BOOT(8)             OpenBSD System Manager's Manual (HPPA)             BOOT(8)

NAME
     boot, boot.conf - hppa-specific bootstrap

DESCRIPTION
     The main purpose of this program is to load the system kernel while deal-
     ing with the various features of the PA-RISC hardware.

     As described in boot_hppa(8), this program is loaded by the PDC firmware
     and provides a convenient way to load the kernel.

     Basic operations include:

     o   Loading kernels from any device supported by your system.
     o   Loading kernels compressed by gzip(1).
     o   Providing an interactive command line.
     o   Detecting and switching between multiple consoles.

     The sequence of its operation is as follows: initialization, parsing the
     configuration file, then an interactive command line.  While at the com-
     mand line you have 5 seconds to type any commands, if needed.  If time
     expires, the kernel will be loaded according to the current variable set-
     tings (see the set command).  Each time a kernel load fails, the timeout
     is increased by one second.  The sequence of boot operations is as fol-
     lows:

     1.   If the file /etc/boot.conf exists on the filesystem or LIF image
          boot was loaded from, open and parse it.  This file may contain any
          commands boot accepts at the interactive prompt.  Though default
          settings usually suffice, they can be changed here.

     2.   The header line

                >> OpenBSD/hppa BOOT [x.xx]

          is displayed to the active console, where x.xx is the version number
          of the boot program, followed by the

                boot>

          prompt, which means you are in interactive mode and may enter com-
          mands.  If you do not, boot will proceed to load the kernel with the
          current parameters after the timeout period has expired.

     By default, boot attempts to load the kernel executable /bsd.  If it
     fails to find the kernel and no alternative kernel image has been speci-
     fied, the system will be unable to boot.

COMMANDS
     The following commands are accepted at the boot prompt:

     boot [image [-acds]]
              Boots the kernel image specified by image with any options giv-
              en.  Image specification consists of a pair device:filename; ei-
              ther or both can be omitted (`:' is not needed if both are omit-
              ted), in which case values from boot variables will be used.

              -a   Causes the kernel to ask for the root device to use.

              -c   Causes the kernel to go into boot_config(8) before perform-
                   ing autoconf(4) procedures.

              -d   Causes the kernel to drop into ddb(4) at the earliest con-
                   venient point.

              -s   Causes the kernel to boot single-user.

     echo [args]
              Displays args on the console device.

     help     Prints a list of available commands and machine dependent com-
              mands, if any.

     machine [command]
              Issues machine-dependent commands.  These are defined for hppa
              architecture:

              console   Displays or sets the console path.

                        When invoked with no argument, this command will dis-
                        play the configured console path found in the stable
                        storage area.

                        Otherwise, the argument will be interpreted as a con-
                        sole path definition string, and boot will attempt to
                        switch the console configuration to the desired de-
                        vice.  The console definition attempts to follow the
                        PDC syntax, and would have a form of:

                        graphics [_head] [.mode]
                        for graphics console, and

                        rs232 [_2] [.speed [.bits [.parity]]]
                        for serial console.

                        The default head and mode for graphics console are 0,
                        that is the default videomode of the first graphics
                        device.  The default serial settings are 9600 bps, 8
                        data bits, and no parity.

              keyboard  Displays or sets the keyboard path.

                        When invoked with no argument, this command will dis-
                        play the configured keyboard path found in the stable
                        storage area.

                        Otherwise, the argument will be interpreted as a key-
                        board path definition string, and boot will attempt to
                        switch the keyboard configuration to the desired port.
                        The keyboard definition attempts to follow the PDC
                        syntax, and would have a form of:

                        hil
                        for hil keyboard, and

                        ps2
                        for PS/2 keyboard.

              After changing any path settings, the machine usually has to be
              restarted for the changes to have effect.

     ls [directory]
              Prints contents of the specified directory in long format in-
              cluding: attributes and file type, owner, group, size, filename.

     reboot   Reboots the machine by initiating a warm boot procedure.

     set [varname [value]]
              If invoked without arguments, prints a list of variables and
              their values.  If only varname is specified, displays contents
              of that variable.  If varname and value are both specified, sets
              that variable to the given value.  Variables include:

              addr     Address at which to load the kernel.
              debug    Debug flag if boot was compiled with DEBUG defined.
              device   Boot device name (i.e., lf0a, sd0a).
              howto    Options to pass to the loaded kernel.
              image    File name containing the kernel image.
              timeout  Number of seconds boot will wait for human intervention
                       before booting the default kernel image.

     time     Displays system time and date.

FILES
     /boot           system bootstrap
     /etc/boot.conf  system bootstrap's startup file
     /bsd            kernel image
     /bsd.rd         kernel image for installation/recovery

EXAMPLES
     Boot the default kernel:

           boot> boot

     Remove the 5 second pause at boot-time permanently, causing boot to load
     the kernel immediately without prompting:

           # echo "boot" > /etc/boot.conf

     Use serial console on the first serial port, with the usual 9600 8N1 set-
     tings.  A null modem cable should connect the specified serial port to a
     terminal.  Useful for debugging.

           boot> machine console rs232.9600.8.none

     Boot the kernel named /bsd from the second SCSI disk in ``User Kernel
     Configuration'' mode (see boot_config(8)).  This mechanism allows for the
     explicit enabling and disabling of devices during the current boot se-
     quence, as well as the modification of device parameters.  Once booted,
     such changes can be made permanent by using config(8)'s -e option.

           boot> boot sd1a:/bsd -c

SEE ALSO
     gzip(1), autoconf(4), ddb(4), boot_config(8), boot_hppa(8), reboot(8)

     RFC 1950 describes the zlib library interface.

     The official home page for the version of zlib used in this operating
     system is at http://www.gzip.org/zlib/.

HISTORY
     This program was written by Michael Shalayeff for OpenBSD 2.1.  The hppa
     specific parts were written by Michael Shalayeff and Miodrag Vallat for
     OpenBSD 3.1.

CAVEATS
     Making mistakes in console paths may cost you a toupee.

BUGS
     Changing the display resolution (mode) on a graphics console does not
     work correctly.

OpenBSD 4.7                      May 31, 2007                                3
