96 lines
2.9 KiB
Groff
96 lines
2.9 KiB
Groff
.\" $NetBSD: kloader.4,v 1.2 2004/04/03 15:19:49 wiz Exp $
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.\"
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.\" Copyright (c) 2004 Valeriy E. Ushakov
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.\" All rights reserved.
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.\"
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.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
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.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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.\" are met:
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.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
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.\" 2. Neither the name of the author nor the names of any
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.\" contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived
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.\" from this software without specific prior written permission.
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.\"
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.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS
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.\" ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
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.\" TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
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.\" PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR CONTRIBUTORS
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.\" BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
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.\" CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
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.\" SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
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.\" INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
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.\" CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
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.\" ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
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.\" POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
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.\"
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.Dd April 3, 2004
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.Dt KLOADER 4
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.Os
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.Sh NAME
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.Nm kloader
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.Nd in-kernel bootloader
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.Sh SYNOPSIS
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.Cd options KLOADER
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.Cd options KLOADER_KERNEL_PATH="\e"/netbsd\e""
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.Sh DESCRIPTION
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The
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.Nm
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is the in-kernel bootloader for platforms that do not have a proper
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firmware.
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.Pp
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Some platforms supported by
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.Nx
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do not have a firmware that can boot the
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.Nx
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kernel.
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Examples are game consoles (dreamcast and playstation2 ports), and
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handhelds (hpcarm, hpcmips, and hpcsh ports).
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On such platforms the bootloader is usually a host program that runs
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under the native OS.
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This means that rebooting
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.Nx
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is a lengthy process of booting into the native OS first,
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launching the bootloader program, and finally booting
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.Nx
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again.
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This problem is addressed by
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.Nm ,
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which allows the currently running kernel to serve as a bootloader
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for the kernel being booted, thus avoiding the burden of booting
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into the native OS first.
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.Pp
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When
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.Nm
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is configured into the kernel, a call to
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.Xr reboot 2
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causes the
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.Nm
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to load the new kernel into memory, and arrange for control to be
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passed to the new kernel \(em just like a standalone bootloader does.
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The new kernel then boots in the ordinary manner.
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.Sh SEE ALSO
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.Xr reboot 2 ,
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.Xr boot 8 ,
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.Xr reboot 8
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.Sh HISTORY
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.Nm
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first appeared in
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.Nx 1.6 .
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.Sh BUGS
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.Nm
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ignores
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.Fa howto
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and
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.Fa bootstr
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arguments passed to the
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.Xr reboot 2
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system call, and reboots the system with the previous boot settings.
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.Pp
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.Nm
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doesn't support booting compressed kernels.
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.Pp
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The hpcarm port doesn't support
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.Nm
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yet.
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