The OpenBoot PROM monitor is based on the Forth programming language, and can be used to run Forth programs that perform the following functions:
Booting the system, by using the boot command
Performing diagnostics on hardware devices by using the diag command
Testing network connectivity by using the watch-net command
The OpenBoot monitor has two prompts from which commands can be issued: the ok prompt, and the > prompt. In order to switch from the > prompt to the ok prompt, you simply need to type n :
> n ok
Commands are typically issued from the ok prompt. These commands include boot , which boots a system from the default system boot device, or from an optional device specified at the prompt. Thus, if a system is at run level 0, and needs to be booted , the boot command with no options specified will boot the system:
ok boot SPARCstation 20, Type 5 Keyboard ROM Rev. 2.4, 256 MB memory installed, Serial #456543 Ethernet address 5:2:12:c:ee:5a HostID 456543 Rebooting with command: Boot device: /iommu@f,e0000000/sbus@f,e0001000/espdma@f,400000/esp@f,8... SunOS Release 5.9 Version Generic 32-bit Copyright (c) 1983-2002 by Sun Microsystems, Inc. configuring IPv4 interfaces: hme0. Hostname: Winston The system is coming up. Please wait. checking ufs filesystems /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s1: is clean. NIS domainname is Cassowary.Net. starting rpc services: rpcbind keyserv ypbind done. Setting netmask of hme0 to 255.255.255.0 Setting default IPv4 interface for multicast: add net 224.0/ 4: gateway Winston syslog service starting. Print services started. volume management starting. The system is ready. winston console login:
Alternatively, if you have modified your hardware configuration since the last boot and you want the new devices to be recognized, you should always reboot using this command:
ok boot -r
This is equivalent to performing a reconfiguration boot using the following command sequence in a shell as the superuser:
# touch /reconfigure; sync; init 6
or
# reboot -- -r
So far, we ve looked at automatic booting. However, sometimes it is desirable to perform a manual boot, using the command boot -a , where parameters at each stage of the booting process can be specified. These parameters include:
The path to the kernel that you wish to boot
The path to the kernel s modules directory
The path to the system file
The type of the root file system
The name of the root device
For example, if we wished to use a different kernel, such as an experimental kernel, we would enter the following parameters during a manual boot:
Rebooting with command: boot -a Boot device: /pci@1f,0/pci@1,2/ide@1/disk@0,1:a File and args: -a Enter filename [kernel/sparcv9/unix]: kernel/experimental/unix Enter default directory for modules [/platform/SUNW,Sparc-20/kernel /platform/sun4m/kernel /kernel /usr/kernel]: Name of system file [etc/system]: SunOS Release 5.9 Version Generic 64-bit Copyright (c) 1983-2002 by Sun Microsystems, Inc. root filesystem type [ufs]: Enter physical name of root device [/pci@1f,0/pci@1,2/ide@1/disk@0,1:a]:
To accept the default parameters, simply press ENTER when prompted. Thus, to only change the path to the experimental kernel, we would enter kernel/experimental/unix at the Enter filename prompt.