Initial Program Loader (Ipl); Using The Keyboard - Symbol PDT 7200 Series Product Reference Manual

PDT 7200 Series Product Reference Guide

Initial Program Loader (IPL)

Initial Program Loader (IPL) is a small utility program that is built into each terminal. The
purpose of IPL is to verify the flash contents prior to a cold boot of the system, and to
provide a simple method of updating the flash contents via the serial port or cradle. The
images that IPL can accept are in the form of "hex" files" that contain not only the data to
be downloaded to the terminal, but also sufficient extra information to ensure that each hex
file contains an image for a single partition. Hex files for standard system components such
as the BIOS and Setup are provided by Symbol. Hex files for custom components, such as
disk images or custom partition maps are built on a PC using the TCM program. IPL is only
capable of loading whole partitions (it cannot update individual files in a disk image).

Using the Keyboard

Operation of the IPL is controlled by the keyboard. IPL recognizes the following keys:
• Cursor Up
• Cursor Down
• Enter or Trigger
• Backlight
• Lighter
• Darker
The effects of these keys are as follows:
Cursor Up/Down Whenever these keys are pressed in a menu screen, they cause the
Enter or Trigger
Backlight
Lighter/Darker
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previous/next item in the menu to be highlighted. Moving off the end of a
menu causes a wrap to the other end of the menu list. If the menu is longer
than the screen is deep, then screen will automatically scroll up or down to
keep the highlighted item visible on the screen.
Whenever this key is pressed in a menu screen, the currently highlighted
item is selected, and IPL advances to the next screen. If the system
supports more than one trigger, then any of the triggers can be used as the
Enter key.
Pressing this key toggles the backlight (if present) between on and off. This
key is always active (even if IPL is not in a menu screen).
Each press of these keys adjusts the screen contrast up or down. The keys
are always active (even if IPL is not in a menu screen).