plan9.ini 22 KB

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  1. .TH PLAN9.INI 8
  2. .SH NAME
  3. plan9.ini \- configuration file for PCs
  4. .SH SYNOPSIS
  5. .I none
  6. .SH DESCRIPTION
  7. When booting Plan 9 on a PC, the DOS program
  8. .IR 9load (8)
  9. first reads a DOS file
  10. containing configuration information from the boot disk.
  11. This file,
  12. .BR plan9.ini ,
  13. looks like a shell script containing lines of the form
  14. .PP
  15. .EX
  16. name=\f2value\fP
  17. .EE
  18. .LP
  19. each of which defines a kernel or device parameter.
  20. .PP
  21. For devices, the generic format of
  22. .I value
  23. is
  24. .PP
  25. .EX
  26. type=TYPE [port=N] [irq=N] [mem=N] [size=N] [dma=N] [ea=N]
  27. .EE
  28. .LP
  29. specifying the controller type,
  30. the base I/O port of the interface, its interrupt
  31. level, the physical starting address of any mapped memory,
  32. the length in bytes of that memory, the DMA channel,
  33. and for Ethernets an override of the physical network address.
  34. Not all elements are relevant to all devices; the relevant values
  35. and their defaults are defined below in the description of each device.
  36. .PP
  37. The file is used by
  38. .B 9load
  39. and the kernel to configure the hardware available.
  40. The information it contains is also passed to the boot
  41. process, and subsequently other programs,
  42. as environment variables
  43. (see
  44. .IR boot (8)).
  45. However, values whose names begin with an asterisk
  46. .B *
  47. are used by the kernel and are not converted into environment variables.
  48. .PP
  49. The following sections describe how variables are used.
  50. .SS \fLetherX=value\fP
  51. This defines an Ethernet interface.
  52. .IR X ,
  53. a unique monotonically increasing number beginning at 0,
  54. identifies an Ethernet card to be probed at system boot.
  55. Probing stops when a card is found or there is no line for
  56. .BR etherX+1 .
  57. After probing as directed by the
  58. .BI ether X
  59. lines, any remaining ethernet cards that can be automatically
  60. detected are added.
  61. Almost all cards can be automatically detected.
  62. For debugging purposes, automatic probing can
  63. be disabled by specifying the line
  64. .BR *noetherprobe= .
  65. This automatic probing is only done by the kernel, not by
  66. .IR 9load (8).
  67. Thus, if you want to load a kernel over the ethernet, you need
  68. to specify an
  69. .B ether0
  70. line so that
  71. .I 9load
  72. can find the ethernet card, even if the kernel would
  73. have automatically detected it.
  74. .PP
  75. Some cards are software configurable and do not require all options.
  76. Unspecified options default to the factory defaults.
  77. .PP
  78. Known types are
  79. .TP
  80. .B ne2000
  81. Not software configurable. 16-bit card.
  82. Defaults are
  83. .EX
  84. port=0x300 irq=2 mem=0x04000 size=0x4000
  85. .EE
  86. The option (no value)
  87. .B nodummyrr
  88. is needed on some (near) clones to turn off a dummy remote read in the driver.
  89. .TP
  90. .B amd79c970
  91. The AMD PCnet PCI Ethernet Adapter (AM79C970).
  92. (This is the ethernet adapter used by VMware.)
  93. Completely configurable, no options need be given.
  94. .TP
  95. .B wd8003
  96. Includes WD8013 and SMC Elite and Elite Ultra cards. There are varying degrees
  97. of software configurability. Cards may be in either 8-bit or 16-bit slots.
  98. Defaults are
  99. .EX
  100. port=0x280 irq=3 mem=0xD0000 size=0x2000
  101. .EE
  102. BUG: On many machines only the 16 bit card works.
  103. .TP
  104. .B elnk3
  105. The 3COM Etherlink III series of cards including the 5x9, 59x, and 905 and 905B.
  106. Completely configurable, no options need be given.
  107. The media may be specified by setting
  108. .B media=
  109. to the value
  110. .BR 10BaseT ,
  111. .BR 10Base2 ,
  112. .BR 100BaseTX ,
  113. .BR 100BaseFX ,
  114. .BR aui ,
  115. and
  116. .BR mii .
  117. If you need to force full duplex, because for example the Ethernet switch does not negotiate correctly,
  118. just name the word (no value)
  119. .B fullduplex
  120. or
  121. .BR 100BASE-TXFD .
  122. Similarly, to force 100Mbit operation, specify
  123. .BR force100 .
  124. Port 0x110 is used for the little ISA configuration dance.
  125. .TP
  126. .B 3c589
  127. The 3COM 3C589 series PCMCIA cards, including the
  128. 3C562 and the 589E.
  129. There is no support for the modem on the 3C562.
  130. Completely configurable, no options need be given.
  131. Defaults are
  132. .EX
  133. port=0x240 irq=10
  134. .EE
  135. The media may be specified as
  136. .B media=10BaseT
  137. or
  138. .BR media=10Base2 .
  139. .TP
  140. .B ec2t
  141. The Linksys Combo PCMCIA EthernetCard (EC2T),
  142. EtherFast 10/100 PCMCIA cards (PCMPC100) and integrated controllers (PCM100),
  143. the Netgear FA410TX 10/100 PCMCIA card
  144. and the Accton EtherPair-PCMCIA (EN2216).
  145. Completely configurable, no options need be given.
  146. Defaults are
  147. .EX
  148. port=0x300 irq=9
  149. .EE
  150. These cards are NE2000 clones.
  151. Other NE2000 compatible PCMCIA cards may be tried
  152. with the option
  153. .EX
  154. id=string
  155. .EE
  156. where
  157. .B string
  158. is a unique identifier string contained in the attribute
  159. memory of the card (see
  160. .IR pcmcia (8));
  161. unlike most options in
  162. .BR plan9.ini ,
  163. this string is case-sensitive.
  164. The option
  165. .B dummyrr=[01]
  166. can be used to turn off (0) or on (1) a dummy remote read in the driver
  167. in such cases,
  168. depending on how NE2000 compatible they are.
  169. .TP
  170. .B i82557
  171. Cards using the Intel 8255[789] Fast Ethernet PCI Bus LAN Controller such as the
  172. Intel EtherExpress PRO/100B.
  173. Completely configurable, no options need be given.
  174. If you need to force the media, specify
  175. one of the options (no value)
  176. .BR 10BASE-T ,
  177. .BR 10BASE-2 ,
  178. .BR 10BASE-5 ,
  179. .BR 100BASE-TX ,
  180. .BR 10BASE-TFD ,
  181. .BR 100BASE-TXFD ,
  182. .BR 100BASE-T4 ,
  183. .BR 100BASE-FX ,
  184. or
  185. .BR 100BASE-FXFD .
  186. .TP
  187. .B 2114x
  188. Cards using the Digital Equipment (now Intel) 2114x PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter Controller,
  189. for example the Netgear FA310.
  190. Completely configurable, no options need be given.
  191. Media can be specified the same was as for the
  192. .BR i82557 .
  193. Some cards using the
  194. .B PNIC
  195. and
  196. .B PNIC2
  197. near-clone chips may also work.
  198. .\" .TP
  199. .\" .B ga620
  200. .\" Netgear GA620 and GA620T Gigabit Ethernet cards,
  201. .\" and other cards using the Alteon Acenic chip such as the
  202. .\" Alteon Acenic fiber and copper cards,
  203. .\" the DEC DEGPA-SA and the SGI Acenic.
  204. .\" Completely configurable.
  205. .TP
  206. .B wavelan
  207. Lucent Wavelan (Orinoco) IEEE 802.11b
  208. and compatible PCMCIA cards.
  209. Compatible cards include the Dell TrueMobile 1150
  210. and the Linksys Instant Wireless Network PC Card.
  211. Port and IRQ defaults are 0x180 and 3 respectively.
  212. These cards take a number of unique options to aid in
  213. identifying the card correctly on the 802.11b network.
  214. The network may be
  215. .I "ad hoc"
  216. or
  217. .I managed
  218. (i.e. use an access point):
  219. .EX
  220. mode=[adhoc, managed]
  221. .EE
  222. and defaults to
  223. .IR managed .
  224. The 802.11b network to attach to
  225. .RI ( managed
  226. mode)
  227. or identify as
  228. .RI ( "ad hoc"
  229. mode),
  230. is specified by
  231. .EX
  232. essid=string
  233. .EE
  234. and defaults to a null string.
  235. The card station name is given by
  236. .EX
  237. station=string
  238. .EE
  239. and defaults to
  240. .IR "Plan 9 STA" .
  241. The channel to use is given by
  242. .EX
  243. channel=number
  244. .EE
  245. where
  246. .I number
  247. lies in the range 1 to 16 inclusive;
  248. the channel is normally negotiated automatically.
  249. If the card is capable of encryption,
  250. the following options may be used:
  251. .EX
  252. crypt=[off, on]
  253. .EE
  254. and defaults to
  255. .IR on .
  256. .EX
  257. key\fIN\fP=string
  258. .EE
  259. sets the encryption key
  260. .I N
  261. (where
  262. .I N
  263. is in the range 1 to 4 inclusive) to
  264. .IR string ;
  265. this will also set the transmit key to
  266. .I N
  267. (see below).
  268. There are two formats for
  269. .I string
  270. which depend on the length of the string.
  271. If it is exactly 5 or 13 characters long it is assumed
  272. to be an alphanumeric key; if it is exactly 10 or 26 characters
  273. long the key is assumed to be in hex format (without a leading
  274. .IR 0x ).
  275. The lengths are checked,
  276. as is the format of a hex key.
  277. .EX
  278. txkey=number
  279. .EE
  280. sets the transmit key to use to be
  281. .I number
  282. in the range 1 to 4 inclusive.
  283. If it is desired to exclude or include unencrypted packets
  284. .EX
  285. clear=[off, on]
  286. .EE
  287. configures reception and defaults to inclusion.
  288. The defaults are intended to match the common case of
  289. a managed network with encryption and a typical entry would
  290. only require, for example
  291. .EX
  292. essid=left-armpit key1=afish key2=calledraawaru
  293. .EE
  294. if the port and IRQ defaults are used.
  295. These options may be set after boot by writing to the device's
  296. .I ctl
  297. file using a space as the separator between option and value, e.g.
  298. .EX
  299. echo 'key2 1d8f65c9a52d83c8e4b43f94af' > /net/ether0/0/ctl
  300. .EE
  301. Card-specific power management may be enabled/disabled by
  302. .EX
  303. pm=[on, off]
  304. .EE
  305. .TP
  306. .B wavelanpci
  307. PCI ethernet adapters that use the same Wavelan
  308. programming interface.
  309. Currently the only tested cards are those based on the
  310. Intersil Prism 2.5 chipset.
  311. .TP
  312. .B 83815
  313. National Semiconductor DP83815-based adapters, notably
  314. the Netgear FA311, Netgear FA312, and various SiS built-in
  315. controllers such as the SiS900.
  316. On the SiS controllers, the ethernet address is not detected properly;
  317. specify it with an
  318. .B ea=
  319. attribute.
  320. .\" .TP
  321. .\" .B 83820
  322. .\" National Semiconductor DP83820-based gigabit ethernet adapters, notably
  323. .\" the D-Link DGE-500T.
  324. .TP
  325. .B rtl8139
  326. The Realtek 8139.
  327. .TP
  328. .B igbe
  329. The Intel 8254X Gigabit Ethernet controllers,
  330. as found on the Intel PRO/1000 adapters for copper (not fiber).
  331. .TP
  332. .B smc91cxx
  333. SMC 91cXX chip-based PCMCIA adapters, notably the SMC EtherEZ card.
  334. .TP
  335. .B sink
  336. A
  337. .B /dev/null
  338. for ethernet packets \(em the interface discards sent
  339. packets and never receives any.
  340. This is used to provide a test bed for
  341. some experimental ethernet bridging software.
  342. .SS \fLusbX=type=uhci port=xxx irq=xxx\fP
  343. This specifies the settings for a USB UHCI controller.
  344. Like the ethernet controllers, USB controllers are autodetected
  345. after scanning for the ones listed in
  346. .IR plan9.ini .
  347. Thus, most systems will not need a
  348. .B usbX
  349. line.
  350. Also like the ethernet controllers, USB autoprobing can be
  351. disabled by specifying the line
  352. .BR *nousbprobe= .
  353. .SS \fLscsiX=value\fP
  354. This defines a SCSI interface which cannot be automatically detected
  355. by the kernel.
  356. .PP
  357. Known types are
  358. .TP
  359. .B aha1542
  360. The Adaptec 154x series of controllers (and clones).
  361. Almost completely configurable, only the
  362. .EX
  363. port=0x300
  364. .EE
  365. option need be given.
  366. .PP
  367. NCR/Symbios/LSI Logic 53c8xx-based adapters
  368. and Mylex MultiMaster (Buslogic BT-*) adapters are
  369. automatically detected and need no entries.
  370. .PP
  371. By default, the NCR 53c8xx driver searches for up to 32 controllers.
  372. This can be changed by setting the variable
  373. .BR *maxsd53c8xx .
  374. .PP
  375. By default the Mylex driver resets SCSI cards by using
  376. both the hard reset and SCSI bus reset flags in the driver interface.
  377. If a variable
  378. .BR *noscsireset
  379. is defined, the SCSI bus reset flag is omitted.
  380. .SS Uarts
  381. Plan 9 automatically configures COM1 and COM2, if found,
  382. as
  383. .B eia0
  384. (port 0x3F8, IRQ4)
  385. and
  386. .B eia1
  387. (port 0x2F8, IRQ3)
  388. respectively.
  389. These devices can be disabled by adding a line:
  390. .EX
  391. eia\fIX\fP=disabled
  392. .EE
  393. This is typically done in order to reuse the IRQ for
  394. another device.
  395. .PP
  396. Plan 9 used to support various serial concentrators,
  397. including the TTC 8 serial line card and various models
  398. in the Star Gate Avanstar series of intelligent serial boards.
  399. These are no longer supported; the much simpler
  400. Perle PCI-Fast4, PCI-Fast8, and PCI-Fast16 controllers
  401. have taken their places.
  402. These latter cards are automatically detected
  403. and need no configuration lines.
  404. .PP
  405. The line
  406. .B serial=type=com
  407. can be used to specify settings for a PCMCIA modem.
  408. .SS \fLmouseport=value\fP
  409. This specifies where the mouse is attached.
  410. .I Value
  411. can be
  412. .TP
  413. .B ps2
  414. the PS2 mouse/keyboard port. The BIOS setup procedure
  415. should be used to configure the machine appropriately.
  416. .TP
  417. .B ps2intellimouse
  418. an Intellimouse on the PS2 port.
  419. .TP
  420. .B 0
  421. for COM1
  422. .TP
  423. .B 1
  424. for COM2
  425. .SS \fLmodemport=value\fP
  426. Picks the UART line to call out on.
  427. This is used when connecting to a file server over
  428. an async line.
  429. .I Value
  430. is the number of the port.
  431. .SS \fLpccard0=disabled\fP
  432. Disable probing for and automatic configuration of PC card controllers.
  433. .SS \fLpcmciaX=type=XXX irq=value\fP
  434. If the default IRQ for the
  435. PCMCIA
  436. is correct, this entry can be omitted. The value of
  437. .B type
  438. is ignored.
  439. .SS \fLpcmcia0=disabled\fP
  440. Disable probing for and automatic configuration of PCMCIA controllers.
  441. .SS \fLconsole=value params\fP
  442. This is used to specify the console device.
  443. The default
  444. value is
  445. .BR cga ;
  446. a number
  447. .B 0
  448. or
  449. .B 1
  450. specifies
  451. .I COM1
  452. or
  453. .I COM2
  454. respectively.
  455. A serial console is initially configured with the
  456. .IR uart (3)
  457. configuration string
  458. .B b9600
  459. .B l8
  460. .B pn
  461. .BR s1 ,
  462. specifying 9600 baud,
  463. 8 bit bytes, no parity, and one stop bit.
  464. If
  465. .I params
  466. is given, it will be used to further
  467. configure the uart.
  468. Notice that there is no
  469. .B =
  470. sign in the
  471. .I params
  472. syntax.
  473. For example,
  474. .EX
  475. console=0 b19200 po
  476. .EE
  477. would use COM1 at 19,200 baud
  478. with odd parity.
  479. .SS \fLbootfile=value\fP
  480. This is used to direct the actions of
  481. .IR 9load (8)
  482. by naming the device and file from which to load the kernel.
  483. .SS \fLrootdir=dir\fP
  484. .SS \fLrootspec=spec\fP
  485. These are used by
  486. .IR 9load (8)
  487. to identify the directory
  488. .I dir
  489. to make the root directory for the kernel, and the
  490. file system specifier
  491. .I spec
  492. (see
  493. .B mount
  494. in
  495. .IR bind (2))
  496. on which it can be found.
  497. These are usually used to test variant file systems for distributions, etc.
  498. .SS \fLbootargs=value\fP
  499. The value of this variable is passed to
  500. .IR boot (8)
  501. by the kernel as the name of the root file system.
  502. It is typically used to specify additional arguments to
  503. pass to
  504. .IR kfs (4)
  505. or
  506. .IR ipconfig (8).
  507. For example, if the system is to run from a local
  508. .IR kfs (4)
  509. partition, the definition might read
  510. .BR bootargs=local!#S/sdC0/fs .
  511. See
  512. .IR boot (8)
  513. for more.
  514. .SS \fLnobootprompt=value\fP
  515. Suppress the
  516. .L "root from"
  517. prompt and use
  518. .I value
  519. as the answer instead.
  520. .SS \fLuser=value\fP
  521. Suppress the
  522. .L "user"
  523. prompt and use
  524. .I value
  525. as the answer instead.
  526. .SS \fLdebugfactotum=\fP
  527. Causes
  528. .IR boot (8)
  529. to start factotum with the
  530. .B -p
  531. flag, so that it can be debugged.
  532. .SS \fLventi=value\fP
  533. When booting from a local fossil server backed by a local
  534. or remote venti server,
  535. this variable specifies how to establish the connection to the
  536. venti server.
  537. See
  538. .IR boot (8)
  539. for more.
  540. .SS \fLcfs=value\fP
  541. This gives the name of the file holding the disk partition
  542. for the cache file system,
  543. .IR cfs (4).
  544. Extending the
  545. .B bootargs
  546. example, one would write
  547. .BR cfs=#S/sdC0/cache .
  548. .SS \fLbootdisk=value\fP
  549. This deprecated variable was used to specify the disk used by
  550. the cache file system and other disk-resident services.
  551. It is superseded by
  552. .B bootargs
  553. and
  554. .BR cfs .
  555. .SS \fLpartition=value\fP
  556. This defines the partition table
  557. .IR 9load (8)
  558. will examine to find disk partitioning information.
  559. By default, a partition table in a Plan 9 partition
  560. is consulted; if no such table is found, an old-Plan 9
  561. partition table on the next-to-last or last sector
  562. of the disk is consulted.
  563. A value of
  564. .B new
  565. consults only the first table,
  566. .B old
  567. only the second.
  568. .SS \fL*norealmode=\fP
  569. The kernel switches the processor to 16-bit real mode
  570. to run BIOS interrupts, for example to find the memory map or to enable VESA.
  571. This variable disables such switches.
  572. .SS \fL*noe820scan=\fP
  573. When available, the kernel uses the BIOS E820 memory map
  574. to size memory. This variable disables the scan.
  575. .SS \fL*maxmem=value\fP
  576. This defines the maximum physical address that the system will scan when sizing memory.
  577. By default the operating system will scan up to 3.75 gigabytes
  578. (0xF0000000, the base of kernel virtual address space), but setting
  579. .B *maxmem
  580. will limit the scan.
  581. .\" If the system has more than 3.75 gigabytes, you must set
  582. .\" .B *maxmem
  583. .\" for the kernel to find it.
  584. .B *maxmem
  585. must be less than 3.75 gigabytes.
  586. This variable is not consulted if using the E820 memory map.
  587. .SS \fL*kernelpercent=value\fP
  588. This defines what percentage of available memory is reserved for the kernel allocation pool.
  589. The remainder is left for user processes. The default
  590. .I value
  591. is
  592. .B 30
  593. on CPU servers,
  594. .B 60
  595. on terminals with less than 16MB of memory,
  596. and
  597. .B 40
  598. on terminals with memories of 16MB or more.
  599. Terminals use more kernel memory because
  600. .IR draw (3)
  601. maintains its graphic images in kernel memory.
  602. This deprecated option is rarely necessary in newer kernels.
  603. .SS \fL*nomce=value\fP
  604. If machine check exceptions are supported by the processor,
  605. then they are enabled by default.
  606. Setting this variable to
  607. .B 1
  608. causes them to be disabled even when available.
  609. .SS \fL*nomp=\fP
  610. A multiprocessor machine will enable all processors by default.
  611. Setting
  612. .B *nomp
  613. restricts the kernel to starting only one processor and using the
  614. traditional interrupt controller.
  615. .SS \fL*ncpu=value\fP
  616. Setting
  617. .B *ncpu
  618. restricts the kernel to starting at most
  619. .I value
  620. processors.
  621. .SS \fL*pcimaxbno=value\fP
  622. This puts a limit on the maximum bus number probed
  623. on a PCI bus (default 255).
  624. For example, a
  625. .I value
  626. of 1 should suffice on a 'standard' motherboard with an AGP slot.
  627. This, and
  628. .B *pcimaxdno
  629. below are rarely used and only on troublesome or suspect hardware.
  630. .SS \fL*pcimaxdno=value\fP
  631. This puts a limit on the maximum device number probed
  632. on a PCI bus (default 31).
  633. .SS \fL*nopcirouting=\fP
  634. Disable pci routing during boot. May solve interrupt routing
  635. problems on certain machines.
  636. .SS \fL*nodumpstack=\fP
  637. Disable printing a stack dump on panic.
  638. Useful if there is only a limited cga screen available,
  639. otherwise the textual information about the panic may scroll off.
  640. .\" .SS \fL*nobios=\fP
  641. .\" what does this do? something with pci
  642. .SS \fLioexclude=value\fP
  643. Specifies a list of ranges of I/O ports to exclude from use by drivers.
  644. Ranges are inclusive on both ends and separated by commas.
  645. For example:
  646. .EX
  647. ioexclude=0x330-0x337,0x430-0x43F
  648. .EE
  649. .SS \fLumbexclude=value\fP
  650. Specifies a list of ranges of UMB to exclude from use by drivers.
  651. Ranges are inclusive on both ends and separated by commas.
  652. For example:
  653. .EX
  654. umbexclude=0xD1800-0xD3FFF
  655. .EE
  656. .SS \fLapm0=\fP
  657. This enables the ``advanced power management'' interface
  658. as described in
  659. .IR apm (3)
  660. and
  661. .IR apm (8).
  662. The main feature of the interface is the ability to watch
  663. battery life (see
  664. .IR stats (8)).
  665. It is not on by default because it causes problems on some laptops.
  666. .SS \fLmonitor=value\fP
  667. .SS \fLvgasize=value\fP
  668. These are used not by the kernel but by
  669. .I termrc
  670. (see
  671. .IR cpurc (8))
  672. when starting
  673. .IR vga (8).
  674. .SS \fL*dpms=value\fP
  675. This is used to specify the screen blanking behavior of the MGA4xx
  676. video driver.
  677. Values are
  678. .BR standby ,
  679. .BR suspend ,
  680. and
  681. .BR off .
  682. The first two specify differing levels of power saving;
  683. the third turns the monitor off completely.
  684. .SS \fLnvram=file\fP
  685. .SS \fLnvrlen=length\fP
  686. .SS \fLnvroff=offset\fP
  687. This is used to specify an nvram device and optionally the length of the ram
  688. and read/write offset to use.
  689. These values are consulted by
  690. .I readnvram
  691. (see
  692. .IR authsrv (2)).
  693. The most common use of the nvram is to hold a
  694. .IR secstore (1)
  695. password for use by
  696. .IR factotum (4).
  697. .SS \fLnvr=value\fP
  698. This is used by the WORM file server kernel to locate a file holding information
  699. to configure the file system.
  700. The file cannot live on a SCSI disk.
  701. The default is
  702. .B fd!0!plan9.nvr
  703. (sic),
  704. unless
  705. .B bootfile
  706. is set, in which case it is
  707. .B plan9.nvr
  708. on the same disk as
  709. .BR bootfile .
  710. The syntax is either
  711. .BI fd! unit ! name
  712. or
  713. .BI hd! unit ! name
  714. where
  715. .I unit
  716. is the numeric unit id.
  717. This variant syntax is a vestige of the file server kernel's origins.
  718. .SS \fLaudioX=value\fP
  719. This defines a sound interface.
  720. .PP
  721. Known types are
  722. .TP
  723. .B sb16
  724. Sound Blaster 16.
  725. .TP
  726. .B ess1688
  727. A Sound Blaster clone.
  728. .PP
  729. The DMA channel may be any of 5, 6, or 7.
  730. The defaults are
  731. .EX
  732. port=0x220 irq=7 dma=5
  733. .EE
  734. .SS \fLfs=a.b.c.d\fP
  735. .SS \fLauth=a.b.c.d\fP
  736. These specify the IP address of the file and authentication server
  737. to use when mounting a network-provided root file system.
  738. They are used only if the addresses cannot be determined via DHCP.
  739. .SH Multiple Configurations
  740. .PP
  741. A
  742. .B plan9.ini
  743. file may contain multiple configurations,
  744. each within a block beginning with a line
  745. .EX
  746. [tag]
  747. .EE
  748. A special block with the tag
  749. .B menu
  750. gives a list of blocks from which the user may
  751. interactively select the contents of
  752. .BR plan9.ini .
  753. There may also be multiple blocks with the tag
  754. .B common
  755. which will be included in all selections;
  756. if any lines appear in
  757. .B plan9.ini
  758. before the first block,
  759. they are treated as a
  760. .B common
  761. block.
  762. .LP
  763. Within the
  764. .B menu
  765. block the following configuration lines are allowed:
  766. .SS \fLmenuitem=tag[, description]
  767. The block identified by
  768. .B tag
  769. will appear in the presented menu.
  770. The menu entry will consist of the
  771. .B tag
  772. unless the optional
  773. .B description
  774. is given.
  775. .SS \fLmenudefault=tag[, timeout]
  776. Identifies a default block to be given in the
  777. menu selection prompt.
  778. If the optional
  779. .B timeout
  780. is given (in seconds),
  781. the default block will be selected if there is no user
  782. input within the timeout period.
  783. .SS \fLmenuconsole=value[, baud]
  784. Selects a serial console upon which to present the menu
  785. as no
  786. .B console
  787. or
  788. .B baud
  789. configuration information will have been processed yet
  790. (the
  791. .B plan9.ini
  792. contents are still to be decided...).
  793. .LP
  794. In response to the menu being printed,
  795. the user is prompted to select a menu item from the list.
  796. If the numeric response is followed by a
  797. .BR p ,
  798. the selected configuration is printed and the menu presented
  799. again.
  800. .LP
  801. The line
  802. .EX
  803. menuitem=tag
  804. .EE
  805. is prefixed to the selected configuration as an aid to
  806. user-level initialization scripts.
  807. .SH EXAMPLES
  808. .PP
  809. A representative
  810. .BR plan9.ini :
  811. .IP
  812. .EX
  813. % cat /n/c:/plan9.ini
  814. ether0=type=3C509
  815. mouseport=ps2
  816. modemport=1
  817. serial0=type=generic port=0x3E8 irq=5
  818. monitor=445x
  819. vgasize=1600x1200x8
  820. %
  821. .EE
  822. .PP
  823. Minimum CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to use
  824. COM2 as a console:
  825. .IP
  826. .EX
  827. % cat /n/c:/config.sys
  828. SHELL=COMMAND.COM COM2 /P
  829. % cat /n/c:/autoexec.bat
  830. @ECHO OFF
  831. PROMPT $p$g
  832. PATH C:\eDOS;C:\eBIN
  833. mode com2:96,n,8,1,p
  834. SET TEMP=C:\eTMP
  835. %
  836. .EE
  837. .PP
  838. Simple
  839. .B plan9.ini
  840. with multiple configurations:
  841. .IP
  842. .EX
  843. [menu]
  844. menuitem=vga, Plan 9 with VGA
  845. menuitem=novga, Plan 9 no automatic VGA
  846. menudefault=vga
  847. [vga]
  848. monitor=multisync135
  849. vgasize=1024x768x8
  850. [novga]
  851. [common]
  852. ether0=type=i82557
  853. audio0=type=sb16 port=0x220 irq=5 dma=1
  854. .EE
  855. .PP
  856. With this, the following menu will be presented on boot:
  857. .IP
  858. .EX
  859. Plan 9 Startup Menu:
  860. ====================
  861. 1. Plan 9 with VGA
  862. 2. Plan 9 no automatic VGA
  863. Selection[default==1]:
  864. .EE
  865. .PP
  866. Selecting item 1 generates the following
  867. .B plan9.ini
  868. to be used by the remainder of the bootstrap process:
  869. .IP
  870. .EX
  871. menuitem=vga
  872. monitor=multisync135
  873. vgasize=1024x768x8
  874. ether0=type=i82557
  875. audio0=type=sb16 port=0x220 irq=5 dma=1
  876. .EE
  877. .PP
  878. and selecting item 2:
  879. .IP
  880. .EX
  881. menuitem=novga
  882. ether0=type=i82557
  883. audio0=type=sb16 port=0x220 irq=5 dma=1
  884. .EE
  885. .SH "SEE ALSO"
  886. .IR 9load (8),
  887. .IR booting (8),
  888. .IR boot (8)
  889. .SH BUGS
  890. Being able to set the console device to other than a
  891. display is marginally useful on file servers; MS-DOS
  892. and the programs which run under it are so tightly bound
  893. to the display that it is necessary to have a display if any
  894. setup or reconfiguration programs need to be run.
  895. Also, the delay before any messages appear at boot time
  896. is disconcerting, as any error messages from the BIOS
  897. are lost.
  898. .PP
  899. This idea is at best an interesting experiment that needs another iteration.