NAME

firmware - bootable firmware programs and firmware commands

DESCRIPTION

Between the time most computers are turned on and the boot program is loaded to bootstrap the machine, the computer is in an operating state known as the firmware state. In the firmware state, a small program in non-volatile memory is running on the machine, and the user can perform certain system operations usually unavailable from single- or multi-user operating states. There are two basic kinds of firmware operations:

Running firmware commands. These commands might include commands for displaying the Equipped Device Table, performing a system memory dump, displaying the firmware version, creating a floppy key, etc. These commands are executed by the firmware program.

Running bootable programs. These include the operating system (unix) and other bootable programs (such as a program to fill the Equipped Device Table). These programs are located in the /stand file system. When a bootable program is requested from firmware, the firmware program loads and executes the program, passing control of the system to the bootable program. Some firmware programs, including the program supplied on the AT&T 3B2 Computers, allow you to request the configuration of a new bootable operating system from firmware by specifying the name of a configuration file (usually /stand/system) as the name of the program to boot; see system(4). See the hardware guide that accompanies your computer for descriptions of the firmware commands and programs available with your machine.

WARNINGS

The firmware program typically does not know if a requested program is bootable or not; requesting a program that is not bootable from firmware can lead to unpredictable results.

SEE ALSO

editsa(1M), edittbl(1M), .edt_swapp(4), system(4) ``Diagnos-
tics''    and    ``Machine''    chapters   in   the   System
Administrator's Guide