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Network Boot
Network Auto Boot is a software routine in the PPCBug firmware which
provides a mechanism for booting an operating system using a network
(local Ethernet interface) as the boot device. The Network Auto Boot
routine automatically scans for controllers and devices in a specified
sequence until a valid bootable device containing boot media is found or
until the list is exhausted. If a valid bootable device is found, a boot from
that device is started. The controller scanning sequence goes from the
lowest controller Logical Unit Number (LUN) detected to the highest LUN
detected.
At power-up, Network Boot is enabled and (provided that the drive and
controller numbers encountered are valid) the following message is
displayed upon the system console:
Network Boot in progress... To abort hit <BREAK>
After this message, there is a delay to let you abort the Auto Boot process
if you wish. Then the actual I/O is begun: the program designated within
the volume ID of the media specified is loaded into RAM and control
passes to it. If you want to gain control without Network Boot during this
time, however, you can press the <BREAK> key or use the software
ABORT
Network Auto Boot is controlled by parameters contained in the NIOT
and ENV commands. These parameters allow the selection of specific
boot devices, systems, and files, and allow programming of the Boot delay.
Refer to the ENV command description in Chapter 3 for more details.
Restarting the System
You can initialize the system to a known state in three different ways:
Reset, Abort, and Break. Each method has characteristics which make it
more suitable than the others in certain situations.
A special debugger function is accessible during resets. This feature
instructs the debugger to use the default setup/operation parameters in
ROM instead of your own setup/operation parameters in NVRAM. To
activate this function, you press the
2-9
or
switches.
RESET
Restarting the System
and
switches at the
RESET
ABORT
2
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