When booting Inferno on a PC, the Plan 9 bootstrap programs
are used, hence the references to Plan 9 below.
The DOS program
9load(10.8)
first reads a DOS file
containing configuration information from the boot disk.
This file,
plan9.ini,
looks like a shell script containing lines of the form
name=value
each of which defines a kernel or device parameter.
For devices, the generic format of
value
is
type=TYPE [port=N] [irq=N] [mem=N] [size=N] [dma=N] [ea=N]
specifying the controller type,
the base I/O port of the interface, its interrupt
level, the physical starting address of any mapped memory,
the length in bytes of that memory, the DMA channel,
and for Ethernets an override of the physical network address.
Not all elements are relevant to all devices; the relevant values
and their defaults are defined below in the description of each device.
The file is used by
9load
and the kernel to configure the hardware available.
The information it contains is also passed to the boot
process, and subsequently other programs,
as environment variables
(see also
osinit.dis
in
root(3)).
However, values whose names begin with an asterisk
*
are used by the kernel and are not converted into environment variables.
The following sections describe how variables are used.
- etherX=value
-
This defines an Ethernet interface.
X,
a unique monotonically increasing number beginning at 0,
identifies an Ethernet card to be probed at system boot.
Probing stops when a card is found or there is no line for
etherX+1.
After probing as directed by the
etherX
lines, any remaining ethernet cards that can be automatically
detected are added.
Almost all cards can be automatically detected.
For debugging purposes, automatic probing can
be disabled by specifying the line
*noetherprobe=.
This automatic probing is only done by the kernel, not by
9load(10.8).
Thus, if you want to load a kernel over the ethernet, you need
to specify an
ether0
line so that
9load
can find the ethernet card, even if the kernel would
have automatically detected it.
Some cards are software configurable and do not require all options.
Unspecified options default to the factory defaults.
Known types are
- ne2000
- Not software configurable. 16-bit card.
Defaults are
port=0x300 irq=2 mem=0x04000 size=0x4000
The option (no value)
nodummyrr
is needed on some (near) clones to turn off a dummy remote read in the driver.
- amd79c970
- The AMD PCnet PCI Ethernet Adapter (AM79C970).
(This is the ethernet adapter used by VMware.)
Completely configurable, no options need be given.
- wd8003
- Includes WD8013 and SMC Elite and Elite Ultra cards. There are varying degrees
of software configurability. Cards may be in either 8-bit or 16-bit slots.
Defaults are
port=0x280 irq=3 mem=0xD0000 size=0x2000
BUG: On many machines only the 16 bit card works.
- elnk3
- The 3COM Etherlink III series of cards including the 5x9, 59x, and 905 and 905B.
Completely configurable, no options need be given.
The media may be specified by setting
media=
to the value
10BaseT,
10Base2,
100BaseTX,
100BaseFX,
aui,
and
mii.
If you need to force full duplex, because for example the Ethernet switch does not negotiate correctly,
just name the word (no value)
fullduplex
or
100BASE-TXFD.
Similarly, to force 100Mbit operation, specify
force100.
Port 0x110 is used for the little ISA configuration dance.
- 3c589
- The 3COM 3C589 series PCMCIA cards, including the
3C562 and the 589E.
There is no support for the modem on the 3C562.
Completely configurable, no options need be given.
Defaults are
port=0x240 irq=10
The media may be specified as
media=10BaseT
or
media=10Base2.
- ec2t
- The Linksys Combo PCMCIA EthernetCard (EC2T),
EtherFast 10/100 PCMCIA cards (PCMPC100) and integrated controllers (PCM100),
the Netgear FA410TX 10/100 PCMCIA card
and the Accton EtherPair-PCMCIA (EN2216).
Completely configurable, no options need be given.
Defaults are
port=0x300 irq=9
These cards are NE2000 clones.
Other NE2000 compatible PCMCIA cards may be tried
with the option
id=string
where
string
is a unique identifier string contained in the attribute
memory of the card (see
pcmcia(8));
unlike most options in
plan9.ini,
this string is case-sensitive.
The option
dummyrr=[01]
can be used to turn off (0) or on (1) a dummy remote read in the driver
in such cases,
depending on how NE2000 compatible they are.
- i82557
- Cards using the Intel 8255[789] Fast Ethernet PCI Bus LAN Controller such as the
Intel EtherExpress PRO/100B.
Completely configurable, no options need be given.
If you need to force the media, specify
one of the options (no value)
10BASE-T,
10BASE-2,
10BASE-5,
100BASE-TX,
10BASE-TFD,
100BASE-TXFD,
100BASE-T4,
100BASE-FX,
or
100BASE-FXFD.
- 2114x
- Cards using the Digital Equipment (now Intel) 2114x PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter Controller,
for example the Netgear FA310.
Completely configurable, no options need be given.
Media can be specified the same was as for the
i82557.
Some cards using the
PNIC
and
PNIC2
near-clone chips may also work.
- wavelan
- Lucent Wavelan (Orinoco) IEEE 802.11b
and compatible PCMCIA cards.
Compatible cards include the Dell TrueMobile 1150
and the Linksys Instant Wireless Network PC Card.
Port and IRQ defaults are 0x180 and 3 respectively.
These cards take a number of unique options to aid in
identifying the card correctly on the 802.11b network.
The network may be
ad hoc
or
managed
(i.e. use an access point):
mode=[adhoc, managed]
and defaults to
managed.
The 802.11b network to attach to
(managed
mode)
or identify as
(ad hoc
mode),
is specified by
essid=string
and defaults to a null string.
The card station name is given by
station=string
and defaults to
Plan 9 STA.
The channel to use is given by
channel=number
where
number
lies in the range 1 to 16 inclusive;
the channel is normally negotiated automatically.
If the card is capable of encryption,
the following options may be used:
crypt=[off, on]
and defaults to
on.
keyN=string
sets the encryption key
n
(where
n
is in the range 1 to 4 inclusive) to
string;
this will also set the transmit key to
n
(see below).
txkey=number
sets the transmit key to use to be
number
in the range 1 to 4 inclusive.
If it is desired to exclude or include unencrypted packets
clear=[off, on]
configures reception and defaults to inclusion.
The defaults are intended to match the common case of
a managed network with encryption and a typical entry would
only require, for example
essid=left-armpit key2=fishcalledraawaru
if the port and IRQ defaults are used.
These options may be set after boot by writing to the device's
ctl
file using a space as the separator between option and value, e.g.
echo 'key2 fishcalledraawaru' > /net/ether0/0/ctl
- wavelanpci
- PCI ethernet adapters that use the same Wavelan
programming interface.
Currently the only tested cards are those based on the
Intersil Prism 2.5 chipset.
- 83815
- National Semiconductor DP83815-based adapters, notably
the Netgear FA311, Netgear FA312, and various SiS built-in
controllers such as the SiS900.
On the SiS controllers, the ethernet address is not detected properly;
specify it with an
ea=
attribute.
- rtl8139
- The Realtek 8139.
- 82543gc
- The Intel RS-82543GC gigabit ethernet controller,
as found on the Intel PRO/1000[FT] server adapter.
The older non-[FT] cards based on the 82542 (LSI L2A1157)
chip are not supported, although support would probably be
easy to add.
- smc91cxx
- SMC 91cXX chip-based PCMCIA adapters, notably the SMC EtherEZ card.
- sink
- A
/dev/null
for ethernet packets — the interface discards sent
packets and never receives any.
This is used to provide a test bed for
some experimental ethernet bridging software.
- usbX=type=uhci port=xxx irq=xxx
-
This specifies the settings for a USB UHCI controller.
Like the ethernet controllers, USB controllers are autodetected
after scanning for the ones listed in
plan9.ini.
Thus, most systems will not need a
usbX
line.
Also like the ethernet controllers, USB autoprobing can be
disabled by specifying the line
*nousbprobe=.
- scsiX=value
-
This defines a SCSI interface which cannot be automatically detected
by the kernel.
Known types are
- aha1542
- The Adaptec 154x series of controllers (and clones).
Almost completely configurable, only the
port=0x300
option need be given.
NCR/Symbios/LSI Logic 53c8xx-based adapters
and Mylex MultiMaster (Buslogic BT-*) adapters are
automatically detected and need no entries.
By default, the NCR 53c8xx driver searches for up to 32 controllers.
This can be changed by setting the variable
*maxsd53c8xx.
By default the Mylex driver resets SCSI cards by using
both the hard reset and SCSI bus reset flags in the driver interface.
If a variable
*noscsireset
is defined, the SCSI bus reset flag is omitted.
- Uarts
-
Plan 9 automatically configures COM1 and COM2, if found,
as
eia0
(port 0x3F8, IRQ4)
and
eia1
(port 0x2F8, IRQ3)
respectively.
These devices can be disabled by adding a line:
eiaX=disabled
This is typically done in order to reuse the IRQ for
another device.
The system used to support various serial concentrators,
including the TTC 8 serial line card and various models
in the Star Gate Avanstar series of intelligent serial boards.
These are no longer supported; the much simpler
Perle PCI-Fast4, PCI-Fast8, and PCI-Fast16 controllers
have taken their places.
These latter cards are automatically detected
and need no configuration lines.
The line
serial=type=com
can be used to specify settings for a PCMCIA modem.
- mouseport=value
-
This specifies where the mouse is attached.
Value
can be
- ps2
- the PS2 mouse/keyboard port. The BIOS setup procedure
should be used to configure the machine appropriately.
- ps2intellimouse
- an Intellimouse on the PS2 port.
- 0
- for COM1
- 1
- for COM2
- modemport=value
-
Picks the UART line to call out on.
This is used when connecting to a file server over
an async line.
Value
is the number of the port.
- pccard0=disabled
-
Disable probing for and automatic configuration of PC card controllers.
- pcmciaX=type=XXX irq=value
-
If the default IRQ for the
PCMCIA
is correct, this entry can be omitted. The value of
type
is ignored.
- pcmcia0=disabled
-
Disable probing for and automatic configuration of PCMCIA controllers.
- console=value params
-
This is used to specify the console device.
The default
value is
cga;
a number
0
or
1
specifies
COM1
or
COM2
respectively.
A serial console is initially configured with the
eia(3)
configuration string
b9600
l8
pn
s1,
specifying 9600 baud,
8 bit bytes, no parity, and one stop bit.
If
params
is given, it will be used to further
configure the uart.
Notice that there is no
=
sign in the
params
syntax.
For example,
console=0 b19200 po
would use COM1 at 19,200 baud
with odd parity.
- bootfile=value
-
This is used to direct the actions of
9load(10.8)
by naming the device and file from which to load the kernel.
- partition=value
-
This defines the partition table
9load(10.8)
will examine to find disk partitioning information.
By default, a partition table in a Plan 9 partition
is consulted; if no such table is found, an old-Plan 9
partition table on the next-to-last or last sector
of the disk is consulted.
A value of
new
consults only the first table,
old
only the second.
- *maxmem=value
-
This defines the maximum physical address that the system will scan when sizing memory.
By default the operating system will scan up to 768 megabytes, but setting
*maxmem
will limit the scan.
If the system has more than 768 megabytes, you must set
*maxmem
for the kernel to find it.
*maxmem
must be less than 1.75 gigabytes.
- *kernelpercent=value
-
This defines what percentage of available memory is reserved for the kernel allocation pool.
The remainder is left for user processes. The default
value
is
30
on CPU servers,
60
on terminals with less than 16MB of memory,
and
40
on terminals with memories of 16MB or more.
Terminals use more kernel memory because
draw(3)
maintains its graphic images in kernel memory.
This deprecated option is rarely necessary in newer kernels.
- *nomce=value
-
If machine check exceptions are supported by the processor,
then they are enabled by default.
Setting this variable to
1
causes them to be disabled even when available.
- *nomp=
-
A multiprocessor machine will enable all processors by default.
Setting
*nomp
restricts the kernel to starting only one processor and using the
traditional interrupt controller.
- *ncpu=value
-
Setting
*ncpu
restricts the kernel to starting at most
value
processors.
- *pcimaxbno=value
-
This puts a limit on the maximum bus number probed
on a PCI bus (default 255).
For example, a
value
of 1 should suffice on a 'standard' motherboard with an AGP slot.
This, and
*pcimaxdno
below are rarely used and only on troublesome or suspect hardware.
- *pcimaxdno=value
-
This puts a limit on the maximum device number probed
on a PCI bus (default 31).
- *nopcirouting=
-
Disable pci routing during boot. May solve interrupt routing
problems on certain machines.
- ioexclude=value
-
Specifies a list of ranges I/O ports to exclude from use by drivers.
Ranges are inclusive on both ends and separated by commas.
For example:
ioexclude=0x330-0x337,0x430-0x43F
- apm0=
-
This enables the ``advanced power management'' interface
as described in
apm(3).
The main feature of the interface is the ability to watch
battery life.
It is not on by default because it causes problems on some laptops.
- monitor=value
-
- vgasize=value
-
These are used not by the kernel but by system initialisation.
- *dpms=value
-
This is used to specify the screen blanking behavior of the MGA4xx
video driver.
Values are
standby,
suspend,
and
off.
The first two specify differing levels of power saving;
the third turns the monitor off completely.
- nvr=value
-
This is used by a file server kernel to locate a file holding information
to configure the file system.
The file cannot live on a SCSI disk.
The default is
fd!0!plan9.nvr
(sic),
unless
bootfile
is set, in which case it is
plan9.nvr
on the same disk as
bootfile.
The syntax is either
fd!unit!name
or
hd!unit!name
where
unit
is the numeric unit id.
This variant syntax is a vestige of the file server kernel's origins.
- audioX=value
-
This defines a sound interface.
Known types are
- sb16
- Sound Blaster 16.
- ess1688
- A Sound Blaster clone.
The DMA channel may be any of 5, 6, or 7.
The defaults are
port=0x220 irq=7 dma=5
- fs=a.b.c.d
-
- auth=a.b.c.d
-
These specify the IP address of the file and authentication server
to use when mounting a network-provided root file system.
They are used only if the addresses cannot be determined via DHCP.