Preface

OpenBoot^(R) 3.x Command Reference describes how to use Sun^(TM) systems that implement firmware that responds as described by IEEE Standard 1275-1994.

Who Should Use This Book

This manual is written for all users, from systems designers to systems administrators and end users, who wish to use OpenBoot to configure and debug their systems.

Contents

This manual contains information on using OpenBoot to perform tasks such as:

• Booting the operating system
• Running diagnostics
• Modifying system start-up configuration parameters
• Loading and executing programs
• Troubleshooting

If you want to write Forth programs or if you want to use the more advanced features of this firmware (such as its debugging capabilities), this manual also describes the commands of the OpenBoot Forth Interpreter.

Assumptions

This manual assumes that you are working on a system that uses Version 3.x OpenBoot. Other OpenBoot implementations may use different prompts and/or formatting, and may not support all of the tools and capabilities described in this manual.

How This Book Is Organized

• Chapter 1, "Overview", describes the user interface and other main features of OpenBoot.
• Chapter 2, "Booting and Testing Your System", explains the most common tasks for which OpenBoot is used.
• Chapter 3, "Setting Configuration Variables", details how to perform system administration tasks with NVRAM parameters.
• Chapter 4, "Using Forth Tools", describes both basic and advanced functions of the OpenBoot Forth language.
• Chapter 5, "Loading and Executing Programs", describes how to load and execute programs from various sources (such as Ethernet, disk, or a serial port).
• Chapter 6, "Debugging", describes OpenBoot's debugging capabilities, including the decompiler, the Forth source-level debugger, and breakpoints.
• Appendix A, "Setting Up a TIP Connection,", describes how to connect your system to another system using serial ports.
• Appendix B, "Building A Bootable Floppy Disk", tells you how to create a bootable floppy diskette from which you can load programs or files.
• Appendix C, "Troubleshooting Guide", discusses solutions for typical situations where you cannot boot the operating system.
• Appendix D, "Forth Word Reference", contains all currently-supported OpenBoot Forth commands.

Related Books

A companion document to this manual is:

• OpenBoot Quick Reference Guide, p/n 802-3240-10.

For information on OpenBoot FCode, refer to:

• Writing FCode 2.x Programs, p/n 801-5123-10

• Writing FCode 3.x Programs, p/n 802-3239-10

For information about Open Firmware, see the following manual:

• IEEE Standard 1275-1994 Standard for Boot (Initialization, Configuration) Firmware, Core Requirements and Practices (IEEE Order Number SH17327. 1-800-678-4333)

For more information about Forth and Forth programming, refer to:

• Programming Languages - Forth, American National Standards Institute, Inc.
• Forth: A Text and Reference, Mahlon G. Kelly and Nicholas Spies. Prentice Hall, 1986.
• Starting FORTH, Leo Brody. FORTH, Inc., second edition, 1987.
• Forth: The New Model, Jack Woehr. M & T Books, 1992.
• Forth Interest Group (1-510-89-FORTH)

What Typographic Changes and Symbols Mean

The following table describes the typeface changes and symbols used in this book.

Typeface or Symbol	Meaning	Example
AaBbCc123	The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output	Edit your .login file. Use ls -a to list all files. machine_name% You have mail.
AaBbCc123	What you type, contrasted with on-screen computer output	machine_name% su Password:
AaBbCc123	Command-line placeholder: replace with a real name or value	To delete a file, type rm filename.
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new words or terms, or words to be emphasized	Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide. These are called class options. You must be root to do this.
Code samples ar	e included in boxes and may display the following:
ok	OpenBoot command prompt	ok
%	UNIX C shell prompt	system%
$	UNIX Bourne and Korn shell prompt	system$
#	Superuser prompt, all shells	system#

This manual follows a number of typographic conventions:

• Keys are indicated by their name. For example:

  Press the Return key.

• When you see two key names separated by a dash, press and hold the first key down, then press the second key. For example:

  To enter Control-C, press and hold Control, then press C, then release both keys.

  Although the keyname (i.e. C in the preceding example) is shown in uppercase, the actual keystroke may be lowercase.

• When you see two key names separated by a space, press and release the first key and then press and release the second key. For example:

  To enter Escape B, press and release Escape, then press and release B.

  Although the keyname (i.e. B in the preceding example) is shown in uppercase, the actual keystroke may be lowercase.

• In a command line, square brackets indicate an optional entry and italics indicate an argument that you must replace with the appropriate text. For example:

  help [word]

• The title line of the portion of the table on the second and succeeding pages contain the notation (Continued) to alert you to the fact that the table continues from the preceding page.

  For example, the first portion of such a split table would look like:

Table P-1

Command	Description
probe-scsi	Identify devices attached to a SCSI bus.

while the second portion of the same table would look like:

Table P-2 (Continued)

Command	Description
test device-specifier	Execute the specified device's self-test method. For example: test floppy - test the floppy drive, if installed test net - test the network connection

Were this table contained in a single page, it would look like:

Table P-3

Command	Description
probe-scsi	Identify devices attached to a SCSI bus.
test device-specifier	Execute the specified device's self-test method. For example: test floppy - test the floppy drive, if installed test net - test the network connection

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