diff --git a/test/boot-stage-1-init.sh b/test/boot-stage-1-init.sh
index b9e2d1f4434..a2e958d91f6 100644
--- a/test/boot-stage-1-init.sh
+++ b/test/boot-stage-1-init.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 #! @shell@
 
+fail() {
+    # If starting stage 2 failed, start an interactive shell.
+    echo "Stage 2 failed, starting emergency shell..."
+    exec @shell@
+}
+
 # Print a greeting.
 echo
 echo "<<< NixOS Stage 1 >>>"
@@ -31,10 +37,37 @@ modprobe ide-generic
 modprobe ide-disk
 modprobe ide-cd
 
+# Try to find and mount the installation CD.
+
 # Mount the installation CD.
 mkdir /mnt
 mkdir /mnt/cdrom
-mount -o ro /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom
+
+echo "probing for the NixOS installation CD..."
+
+for i in /sys/devices/*/*/media; do
+    if test "$(cat $i)" = "cdrom"; then
+
+        # Hopefully `drivename' matches the device created in /dev.
+        devName=/dev/$(cat $(dirname $i)/drivename)
+
+        echo "  in $devName..."
+
+        if mount -o ro -t iso9660 $devName /mnt/cdrom; then
+            if test -e "/mnt/cdrom/@cdromLabel@"; then
+                found=1
+                break
+            fi
+            umount /mnt/cdrom
+        fi
+        
+    fi
+done
+
+if test -z "$found"; then
+    echo "CD not found!"
+    fail
+fi
 
 # Start stage 2.
 # !!! Note: we can't use pivot_root here (the kernel gods have
@@ -46,6 +79,4 @@ umount /proc # cleanup
 umount /sys
 exec chroot . /init
 
-# If starting stage 2 failed, start an interactive shell.
-echo "Stage 2 failed, starting emergency shell..."
-exec @shell@
+fail
diff --git a/test/boot-stage-1.nix b/test/boot-stage-1.nix
index 329ca513a95..0f714a6d599 100644
--- a/test/boot-stage-1.nix
+++ b/test/boot-stage-1.nix
@@ -6,12 +6,13 @@
 
 { genericSubstituter, shell, staticTools
 , module_init_tools, extraUtils, modules
+, cdromLabel ? ""
 }:
 
 genericSubstituter {
   src = ./boot-stage-1-init.sh;
   isExecutable = true;
-  inherit shell modules;
+  inherit shell modules cdromLabel;
   path = [
     staticTools
     module_init_tools
diff --git a/test/boot-stage-2-init.sh b/test/boot-stage-2-init.sh
index 8235715e09e..be54926aabc 100644
--- a/test/boot-stage-2-init.sh
+++ b/test/boot-stage-2-init.sh
@@ -106,6 +106,9 @@ export PATH=$PATH
 export MODULE_DIR=$MODULE_DIR
 EOF
 
+# Set the host name.
+hostname nixos
+
 # Start an interactive shell.
 #exec @shell@
 
diff --git a/test/rescue-system.nix b/test/rescue-system.nix
index 4e22ecb4d89..097ca084b29 100644
--- a/test/rescue-system.nix
+++ b/test/rescue-system.nix
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ rec {
   };
 
 
+  # The label used to identify the installation CD.
+  cdromLabel = "NIXOS";
+
+
   # Determine the set of modules that we need to mount the root FS.
   modulesClosure = import ./modules-closure.nix {
     inherit (pkgs) stdenv kernel module_init_tools;
@@ -45,6 +49,7 @@ rec {
     inherit (pkgs) genericSubstituter;
     inherit (pkgsDiet) module_init_tools;
     inherit extraUtils;
+    inherit cdromLabel;
     modules = modulesClosure;
     shell = stdenvLinuxStuff.bootstrapTools.bash;
     staticTools = stdenvLinuxStuff.staticTools;
@@ -110,8 +115,13 @@ rec {
   # Since the CD is read-only, the mount points must be on disk.
   cdMountPoints = pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
     name = "mount-points";
-    builder = builtins.toFile "builder.sh"
-      "source $stdenv/setup; mkdir $out; cd $out; mkdir proc sys tmp etc dev var mnt nix nix/var";
+    builder = builtins.toFile "builder.sh" "
+      source $stdenv/setup
+      mkdir $out
+      cd $out
+      mkdir proc sys tmp etc dev var mnt nix nix/var
+      touch $out/${cdromLabel}
+    ";
   };