Boot and Device Options

One of the most important parameters in system setup is the boot options sequence or boot device priority.

defines the order in which the system firmware searches devices for a boot manager
Typical choices include:
- Fixed disk (HDD or SSD)
  - SATA boot disk should generally be connected to the lowest numbered port, but it is usually possible to select the hard drive sequence if multiple fixed drives are installed
  - An SSD attached using SATA will be listed with SATA/AHCI devices
  - an SSD installed as a PCIe Add-in Card (AIC) or on the M.2 interface will be listed under NVMe
- Optical drive (CD/DVD/Blu-ray)
  - If you are performing a repair install from optical media, you might need to make this device the highest priority
- USB
  - Most modern systems can boot from a USB drive that has been formatted as a boot device
  - often used for OS installs and repair utility boot disks that are too large to fit on optical media
- Network/PXE
  - Uses the network adapter to obtain boot settings from a specially configured server

USB Permissions

there will be options for enabling/disabling and configuring controllers and adapters provided on the motherboard
- provides a way of enforcing USB permissions
allowing the connection of USB devices is a security risk
setup program might allow individual ports to be enabled or disabled

Most cooling fans can be controlled via system settings
- typically under a menu such as Cooling, Power, or Advanced
menu will present options such as balanced, cool (run fans harder), quiet (reduce fan speed and allow higher temperatures), fanless, and custom
will also be settings for minimum temperature
- is the value at which fans will be started to cool the system
Duty cycle settings are used to control the frequency of power pulses to keep the fan running
- high percentage makes the fan run faster
setup program will also report the current temperature of the probes located near each fan connector

Info

There are many third-party utilities that can access these settings and monitors from within the OS.