Boot Console Handler (BCH) & Processor Dependent Code (PDC)
 | As mentioned earlier, HP-UX systems come with firmware installed called Processor Dependent Code (PDC). After the system is powered on or the processor is RESET, the PDC runs self test operations and initializes the processor. PDC also identifies the console path so that it can provide messages and accept input. PDC would then begin the “autoboot” process, unless you were to interrupt it during the 10-second interval that is supplied. If you interrupt the “autoboot” process, you can issue a variety of commands. |
The following example shows booting an rp54xx system and the PDC-related messages we receive on the system. The first messages you see are a variety of self-test-related messages. The processor, memory, I/O and other components are run through a variety of tests. I abbreviated the list of messages in the example, wherever you see three dots, because the complete list of test results was too long to include in this book:
Value of TERM has been set to "vt100". WARNING: YOU ARE SUPERUSER !!1.00] (see /etc/issue) Console Login: root # reboot -h...checking for disk quotas Shutdown at 17:41 (in 0 minutes) ckard Co., All Rights Reserved. (c)Copyright 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985-1993 The Regents of the Univ. of California (c)C*** FINAL System shutdown message from [email protected] *** (c)Copyright 1986-1992 Sun Microsystems, Inc. System going down IMMEDIATELY Massachusetts Institute of Technology (c)Copyright 1989-1993 The Open Software Foundation, Inc. System shutdown time has arrivedent Corp. (c)Copyright 1990 Motorola, Inc. (c)Copyright 1990, 1991, 1992 Cornell University (c)Copyright 1989-1991 The University of Maryland Console reset done.arnegie Mellon University (c)Copyright 1991-1997 Mentat, Inc. Boot device reset done.ng Star Technologies, Inc. (c)Copyright 1996 Progressive Systems, Inc. (c)Copyright 1997 Isogon Corporation System has halted OK to turn off power or reset systemD RIGHTS LEGEND UNLESS "WAIT for UPS to turn off power" message was printed above to restrictions as set forth in sub-paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in ********** VIRTUAL FRONT PANEL **********se in DFARS 252.227-7013. System Boot detected ***************************************** LEDs: RUN ATTENTION FAULT REMOTE POWER ON FLASH OFF OFF ON Palo Alto, CA 94304 U.S.A. platform config 626F processor slave rendezvous 1C17ies are as set processor test 1142 processor test 1100 processor test 1100 processor test 1100 processor test 1100 processor test 1100 processor test 1100 processor test 1100 processor test 1100 processor test 1100 PDH config 322F PDH test 3149 PDH test 3160 platform test 616A processor test 1146 processor INIT 1701 processor INIT 1701 processor test 1110 . . . processor test 111C processor test 111D processor test 111D processor cache test 2111 processor cache test 2111 processor cache test 2112 processor cache test 2112 processor cache test 2113 processor cache test 2113 processor cache test 2121 processor cache test 2121 . . . memory test 71A4 memory test 71A5 memory test 71A5 memory test 71A6 memory test 71A6 memory config 7210 I/O INIT 8701 I/O test 8118 I/O test 8118 I/O INIT 8701 I/O INIT 8701 I/O INIT 8701 I/O INIT 8701 I/O INIT 8701 I/O INIT 8701 I/O INIT 8701 I/O INIT 8701 I/O INIT 8701 memory config 7240 memory INIT 7702 memory config 7241 memory config 7243 memory config 72A0 memory test 71A1 memory test 71A2 . . . processor test 1120 processor slave rendezvous 1C40 processor test 1142 processor test 113B platform test 612A I/O config 8238 ***************************************** ************ EARLY BOOT VFP ************* End of early boot detected ***************************************** Firmware Version 39.46 Duplex Console IO Dependent Code (IODC) revision 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (c) Copyright 1995-1998, Hewlett-Packard Company, All rights reserved ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Processor Speed State CoProcessor State Cache Size Number State Inst Data --------- -------- --------------------- ----------------- ------------ 0 440 MHz Active Functional 512 KB 1 MB 3 440 MHz Idle Functional 512 KB 1 MB Central Bus Speed (in MHz) : 82 Available Memory : 2097152 KB Good Memory Required : 11468 KB Primary boot path: 0/0/1/1.2 Alternate boot path: 0/0/2/0.2 Console path: 0/0/4/0.0 Keyboard path: 0/0/4/0.0 Processor is booting from first available device. To discontinue, press any key within 10 seconds.
Boot terminated.
---- Main Menu ---------------------------------------------------------------
Command Description
------- -----------
BOot [PRI|ALT|<path>] Boot from specified path
PAth [PRI|ALT] [<path>] Display or modify a path
SEArch [DIsplay|IPL] [<path>] Search for boot devices
COnfiguration menu Displays or sets boot values
INformation menu Displays hardware information
SERvice menu Displays service commands
DIsplay Redisplay the current menu
HElp [<menu>|<command>] Display help for menu or command
RESET Restart the system
----
Main Menu: Enter command or menu >
The interface to the PDC is called the Boot Console Handler (BCH). In our discussion the commands we are issuing are PDC commands and the interface through which we issue them is the BCH. Many of the commands in this menu are helpful to system administrators, but are sometimes ignored because they are pre-operating system and therefore usually overlooked.
We'll skip the first three commands for the time being and start by looking at the COnfiguration menu command by typing co. The uppercase “CO” in COnfiguration means that you could type just co as an abbeviation for configuration:
Main Menu: Enter command or menu > co
---- Configuration Menu ------------------------------------------------------
Command Description
------- -----------
AUto [BOot|SEArch|STart] [ON|OFF] Display or set specified flag
BootID [<proc>] [<bootid>] Display or set Boot Identifier
BootINfo Display boot-related information
BootTimer [0 - 200] Seconds allowed for boot attempt
CPUconfig [<proc>] [ON|OFF] Config/Deconfig processor
DEfault Set the system to predefined values
FAn [HI|NORmal] Display or change fan speed
FastBoot [ON|OFF] Display or set boot tests execution
PAth [PRI|ALT] [<path>] Display or modify a path
SEArch [DIsplay|IPL] [<path>] Search for boot devices
TIme [c:y:m:d:h:m:[s]] Read or set the real time clock in GMT
BOot [PRI|ALT|<path>] Boot from specified path
DIsplay Redisplay the current menu
HElp [<command>] Display help for specified command
RESET Restart the system
MAin Return to Main Menu
----
Configuration Menu: Enter command >
Under the COnfiguration menu are several useful commands. You can, for example, enable FastBoot, which gives control over tests run at boot time. We'll issue the FastBoot command to see how our system is currently set, but not change the value of FastBoot:
Configuration Menu: Enter command > FastBoot
Fastboot: OFF
Configuration Menu: Enter command >
Our system has FastBoot off, meaning that we'll run all available tests at boot time. If you would like to reduce system boot time and are willing to bypass boot tests you would turn on FastBoot.
There are a variety of other commands under the COnfiguration menu that you may want to issue, depending on your needs, such as CPUconfig to configure and deconfigure processors.
Let's now issue the Main command to get back to the Main menu and then IN to get access to the INformation menu:
Configuration Menu: Enter command > main ---- Main Menu --------------------------------------------------------------- Command Description ------- ----------- BOot [PRI|ALT|<path>] Boot from specified path PAth [PRI|ALT] [<path>] Display or modify a path SEArch [DIsplay|IPL] [<path>] Search for boot devices COnfiguration menu Displays or sets boot values INformation menu Displays hardware information SERvice menu Displays service commands DIsplay Redisplay the current menu HElp [<menu>|<command>] Display help for menu or command RESET Restart the system ---- Main Menu: Enter command or menu > IN ---- Information Menu -------------------------------------------------------- Command Description ------- ----------- ALL Display all system information BootINfo Display boot-related information CAche Display cache information ChipRevisions Display revisions of major VLSI COprocessor Display coprocessor information FRU Display FRU information FwrVersion Display firmware version IO Display I/O interface information LanAddress Display Core LAN station address MEmory Display memory information PRocessor Display processor information WArnings Display selftest warning messages BOot [PRI|ALT|<path>] Boot from specified path DIsplay Redisplay the current menu HElp [<command>] Display help for specified command RESET Restart the system MAin Return to Main Menu ---- Information Menu: Enter command >
The INformation menu is a hidden gem for system administrators. Among the menu selections is one to display ALL system information, which produces the following report for our rp54xx system. I abbreviated this report at the point where you see the three dots near the end of the report:
Information Menu: Enter command > all Model: 9000/800/L2000-44 PROCESSOR INFORMATION HVERSION SVERSION Processor Processor Speed Model Model/Op CVERSION State --------- -------- -------- -------- -------- ------------- 0 440 MHz 0x05c4 0x0491 2. 4 Active 3 440 MHz 0x05c4 0x0491 2. 4 Idle Central Bus Speed (in MHz) : 82 Software ID (dec) : 143901527 Software ID (hex) : 0x0893c357 Software Capability : 0x01f0 COPROCESSOR INFORMATION Coprocessor Coprocessor Coprocessor Processor Model Revision State ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------------- 0 0x00000010 1 Functional 3 0x00000010 1 Functional CACHE INFORMATION Processor Instruction Cache Size Data Cache Size ----------- ----------------------- --------------- 0 512 KB 1 MB 3 512 KB 1 MB MEMORY INFORMATION MEMORY STATUS TABLE (MB) (Current Boot Status) Slot 0a 512M Active Slot 0b 512M Active Slot 1a 512M Active Slot 1b 512M Active Slot 2a - Slot 2b - Slot 3a - Slot 3b - Slot 4a - Slot 4b - Slot 5a - Slot 5b - Slot 6a - Slot 6b - Slot 7a - Slot 7b - Subtotal 2048M TOTAL = 2048 MB --------- Memory Installation Guidelines ------------------------------ - For DIMMs to work, both DIMMs in a slot pair (a/b) must be the same type. (Same part number = same type) - For proper cooling, install DIMMs in the following order: 0a/b 1a/b 2a/b 3a/b 4a/b 5a/b 6a/b 7a/b. Active, Installed Memory : 2048 MB of SDRAM Deallocated Pages : 0 Pages ----------- Available Memory : 2048 MB Good Memory Required by OS : 12 MB Memory HVERSION SVERSION -------- ---------- 0x0950 0x00000900 I/O MODULE INFORMATION Path Slot IODC Type (dec) Number HVERSION SVERSION Vers ---- ----- ------ -------- -------- ---- System bus adapter 0 0x5820 0xb10 0x0 Local bus adapter 0/0 1 0x7820 0xa00 0x0 Local bus adapter 0/1 6 0x7820 0xa00 0x0 Local bus adapter 0/2 8 0x7820 0xa00 0x0 Local bus adapter 0/3 10 0x7820 0xa00 0x0 Local bus adapter 0/4 12 0x7820 0xa00 0x0 Local bus adapter 0/5 7 0x7820 0xa00 0x0 Local bus adapter 0/6 9 0x7820 0xa00 0x0 Local bus adapter 0/7 11 0x7820 0xa00 0x0 PCI DEVICE INFORMATION Path Vendor Device Bus Slot Description (dec) Id Id # # ----------- ----- ---- ---- --- --- Ethernet cntlr 0/0/0/0 0x1011 0x19 0 1 SCSI bus cntlr 0/0/1/0 0x1000 0xb 0 1 SCSI bus cntlr 0/0/1/1 0x1000 0xb 0 1 SCSI bus cntlr 0/0/2/0 0x1000 0xf 0 1 SCSI bus cntlr 0/0/2/1 0x1000 0xf 0 1 Comp. ser cntlr 0/0/4/0 0x103c 0x1048 0 2 Comp. ser cntlr 0/0/5/0 0x103c 0x1048 0 2 Ethernet cntlr 0/3/0/0 0x1011 0x19 24 10 SCSI bus cntlr 0/4/0/0 0x1000 0xf 32 12 SCSI bus cntlr 0/4/0/1 0x1000 0xf 32 12 SCSI bus cntlr 0/7/0/0 0x1000 0xf 56 11 SCSI bus cntlr 0/7/0/1 0x1000 0xf 56 11 BOOT INFORMATION Processor Boot ID --------- ------- 0 2 3 2 Autoboot: ON Autosearch: ON Autostart: ON Fastboot: OFF Primary boot path: intscsib.2 0/0/1/1.2 0/0/01/01.2 (hex) Alternate boot path: intscsia.2 0/0/2/0.2 0/0/02/0.2 (hex) Console path: 0/0/4/0.0 0/0/04/0.0 (hex) Keyboard path: 0/0/4/0.0 0/0/04/0.0 (hex) LAN Station Address: 001083-fc9288 Wed Apr 19 22:02:46 GMT 2000 (20:00:04:19:22:02:46) FIRMWARE INFORMATION Firmware Version: 39.46 Module Revision ------ -------- System Board A443938 PA 8500 CPU Module 2.4 PA 8500 CPU Module 2.4 FRU INFORMATION FRU Name: SYS_BD Part Number: A5191-60001 Serial Number: A56405282277 Physical Location: 00ffff0001ffff69 Engineering Date Code: 3938 Art Work Revision: A4 Scan Revision: FRU Specific Info: USS40130E3 FRU Name: IO_BP Part Number: A5191-60002 Serial Number: 52SCFK23WX Physical Location: 00ffff0002ffff69 Engineering Date Code: 3942 Art Work Revision: A2 Scan Revision: FRU Specific Info: FRU Name: LAN_SCSI_CORE_IO Part Number: A5191-60011 Serial Number: 52SCFK28DE Physical Location: 000000ffff01ff85 Engineering Date Code: 3933 Art Work Revision: A5 Scan Revision: FRU Specific Info: . . . FRU Name: DIMM_512 Part Number: A5798-60001 Serial Number: A56E02093896 Physical Location: 0000ff00001bff74 Engineering Date Code: 3938 Art Work Revision: A4 Scan Revision: FRU Specific Info: Information Menu: Enter command >
This report would be an excellent addition to a system administration notebook. Knowing such information as the firmware revision levels and the settings of the boot flags is valuable.
Let's now go back to the Main menu and then look at the SERvice menu:
Service Menu: Enter command > main ---- Main Menu --------------------------------------------------------------- Command Description ------- ----------- BOot [PRI|ALT|<path>] Boot from specified path PAth [PRI|ALT] [<path>] Display or modify a path SEArch [DIsplay|IPL] [<path>] Search for boot devices COnfiguration menu Displays or sets boot values INformation menu Displays hardware information SERvice menu Displays service commands DIsplay Redisplay the current menu HElp [<menu>|<command>] Display help for menu or command RESET Restart the system ---- Main Menu: Enter command or menu > ser ---- Service Menu ------------------------------------------------------------ Command Description ------- ----------- CLEARPIM Clear (zero) the contents of PIM SCSI [option] [<path>] [<val>] Display or set SCSI controller values MemRead <address> [<len>] Read memory and I/O locations PDT [CLEAR] Display or clear the PDT PIM [<proc>] [HPMC|LPMC|TOC] Display PIM information ProductNum <O|C> [<number>] Display or set Product Number SELftests [ON|OFF] Enable/disable self test execution BOot [PRI|ALT|<path>] Boot from specified path DIsplay Redisplay the current menu HElp [<command>] Display help for specified command RESET Restart the system MAin Return to Main Menu ---- Service Menu: Enter command >
Among the options you have in SERvice menu is to manipulate the Processor Internal Memory, display SCSI controller values, and enable and disable self-tests. In the following example, we run SCSI to get information on our SCSI interfaces and then return to the Main menu:
Service Menu: Enter command > SCSI Path (dec) Initiator ID SCSI Rate Auto Term ------------ -------------- ---------- --------------- 0/0/1/0 7 Fast Unknown 0/0/1/1 7 Ultra Unknown 0/0/2/0 7 Ultra Unknown 0/0/2/1 7 Ultra Unknown Service Menu: Enter command > main ---- Main Menu --------------------------------------------------------------- Command Description ------- ----------- BOot [PRI|ALT|<path>] Boot from specified path PAth [PRI|ALT] [<path>] Display or modify a path SEArch [DIsplay|IPL] [<path>] Search for boot devices COnfiguration menu Displays or sets boot values INformation menu Displays hardware information SERvice menu Displays service commands DIsplay Redisplay the current menu HElp [<menu>|<command>] Display help for menu or command RESET Restart the system ---- Main Menu: Enter command or menu >
 | Now that we've looked at some of the PDC commands, let's get back to the process of booting by looking at the first three commands under Main menu. |
BOot allows you to specify the path from which you'll boot your system. PAth allows you to display or modify the boot paths. SEArch will display boot paths. In the following example, we'll SEArch to show all potential boot devices on our rp54xx system, run PAth to display our existing boot path, and then specify the device from which we want to boot our system:
Service Menu: Enter command > main ---- Main Menu --------------------------------------------------------------- Command Description ------- ----------- BOot [PRI|ALT|<path>] Boot from specified path PAth [PRI|ALT] [<path>] Display or modify a path SEArch [DIsplay|IPL] [<path>] Search for boot devices COnfiguration menu Displays or sets boot values INformation menu Displays hardware information SERvice menu Displays service commands DIsplay Redisplay the current menu HElp [<menu>|<command>] Display help for menu or command RESET Restart the system ---- Main Menu: Enter command or menu > Main Menu: Enter command or menu > sea Searching for potential boot device(s) This may take several minutes. To discontinue search, press any key (termination may not be immediate). Path# Device Path (dec) Device Path (mnem) Device Type ----- ----------------- ------------------ ----------- P0 0/0/1/1.2 intscsib.2 Random access media P1 0/0/2/0.2 intscsia.2 Random access media Main Menu: Enter command or menu > pa Primary boot path: intscsib.2 0/0/1/1.2 0/0/01/01.2 (hex) Alternate boot path: intscsia.2 0/0/2/0.2 0/0/02/0.2 (hex) Console path: 0/0/4/0.0 0/0/04/0.0 (hex) Keyboard path: 0/0/4/0.0 0/0/04/0.0 (hex) Main Menu: Enter command or menu > bo p0 Interact with IPL (Y, N, or Cancel)?> y
The SEArch command shows two potential boot device: in this case, our two internal disks on two different SCSI buses. The path of the two boot devices is composed of numbers separated by slashes (/), which indicate bus converters, and dots (.), which indicate cards, slot numbers, and addresses. You sometimes end up decoding these paths to figure out what boot devices map to what hardware devices on your system. In our case we have only the two internal disks, one on bus 1 and the other on bus 2.
The PAth command shows that the primary boot device is the disk on internal bus 1, and the alternate boot device is the disk on internal bus 2.
When I issued the BOot command in the previous example, I specified a device of p0, which corresponds to the disk on internal bus1 shown in the SEArch command results. I responded that I did indeed want to interact with IPL, which would normally not be the case when booting the system; however, I want to look briefly at IPL in the upcoming IPL section.
 | PDC commands issued through BCH are a mystery to many new system administrators. I covered enough in this section to get you comfortable enough on your system to look at the non-intrusive commands, that is, those that supply useful information without changing the settings on your system. Please be careful if you issue commands that change your configuration. Under |
MAIN-CON-CPU
for instance you can configure and reconfigure processors. You would not want to experiment with this command unless your system is unused.
PDC Commands
Table 1-2 is a list of PDC commands available on an rp7400 system at the time of this writing. Although an rp54xx system was used in the examples in this chapter, the PDC for the rp54xx and rp7400 are similar. Keep in mind that the PDC commands for your system may be somewhat different from those listed. The PDC is updated occasionally, so the list for the rp7400 may also be somewhat different from that shown in Table 1-2.
| Command | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ALL | Display the collection of all information provided by other display commands typically resident in INFORMATION menu. |
| AUTO | Used to display or set status of AUTOBOOT, AUTOSEARCH, or AUTOSTART flags. |
| BOOT | Initiate boot sequence. |
| BOOTID | Display or modify boot id for the processors present. |
| BOOTINFO | Display PDC-level information about the configured parameters used for system boot. |
| BOOTTIMER | Sets a delay value in the system to wait for external mass storage devices to come on-line. |
| CACHE | Displays information about the cache memory portion of all installed processors. |
| CHASSISCODES | Displays a queue of the most recent chassis codes. |
| CHIPREVISIONS | Used to display the revisions of major Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) in the system. |
| CLEARPIM | Used to clear (zero) the contents of the Processor Internal Memory (PIM). |
| CONFIGURATION | Used to enter the Configuration sub-menu. |
| COPROCESSOR | Displays information about all installed coprocessors. |
| CPUCONFIG | Allows the user to configure or deconfigure processors in the system. |
| DEFAULT | Used to set the system to pre-defined defaults. |
| DISPLAY | Used to redisplay the current menu. |
| FAN | Used to display or set the speed of system internal fans. |
| FASTBOOT | Used to display or set the fastboot flag. |
| FWRVERSION | Displays the revision of currently installed firmware. |
| HELP | Returns help information for the specified command, menu, or the system itself. |
| INFORMATION | Used to access the Information menu. |
| IO | Displays I/O interface on all I/O modules in the system. |
| LANADDRESS | Allows the user to display station address. |
| LANCONFIG | Used to configure the LAN card. |
| MAIN | User interface for PDC. |
| MEMORY | Displays memory information for total amount of physical memory as well as configured memory in a system. |
| MEMREAD | Used to read memory locations. |
| MONITOR | Allows the user to view and change the monitor type for graphic cards. |
| PATH | Used to set and/or display the system paths from Stable Storage. |
| PDT | Display or clear the Page Deallocation Table (PDT). |
| PIM | Displays Processor Internal Memory (PIM) Information. |
| PROCESSOR | Displays information about the processor(s) in the system. |
| RESET | Resets the machine state. |
| SEARCH | Search for boot devices in the system. |
| SECURE | Used to display or set the secure mode flag. |
| SERVICE | Allows the user to go to the Service menu. |
| TIME | Read or set the real time clock in GMT. |
| WARNINGS | Display any warning messages that may have resulted from the previous PDC self test execution. |