boot(8) - NetBSD Manual Pages

BOOT32(8)           NetBSD/acorn32 System Manager's Manual           BOOT32(8)


NAME

     boot32 -- Bootloader for NetBSD/acorn32


SYNOPSIS

     *boot32 [-acdqsv] [root=rootdir] [file]


DESCRIPTION

     boot32 is a program that runs under RISC OS and launches the
     NetBSD/acorn32 kernel.  It needs to be installed in a RISC OS filesystem
     and given file type FFA (Module).  The kernel it is to load also needs to
     be stored in a RISC OS filesystem.

     It takes the following standard NetBSD options, which set flags in the
     boothowto variable in the booted kernel (see boothowto(9)).  Not all
     flags may be effective.

     -a          (RB_ASKNAME) Cause the kernel to prompt the user for the name
                 of the device containing the root filesystem.  This also
                 causes boot32 to prompt for the name of the kernel to be
                 loaded.

     -s          (RB_SINGLE) Cause the kernel to ask init to boot into single-
                 user mode.

     -d          (RB_KDB) Cause the kernel to enter the kernel debugger as
                 soon as possible.

     -c          (RB_USERCONF) Enter the in-kernel device configuration man-
                 ager before attaching any devices.

     -q          (RB_QUIET) Cause the kernel to emit fewer messages than nor-
                 mal while starting up.

     -v          (RB_VERBOSE) Cause the kernel to emit more messages than nor-
                 mal while starting up.

     boot32 attempts to load the kernel from the RISC OS file specified as
     file, or from netbsd if file is not specified.  The file must be an ELF
     image, and may have been compressed using gzip(1).

   Use as a module
     boot32 is implemented as a RISC OS relocatable module.  It can be loaded
     into memory by running `*RMLoad boot32'.  After this, NetBSD can be
     booted by running `*boot32' as usual, but the command will be handled by
     the module.

     It should also be possible to arrange for boot32 to be loaded from ROM
     (e.g., from the ROM on an expansion card), in which case NetBSD could be
     made to boot automatically by making boot32 the configured language using
     `*Configure Language'.

   Screen display
     When it starts up, boot32 displays the number of 4 kilobyte memory pages
     it has been delegated by RISC-OS and gives a summary about the memory map
     as reported by RISC-OS followed by a table of physical memory ranges
     available to the bootloader.  All this information is mainly for bughunt-
     ing booting problems.

     It then checks its internal structures and kicks out RISC-OS, relocates
     all memory pages loaded in to their final destinations and kickstarts
     boot32.


FILES

     /usr/mdec/boot32,ffa              The location of boot32 in the NetBSD
                                       filesystem.


SEE ALSO

     gzip(1), reboot(2), ddb(4), userconf(4), init(8), boothowto(9)


HISTORY

     boot32 was introduced in NetBSD 1.6 as a replacement for the original
     NetBSD/arm32 bootloader, which was written in BBC BASIC.


BUGS

     boot32 cannot load kernels from a NetBSD filesystem.

NetBSD 7.1.2                   September 4, 2009                  NetBSD 7.1.2