.TH BOOTING 8
.SH NAME
booting \- bootstrapping procedures
.SH SYNOPSIS
none
.SH DESCRIPTION
This manual collects the incantations required to bootstrap Plan 9 machines.
Some of the information here is specific to the installation at Bell Labs;
some is generic.
.PP
If a CPU server is up, BOOTP and TFTP will run from there;
if not, the necessary files and services must be available on a separate machine
such as a Unix system to use these protocols for bootstrapping.
.PP
Be sure to read
.IR boot (8)
to understand what happens after the kernel is loaded.
.SS Terminals
First, here are instructions to bootstrap the various Plan 9 terminals.
To bootstrap a terminal or a CPU server, a file server must be running.
On all the terminals, typing two control-T's followed by a lower-case
.B r
reboots the machine;
other methods of rebooting are mentioned for some machines.
.SS Gnot
The boot ROM prints
.IP
.EX
server[default==incon!nj/astro/Nfs!/68020/9gnot]
.EE
.PP
Typing just a newline bootstraps the default system.
The components of the
.B server
string are defaulted from the right, for example, to bootstrap
.B /sys/src/9/gnot/9gnot
type just that file name;
to bootstrap from a different file server, say kremvax, type
.IP
.EX
kremvax!/68020/9gnot
.EE
.PP
The bootstrap devices available are
.BR incon ,
.BR 9600 ,
.BR 19200
and
.BR scsi ;
with
.B scsi
the server name (here
.BR nj/astro/Nfs )
becomes a unit number, usually
.BR 0 ,
and the file name is a boot partition to use.
For example,
.IP
.EX
scsi!0!boot
.EE
.PP
means boot from the SCSI disk
.B 0
the kernel in disk partition
.B /dev/hd0boot. 
.PP
If running with a local cache file system,
one normally bootstraps using the SCSI disk.
However, if the local kernel has been destroyed or is hopelessly
out of date, bootstrap using the serial line.
To do this, use the boot line
.IP
.EX
9600!nj/astro/Nfs!/68020/9gnotdisk
.EE
.PP
to bootstrap from the serial line at 9600 baud or
.IP
.EX
19200!nj/astro/Nfs!/68020/9gnotdisk
.EE
.PP
for a 19200 baud connection.
.PP
To shut the system down, just turn off the power.
.SS Nextstation
When powered on and left alone, a Nextstation will download
.BR /68020/9nextstation
using the BOOTP and TFTP protocols.
(Actually, first it loads
.B /lib/tftpd/boot
and uses that to download the operating system.)
It then prompts for the user name and password and asks for the Ethernet
protocol to use; request the default.
.PP
While the system is downloading, it displays an Ethernet symbol;
at this time, holding the left
.B Command
key down and typing the
.B ~
key aborts the download and transfers control to a ROM-resident
monitor.
The monitor will use the Ethernet to boot an alternate kernel
given the command, e.g.,
.IP
.EX
ben /sys/src/9/next/9nextstation
.EE
.PP
or
.IP
.EX
ben kgbvax:/sys/src/9/next/9nextstation
.EE
.PP
to force the download to come from system
.B kgbvax.
.PP
If running with a local cache file system, bootstrap from
the disk.
While the system is downloading, it displays a symbol of a spinning
disk.
The processor first loads a program, Disclabel, from the kernel partition
.B /dev/hd1label
and then the real kernel from
.BR /dev/hd1boot .
.PP
See Next's documentation for other details, in particular how to
initialize a new machine to boot from Ethernet instead of disk.
.PP
To turn the power off, hold down the left
.B Command
and
.B Alternate
keys and press the power key.
To reboot, hold down the left
.B Command
and
.B Alternate
and press the
.L *
key in the upper left corner of the keypad.
.SS Sun Sparcstation
Type a
.L b
to the power-on monitor and the kernel will be downloaded.
The kernel resides in
.BI /lib/tftpd/ xxxxxxxx .SUN4C
where
.I xxxxxxxx
is the upper-case hexadecimal IP number of the machine.
There is no way to specify an alternate file to download.
Once running, the operating system asks the same questions as on the Nextstation.
.SS MIPS Magnum
The Magnum ROM monitor can boot from the ethernet or from a local disk.
To boot from the ethernet, type
.IP
.EX
.B bootp()/mips/9magnum
.EE
.PP
or use the ROM command
.B setenv
to set the variable
.B bootfile
to that same string and type
.BR boot .
To load a different file, tell
.B bootp
which file to load,
and to force the download to come from a particular system,
.BR bootp()system:file .
Any arguments after
.B bootp()file
are passed to
.B /boot.
.PP
To boot from disk, type
.IP
.EX
dksd()b
.EE
.PP
to load the Plan 9 bootstrap program
or use the ROM command
.B setenv
to set the variable
.B bootfile
to that same string and type
.BR boot .
The bootstrap program will then
prompt for the partition to boot from.
If nothing is typed in 15 seconds, a kernel will
be booted from the hard disk partition
.B /dev/hd0boot.
Any arguments after
.B dksd()b
are passed to
.B /boot.
.PP
Once running, the operating system asks the same questions as on the Nextstation.
.PP
To reboot the machine, cycle the power or hit the reset button on the back.
.SS AT&T Safari and other PCs
The Safari always boots DOS when you turn it on.
Once DOS is booted, it will prompt with a
.BR C> .
To that type
.B b
to boot Plan 9.
If there is no diskette in the floppy drive, the kernel
will automatically be loaded from the hard disk partition
.B /dev/hd0boot.
To boot from diskette, insert one (with a DOS file system) before typing
.BR b .
The boot program
will prompt for the kernel to boot with
.IP
.EX
server[hd!0!boot]:
.EE
.PP
A return causes a boot from hard disk partition,
.B /dev/hd0boot.
Typing
.IP
.EX
fd!0!9
.EE
.PP
will bootstrap a kernel from the file named
.B 9
on the diskette.
.PP
Once the kernel is booted, it behaves like all others.
See
.IR boot (8)
for details.
.SS CPU Servers
The Plan 9 CPU servers are multi-user, so they do not request a user name
when booting.
On the CPU servers, typing a control-P on the console reboots the machine.
.SS SGI Power Series
To the power-on menu, type a
.B 5
to get the
.B >>
prompt.
Then boot Plan 9 using the Plan 9 bootstrap program,
.BR b ,
which resides on the disk volume header (dvh) of the SCSI boot disk.
The bootstrap program takes two
arguments, the method with which to attach to a file server (as in
.IR boot (8))
and a kernel file to boot.
The default method is
.I cyc
and the default kernel file is
.B /mips/9power.
For example, to boot the standard kernel over the Cyclone,
just type
.IP
.EX
.B b
.EE
.PP
To boot a test kernel via the Ethernet using the IL protocol type
.IP
.EX
.B b il /sys/src/9/power/9power
.EE
.PP
Any arguments given to the bootstrap program will also be passed on to
.B /boot
in the loaded kernel.
.PP
The bootstrap program reads a configuration
description from file
.B /mips/conf/x.x.x.x
where
.B x.x.x.x
is the decimal value of the each byte of the
IP address separated by dots.
After loading the kernel it passes to it the
configuration information.
.PP
Before using Plan 9 for the first time
you will have to bring up Unix to copy the bootstrap
program to the dvh.
Copy
.B /mips/9powerboot
onto the Unix file system.
Then use
.B dvhtool
to copy it to the dvh file
.B b.
.SS Sun Sparcstation
Proceed as for the Sparcstation running as a terminal but load
.BR /sparc/9sscpu .
.SS Mips Magnum
Booting from the ethernet
proceed as for the Magnum running as a terminal but load
.BR /mips/9magnumcpu .
Booting from the disk proceed as for the Magnum running as a terminal.
.PP
With a disk a two stage boot is also possible.
This allows us to boot from networks and or
protocols unknown to the ROM monitor.
Instead of copying a kernel into the boot partition,
we copy a bootstrap program that will load the real kernel
across a network.
The arguments following
.B dksd()b
are passed both to the bootstrap program and to the
downloaded kernel.
The first specifies the network and machine to boot from
and the second specifies the file to boot.
For example, to boot via the Datakit high speed board from the
file server
.B nj/astro/x
type
.IP
.EX
dksd()b hs!nj/astro/bootes /mips/9magnumcpu
.EE
.PP
To boot via the ethernet using the IL protocol type
.IP
.EX
dksd()b il /mips/9magnumcpu
.EE
.SS Hobbit
The ROM uses some variables in non-volatile RAM for booting.
The variables can be examined by typing an
.B e
in response to the ROM prompt
.B '>>>'
and initialized to useful defaults by
.BR 'e\ -i' .
In order to boot the default kernel (ROM variable
.BR bootfile )
.IP
.EX
b -- incon!nj/astro/Nfs
.EE
.PP
and to boot an alternate kernel
.IP
.EX
e bootfile /sys/src/9/hobbit/9cpu
b -- incon!nj/astro/Nfs
.EE
.PP
or
.IP
.EX
b /sys/src/9hobbit/9cpu -- incon!nj/astro/Nfs
.EE
.PP
The second form will also initialize the
.B bootfile
variable.
.PP
Currently, Hobbit boards boot only using
.BR incon .
.SS File servers
The CPU servers and terminals run essentially the same program, but
the Plan 9 file servers run a distinct system.
The file servers accept only the commands described in
.IR fs (8)
on their consoles.
.SS SGI Power Series
To the power-on menu, type a
.B 5
to get the
.B >>
prompt.
Then boot the system like a Magnum but load
.BR 9powerfs .
These files are in
.B /sys/src/fs/power
on
.B bootes
or in
.B /usr/local/boot
on
.BR tempel .
The system will come up automatically.
On
.BR bootes ,
several minutes will be spent initializing the WORM jukebox; the machine
will chat happily while this is going on.
.SS Mips 6280
In response to the PROM
.B >>
prompt, type
.IP
.EX
bootp(,egl)tempel:96280fs
.EE
.SS Sparc Sparcstation
Proceed as for the Sparcstation running as a terminal, but load
.BR /sparc/9ssfs .
.SS Mips Magnum
Proceed as for the Magnum running as a terminal, but load
.BR /mips/9magnumfs .
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IR boot (8),
.IR fs (8),
.IR init (8)
.SH BUGS
The file server should be able to boot from its own disk.