boot(8)
- NetBSD Manual Pages
BOOT(8) NetBSD/alpha System Manager's Manual BOOT(8)
NAME
boot -- Alpha system bootstrapping procedures
DESCRIPTION
DEC Alpha systems can have either of two different firmware systems: ARC
(a.k.a. AlphaBIOS), and SRM. Some Alpha systems have both in their flash
RAM and can switch between them on command. ARC is used to bootstrap
Microsoft Windows NT for Alpha. SRM is used to bootstrap OpenVMS and
Ultrix. NetBSD requires SRM.
SRM can bootstrap from supported local storage devices, e.g., IDE disks
or CD-ROM drives, SCSI disks or CD-ROM drives, and floppy drives. SRM
can also network bootstrap via supported Ethernet interfaces, using BOOTP
or MOP. The particular capabilities of SRM will vary from system to sys-
tem.
When SRM boots the system, it performs a Power On Self Test (POST),
probes the system busses to identify devices, and initializes them. SRM
includes an x86 instruction emulator in order to run the BIOS initializa-
tion routines found in the PROM of any video cards found. In this way,
most generic PCI video cards can work in Alpha systems that have PCI bus
slots.
SRM then examines the state of one of several variables: auto_action. If
the value of auto_action is "halt" then SRM will stop, print its prompt:
">>>" and wait for commands to be entered on the console. If the value
of auto_action is "boot" then SRM will automatically bootstrap the oper-
ating system specified by various non-volatile environment variables.
SRM device names are not the same as in NetBSD, e.g., ewa0 is a DEC
"tulip" Ethernet interface, dka0 is a SCSI disk on a recognized con-
troller, dqa0 is an IDE disk on a recognized controller. The show device
command will list all the devices that SRM can bootstrap from.
SRM Commands
SRM is somewhat UNIX-like in that it incorporates a simple pipe and I/O
redirection, which allows command sequences like:
show config | more
show * | more
An essential but incomplete list of SRM commands follows:
boot [-file filename] [-flags value] [device]
Boot an operating system. The default arguments for this command are
taken from the SRM environment variables:
boot_file file name to bootstrap.
boot_osflags flags to pass to the secondary bootstrap program.
bootdef_dev default bootstrap device.
help [command]
Invoke the SRM help system.
init
Reset the SRM console, and take actions as specified by SRM variables.
set variable value [-default]
Set an SRM variable, e.g.,
set auto_action boot
set bootdef_dev dka0
set ewa0_mode auto
If the -default flag is used, the variable will be set to its default
value.
show variable or subsystem
Show SRM variables and values, or show system state or configuration. If
a wildcard is used, then all matching SRM variables are shown, e.g.,
show * will display all SRM variables.
show b* will display all variables whose names begin with b.
show config will display the complete system configuration.
show device will display all bootable devices.
show memory will display the system's memory configuration.
SRM Variables
auto_action What SRM will do at system startup or reset:
boot automatically bootstrap the operating system.
halt after POST, prompt the user on the console for com-
mands to execute.
Some Alpha systems (e.g., AlphaServer 800) have a "halt"
switch, which if set, will override the action of this
variable, and cause SRM to stop after POST and prompt the
user for commands to execute.
bootdef_dev The default bootstrap device, e.g., dka0, dqa0, ewa0.
The show device command will list the available and rec-
ognized bootable devices.
boot_file The file to bootstrap from; this is a null string by
default.
boot_osflags The flag passed to the secondary bootstrap program, and
the NetBSD kernel:
a (automatic) multi-user mode bootstrap.
c crash dump immediately after autoconf(4), if the
NetBSD kernel is compiled with DEBUG; See
options(4).
d break into the debugger ASAP, if the NetBSD kernel
is compiled with DDB or KGDB; See options(4).
h on a reboot request from the NetBSD kernel, halt
the system instead of rebooting.
i the NetBSD secondary bootstrap program will stop
and prompt for the NetBSD kernel file name to boot-
strap.
n the NetBSD kernel will ask for the root file sys-
tem's device, the kernel core dump device, and the
path to init(8).
q bootstrap quietly.
s single-user mode bootstrap.
v bootstrap verbosely.
These may be used in combinations that are not mutually
exclusive. These options are case-insensitive to be com-
patible with DEC operating systems.
console What type of console device SRM and NetBSD will use:
graphics use a video card for output, and a PC keyboard
for input.
serial use the first serial port for console.
Just as with Sun systems, Alpha systems will use the
first serial port as a console if there is no keyboard
plugged into the keyboard port, even if console is set to
"graphics".
ew*0_mode The media and speed for DEC "tulip" Ethernet interfaces
(e.g., DECchip 21040, 21140, 21143); possible values are:
auto (IEEE 802.3u "Nway" negotiation), BNC, AUI,
Twisted-Pair, FastFD (Fast Full Duplex).
ew*0_protocols The protocol to use when netbooting, i.e., MOP
(Maintenance Operations Protocol), or BOOTP (Bootstrap
Protocol).
The Alpha SRM firmware is picky about BOOTP responses;
the dhcpd.conf(5) on the server needs the
always-reply-rfc1048 on;
directive in the section for netbooting Alpha systems.
os_type This determines which system firmware will be used after
the next power-cycle, if both ARC and SRM are present in
Flash RAM. This should be set to any of "UNIX", "osf",
or "vms" to select the SRM console required for NetBSD.
OSF refers to the Open Software Foundation.
After bootstrap
Once the NetBSD/alpha kernel is booted normally it initializes itself and
proceeds to start the system. An automatic consistency check of the file
systems takes place, and unless this fails, the system comes up to multi-
user operation.
The proper way to shut the system down is with the shutdown(8) command.
If the system crashes, it will enter the kernel debugger, ddb(4), if it
is configured in the kernel. If the crash occurred during initialization
and the debugger is not present or is exited, the kernel will halt the
system.
If the crash occurred during normal operation and the debugger is not
present or is exited, the system will attempt a dump to the configured
dump device (which will be automatically recovered with savecore(8) dur-
ing the next bootstrap cycle), and after the dump is complete (successful
or not) the kernel will attempt a reboot.
FILES
/boot NetBSD secondary bootstrap program (installed)
/netbsd default NetBSD system kernel
/usr/mdec/bootxx_cd9660 primary bootstrap for ``cd9660'' (ISO 9660) file
system
/usr/mdec/bootxx_ffs primary bootstrap for ``ffs'' file system
(Berkeley Fast File System)
/usr/mdec/boot secondary bootstrap
/usr/mdec/netboot network bootstrap
/usr/mdec/ustarboot ``ustar'' disk and tape bootstrap
SEE ALSO
ddb(4), alpha/mkbootimage(8), alpha/setnetbootinfo(8), diskless(8),
init(8), installboot(8), rc(8), reboot(8), savecore(8), shutdown(8)
Alpha Architecture Reference Manual Third Edition, Digital Press, Alpha
Architecture Committee, 1998.
BUGS
The device names used by NetBSD/alpha and the SRM Console often have no
relation to each other.
NetBSD 10.99 February 17, 2017 NetBSD 10.99
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