boot(8)
- NetBSD Manual Pages
BOOT(8) NetBSD/hppa System Manager's Manual BOOT(8)
NAME
boot -- hppa system bootstrapping procedures
DESCRIPTION
System starts
When powered on, after a panic, or if the system is rebooted via
reboot(8) or shutdown(8), the hppa firmware (``PDC'') will proceed to its
initialization, and will boot an operating system if autoboot is enabled.
Boot process description
System boot blocks are provided as a ``LIF'' (Logical Interchange Format)
archive, either on a disk device, or via the network, using the bootp or
rboot protocols, depending on the PDC version.
PDC concepts
If autoboot is enabled, the PDC will attempt to boot from the specified
``boot path'' value. If no ``boot path'' has been specified, the PDC
will then scan for bootable devices and boot from the first found, after
a few seconds allowing the user to interrupt the boot process. If auto-
boot is disabled, the PDC will enter interactive mode, after an optional
device scan. In all cases, it is possible to enter interactive mode by
holding the escape key during the selftests, or when prompted to do so to
abort the current operation, unless the PDC has been configured in
``secure mode''.
ISL interaction
``ISL'' stands for ``Initial System Loader'' and is the boot program in
NetBSD. On all versions of the PDC except for the 712 and 725 models the
``boot'' command (see below) will be followed by the question: ``Interact
with IPL (Y, N, or Cancel)?>'' where a positive answer will invoke an
interactive prompt in the boot program later and negative will thus sup-
press it. A cancellation will abort the boot process.
On the 712 and 725 models firmware an additional ``isl'' argument should
be given to the ``boot'' command to invoke the boot interactive prompt.
The default behaviour is a non-interactive boot process.
Old PDC operation
This version is used on the following models: 705, 7x0, 715/33/50/75,
725/50/75, 735, 755. There are two levels of interactive commands in
this version. The first level is a short menu:
b) Boot from specified device
s) Search for bootable device
a) Enter Boot Administration mode
x) Exit and continue boot sequence
Select from menu:
which provides the following commands:
b boot from a device found during the scan, either with its
short ``P#'' form, or a complete name specification. For
example, to boot from the SCSI disk with id 6 off the built-in
(first) controller, one would enter b scsi.6.0.
s rescan for bootable devices.
a enter the second part of interactive mode.
x resume an interrupted boot sequence.
The ``Boot Administration'' mode, recognizable with its BOOT_ADMIN>
prompt, controls the various boot options. The complete list of commands
depends on the machine and PDC version. The following list only mentions
commands impacting the boot process.
AUTOSELECT Displays or changes the autoboot setting. If autose-
lect is set to ``on'', the PDC will always attempt to
boot the first bootable device found in this order:
1. Boot device path setting.
2. SCSI devices connected to the built-in SCSI
controller, the highest ID numbers being
preferred.
3. Network rboot server (see also rbootd(8)).
4. Other SCSI devices connected to secondary
controllers, the highest ID numbers being
preferred.
If the primary path setting defines a bootable device,
no device scan will occur.
BOOT Boots off the specified device. It is similar to the b
command from the short menu above. The ``primary'' and
``alternate'' path settings may be booted with boot pri
and boot alt respectively.
PATH Displays or changes the boot and console devices. The
boot device is defined as the ``primary'' path, and
another setting may be stored as the ``alternate'' path
for rescue purposes. For example, to define the pri-
mary boot path to the SCSI disk with ID 5 connected to
the built-in controller, one would enter path primary
scsi.5
When invoked without parameters, path will list the
various path settings.
Modern PDC operation
Machines equipped with 7100LC, 7200, or 7300LC CPU types are usually
blessed with a different kind of PDC. There is only one interactive
mode, with a BOOT_ADMIN> prompt, which provides both boot settings and
commands. The complete list of commands depends on the machine and PDC
version. The following list only mentions commands impacting the boot
process.
auto boot Displays or changes the autoboot setting. If auto
boot is set to ``on'', the PDC will always attempt to
boot. The booted device chosen will depend on the
auto search setting.
auto search Displays or changes the device scan setting. If auto
search is set to ``on'', the PDC will attempt to boot
the first bootable device found in this order:
1. Boot device path setting.
2. SCSI devices connected to the built-in SCSI
controller, the highest ID numbers being
preferred.
3. Network bootp server (see also dhcpd(8)).
4. Other SCSI devices connected to secondary
controllers, the highest ID numbers being
preferred.
If auto search is set to ``off'' and the primary boot
path points to a bootable device, no device scan will
occur.
Note that setting auto search to ``on'' will force
autoboot, regardless of the auto boot value.
boot Boots off the specified device. The ``primary'' and
``alternate'' path settings may be booted with boot
pri and boot alt respectively.
path Displays or changes the boot and console devices. The
boot device is defined as the ``primary'' path, and
another setting may be stored as the ``alternate''
path for rescue purposes. For example, to define the
primary boot path to the SCSI disk with ID 5 connected
to the built-in controller, one would enter path pri
scsi.5.
When invoked without parameters, path will list the
various path settings.
Abnormal system termination
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 con-
figured dump device (which will be automatically recovered with
savecore(8) during the next multi-user boot cycle), and after the dump is
complete (successful or not) the kernel will attempt a reboot.
FILES
boot.lif network bootstrap and kernel combined image
/netbsd default NetBSD system kernel
/usr/mdec/xxboot primary bootstrap for ``ffs'' file system
/usr/mdec/boot system bootstrap (usually also installed as /boot)
SEE ALSO
ddb(4), dhcpd(8), halt(8), init(8), installboot(8), rbootd(8), reboot(8),
savecore(8), shutdown(8)
NetBSD 9.0 July 27, 2004 NetBSD 9.0
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