM, James <kojeroo at telus.net> wrote:
> I am trying to use gPXE option roms with qemu on a RHEL5.4
> distribution.  qemu is 0.9.1 based with kvm-83-105.
>
[...]
>
> How can I make gPXE use the preferred boot menu selection without
> having to interrupt the boot from network prompt?

You can't because the BIOS is not BIOS Boot Specification (BBS)
compliant.  The BIOS Boot Specification defines ways for an option ROM
like gPXE to install itself in the boot priority list.  Without BBS,
the best gPXE can do display the prompt you see and allow interactive
control of the boot process.

Upstream QEMU has switched from bochsbios to SeaBIOS and I believe it
is now BBS compliant.

Stefan